HMM Empire Command Wolf LC

[vishus]

Look what came! In 6 days..by SAL, no less! I am VERY impressed, HLJ


One of the coolest boxes ever!





Comparison pics with Command Wolf Irvine and HMM Desert Shield Liger



A few nitpicks

Hoses under the belly don't stay in place. Could be glued, but then it's a choice between looking right or posability.

Canopy on cannon won't close with gunner inside.

Broken gun support. Also, glue is a must for these 2 pieces, will never stay on without.


Okay..for the review. I am starting to have a real love/hate relationship with the Koto's I have purchased so far. This Wolf has a BEAUTIFUL design and colors..spot on. But that said..Koto has got to give us better plastic quality..so brittle. Or maybe I just have really bad luck with batch issues, I don't know. But one of the front fangs was already broken upon removing the sprues from the box and some of the pieces absolutely LOVE to break if you even get a blade next to the sprue(see pic above)

Anyway this Zoid itself does all kinds of justice to the line. Those colors..YES! This is definitely NOT the pinky red and lavender we saw in prototype pics. This is true Zenebas red, with very tasteful bluish-grey underpieces. The caps however ARE lavender, not blue.

The build is much less complicated and time consuming than Shield Liger. It took me 2 days on this one, as opposed to 6-7 for the Liger, but I was being leisurely. But to do it all in one sitting would probably only take the average modeler 2-4 hours. Aside from all the fiddly trimming, which is what makes the things so blasted time consuming, this is a pretty enjoyable and logical build.

One last request to Kotokubiya..While I HAVE enjoyed your kits muchly, please work on (plastic)quality control for the Bladey and Geno!

More pics here

[Kyubigan]

Holy crap! That thing is sooooo cool...

Can you scan the front box?

[Hidocker]

vishus said:

Hoses under the belly don't stay in place. Could be glued, but then it's a choice between looking right or posability.

I had that problem while building my regular wolf. You have to really mash the pieces into the sliding part on the waist. Maybe trim a bit first. The neck hoses are fiddly too

[Kyubigan]

vishus said:

Canopy on cannon won't close with gunner inside.

LOL, what's the point of having the canopy if it doesn't close well? I feel sorry for Command Wolf Pilots sitting on the cannon cockpit. Especially if it is raining hard or raining hail the size of school buses...

[Tilly]

What day did yours ship? *prods SAL with stick*

Damn, bad red plastic. I can work with that, but it better not hate panel lines like Sturm Tyrann. That gun NEEDS them! Still, nice to see pics of one built straight-up, and thanks for the warning.

(And what's wrong with lavender, people? It's more Zenebas-y than bluegrey!)

[vishus]

*Kyubigan* Alas I have no scanner... but I will try to post clearer pic of different box angles.

*docker* Dang, I was hoping it was just an anomaly on my particular one. My recommendation to others is to insert these 2 tubes into that part good and hard BEFORE you attach it to the rear section, might work a little better

*Tilly* HLJ shipped mine on 7/30, and I'm in AZ. HLJ has always gotten my orders to me lickety-split using SAL. It's made me pretty loyal to them. And you, of all people, Tilly, are going to love this thing

[Zzgashi]

Mine should be coming soon. waiting to build this thing.

[Colodie]

Have you tried fiddling with the gun hatch? Mine stays shut just fine with a pilot in it.

Also, my gun supports stay on just fine.

I will note, however, that my normal Hmm Wolf was a pain, resulting in a leg breaking off that I still need to fix, so I'd say they are as a whole tempermental.

[brightcat13527]

I've had no problem with my regular wolf as far as plastic goes. The belly hoses were a bit of a pain, but with a bit of force I got them to stay without glue. They have to be trimmed really well.

Other than that I've not had any of the problems other people seem to. Maybe I got lucky. I wish I had an Zeno Woffie though, it looks so nice.

[Zzgashi]

got mine today and it drove me insane between cutting the pieces wrong-breaking the control console-and losing one the leg tube things (it just dissappeared)- and also those dang tubes between the torso peices.

[Snowflake]

Ok that's it, I'm not getting one of these HMM things. I think they'll drive me insane

[Xehn]

...I hope my HMM Wolfie won't be this aggravating.

[LigerZer0]

Great looking kit to bad it has those small issues with it. I'm still waiting out for mine from HLJ hope it didn't get lost or something since you were able to get yours so soon.

[DigitalMan]

But the real question is... Does it have every piece required to make it a red version of the standard HMM CW?

[Xehn]

Considering the LC gun goes *around* the original gun, I'd say yes.