1/100 REX Black Ver. by Kotobukiya (Part 2: Review)

1/100 REX Black Ver. by Kotobukiya (Available From HobbyLink Japan – HLJ.com)

REX is all dressed up in black, so let’s check it out all put together!

After a straight build, it’s straight on to the front, side and back shots.

The “toes” can stretch out and move in a surprisingly wide range.

The hatches on the knees can open, revealing some color inside.

The cockpit opens up nicely, and reveals a fair bit of detail to go along with the pilot.

The hatches on the back can open too, and again the amount of details pre-etched in are quite good.

And the limbs (radar and railgun) can move all over the place.

Here are some of the poses you can create, taking advantage of all its mobility.

Despite its intentional blockiness, you can actually pull off some pretty cool ready-to-attack poses.

With the help of the stand, its walking mode is nicely supported.

Landing mode looks good too, as it helps bring the detailed parts more into the foreground.

Regarding the size, it’s a little bit smaller than its brother Ray.

And a little shorter than MG Gundam 2.0, but of course a lot more bulked out.

Some final thoughts. For me, right off the hop I think this kit is absolutely worth the price. I enjoyed the build start to finish, and really liked the way the parts are designed and sculpted. Everything feels quite stable together, and even when putting it through its paces for poses, there were no risks of anything coming off. One of my favorite parts though is the details that come right out of the box. They’re deep and incisive, and really add to the war machine look. I feel it’s a great military model for both beginners and pros. For beginners, you can easily get a nice-looking metal gear with a good number of angry poses just with a simple build. And it would be even better if you spend some more time on water slides and a flat coat if you want to go intermediate. For pros, as it states in the manual, the reason why this kit is in black is for people to paint it more easily. For those who like to do military models, and get them all dirty, scraped up and generally looking like something in the field, this seems like it would be a treat.  Finally, I think Kotobukiya did a great job on this kit, from the plastic to the waterslides. It would be a cool look for anyone’s shelf. Or above your tube tv where you still play Metal Gear.. Thanks for checking this out!

“Hey Ray, next time you see that Raiden kid, why not try this?”