Kotobukiya’s Frame Arms is one of their most successful robot model kit brands, spanning several spin-off and offshoot lines. At the core of these kits, as the name suggests, is the standard internal frame where all sorts of armor pieces are attached, stemming entirely different designs from a common frame. What if Kotobukiya decides to release a Frame Arms kit, except without the frame?
That’s exactly what they’re doing with the launch of the new Forme Arms line.
Forme Arms kits forego the standard internal frame and aim for a more simplified build process where each part (i.e., head, torso, arms, legs) are assembled as modular units and can be combined into a robot. Minimizing the parts count would reduce not only the difficulty of assembly, but the price of each kit as well. In Gunpla terms, think of Frame Arms kits as Master Grades and Forme Arms kits as Full Mechanics kits.
For the rest of this post, Kotobukiya is referencing Rail Verth V.F.A., the first kit in the Forme Arms line. Compared to the first Frame Arms kit, Stylet, which has 180 parts, inclusive of the internal frame when disassembled, Rail Verth will only have 110 parts. In addition, parts will be made from PS while the joints will utilize HIPS. I’ve never heard of this kind of plastic so I’m hoping this would have greater tolerances and wouldn’t loosen over time.
This is a gray prototype of Rail Verth V.F.A. and as part of reducing complexity, each kit will not come with weapons, nor additional hands/manipulators. Some might take this as Kotobukiya being cheap, but they have explicitly mentioned this intent as an experiment for releasing just the robot and nothing else. This also means that you will definitely need some of those extra Frame Arms or M.S.G. kits if you want your Forme Arms kits to have weapons or for more expressive hand/manipulator parts.
Each Forme Arms kit will also have standard 3mm ports and axis joint connectors for further compatibility with other Kotobukiya kits. You can even connect them to the parts of the Frame Arms standard internal frame, meaning you can bolt on an arm or a leg from a Frame Arms kit without making further modifications.
Opening the Forme Arms line would be kits based on designs by Sera (@toshimichimsn04), a Japanese modeler who’ve won several competitions, including the Gold Prize at the Kotobukiya Content Grand Prix 2016. Hopefully, this would open the door for more modelers to have their craft translated into actual model kits.
These kits caught my curiosity because they come across as HG Gunpla for Frame Arms. That might not be Kotobukiya’s intent but I can sure build and collect them as such if I decide to get one. Note that these are apparently exclusive at Kotobukiya shops, in store and online.
For even more information, you can check this introductory video playlist Kotobukiya released.
HIPS is just an industry term. It’s High Impact Polystyrene. Which isn’t really all that different from regular polystyrene except that it tends to bend and deform instead of cracking and shattering. If I remember, it’s the addition of more conditioners to the plastic and possibly some annealing?
Thanks for the info! So it’s basically like KPS (Kyoka Polystyrene) for Bandai kits that it’s also polystyrene with some additives for durability and flexibility.