I’ve primarily known Kaiyodo from their Revoltech-based action figure lines. And while they do offer other stuff, I believe this is what they’re most known for. Now, it looks like they wanted to expand to the hobby market with their new Do-Yanen line of plastic model kits, not really sure what “Do-Yanen” means but I’ll take it. What interests me more is the franchise they chose to debut this new line.
Seeing this thing on my Twitter feed made me think of something from 86 -Eighty Six-, but no as this is the Strum Kafer from Maschinen Krieger. I believe I also made a Ma.K. post last week, so it appears the franchise is getting more love nowadays.
This Sturm Kafer is 1/35 scale, which should display well among other military model kits, especially if you’re able to paint and weather it like these solicitation photos, but more on that detail later. It’s also approximately 120mm long, I assume from front to back. While this guy scaled larger than the HG 86 -Eighty Six- kits (which are at 1/48), I think these would display well if painted and weathered well.
The solicitation mentions striking a good balance between curved surfaces and mechanical details that carefully recreate the prototypes by sculptor Akira Tani. They also emphasize the its ease of assembly though I don’t think this would be Bandai Spirits-levels of easy. Articulation is as expected from a quadruped walker machine, and it also has an opening canopy to reveal a pilot figure inside.
When I mentioned earlier how this guy would look totally depend on any painting or weathering done to it, this is what I mean. As with most Ma.K. kits, the Sturm Kafer also comes in a single color out of the box, but looks to have good parts separation based on its 8 runners and 115 total parts count. I’m also not sure if this would require glue or it’s totally snap-fit. But they’re promoting its ease of assembly so probably a good mix of both. If this kit turns out well, then looks like Kaiyodo would be staying in the scale modeling market.
Do-Yanen 1/35 Strum Kafer
October 23, 2021 / ¥6,000
Order from HobbyLink Japan
