I’ve bought mecha model kits from several companies now, Bandai Spirits, Kotobukiya, Good Smile Company. But one company’s products that I’ve been curious, but never really pulled the trigger on is Plum. I’ve mostly known them for their PLA-ACT line of mechanized versions of key Japanese figures from the Warring States period. The other property I’ve known them for is the game POWER DoLLS 2 and the model kits they’ve released. Unfortunately, they’re a little bit too large for my preferred scale. But earlier this year, they announced the upcoming 5Inch Mechanism line and we’re now getting more details for the first release.
The new 5Inch Mechanism line is basically their version of Bandai Spirits’ High Grade line where the focus is on the wider assortment of available kits for collectors and at the same time, making assembly much easier. They’re also not bound by scale but rather, and as the name suggests, the 5-inch or so height of kits. And that’s not to say the quality will be much lower too, which we’ll check out later but as mentioned, the initial offering will be the Armored Infantry from POWER DoLLS 2, which was previously available in 1/35 scale and will now be in 1/48 for this line.
I’m not really familiar with the game or the Armored Infantry units, but it’s pretty safe to say they’re the grunt units you get to control in the game. They’re also the perfect design to start this line with as these don’t have a complex color scheme, being mostly white, and this kit will most likely look good out of the box. At the same time, it will give more experienced modelers opportunities for customization.
To further reinforce this selling point, they also showed this exploded view of the kit and its parts. You will see that both the blue shoulder armor parts and the optical units on the head are indeed actual plastic parts. not to mention the gray inner frame and the rifles.
Besides color accuracy, they also promise higher play value with the ease of assembly coupled with great articulation from the get-go — something that “weekend modelers” like me look for in a kit. So as far as I’m concerned, this will be perfect for my collection, and I do hope they follow up on the other properties they’ve teased for this line.
5Inch Mechanism 1/48 Armored Infantry
July 2023 / ¥4,500
Order via HobbyLink Japan
