Resin Kit: 1/100 NZ-666 Kshatriya - Unboxing and Dryfit Build

What I have here today is a 1/100 NZ-666 Kshatriya full resin kit.

It is one of three resin kits I have and this is the first time I am building resin kits. The Kshatriya's resin kit was originally done by NeoGrade then later recast by G-System and SMS when NeoGrade stopped producing the kit. G-System still makes some through G-System-Best while SMS no longer recasts the kit. The Kshatriya is one of the most popular resin kit I have seen and there are a lot of recast from less know manufacturers. The kit I have is one of them. I got this Kshatriya from gkgundamkit.com. They're a Hong Kong based online store that sells a lot of Gunpla and resin kits. From what I understood after ordering from them, the kit was "produced" after the order was placed. I was expecting the kit they have might be from the more well-known manufacturers but it seems that they recast the resin kits they sell themselves. With this in mind, the first thing that comes up is the quality of the resin. Companies like G-System or SMS require a minimum number of orders before they recast an kit that's no longer in production. How will gkgundamkits' single order recast fare against more popular manufacturers? We'll see that later.

First, unbox the kit.

 

Box size looks like its the same box size as those from G-System-Best. Box is lined with bubblewrap to keep the contents safe. The "production" of the kit took a bout a week and after it was shipped, it took about six days to get to the US. Two weeks total. Not bad.

The resin used by gkgundamkits is the milky white resin that is commonly used by cheap resin makers. SMS Workshop uses the tan resin. Which resin is of higher quality, I really don't know. The large binders pieces are wrapped in some bubblewrap while the other pieces are put in sturdy plastic bags.

 

 

The kits comes with a construction manual, color photos, decal sheet, brass rod for pinning and a few metal pieces.

 

The manual could use some improvements. The pieces on the manual are recognizable but the text, not so much. The photos included are good for basic color reference but not so much for details and there is no back view. This kit does not come with metal thrusters or funnels. The only metal pieces are the tips of the funnels and rings for the cannons on the chest and shoulder binders. The missing metal parts are a bit of a disappointment.

Now for the most important part, the quality of the recast. After doing the piece count to make sure I don't have anything missing, I go thorough every piece again and inspect them. My conclusion, in comparison to the resin kit I have from SMS Workshop, the recast is actually very well made.

 

 

 

The pieces are all smooth with little to no imperfections. Small details are all well preserved. Even the smaller pieces are very well cast with the details still intact.

 

One thing I did notice are the size of the pour plugs. They are huge. This may be one reason why the casting was pretty good.

But I do have one complaint about the pour plug. They are huge. Removing and sanding them will be a lot more work and the position of some of them will be messy to deal with.

After waiting for a week to get the tools I ordered, I can finally get rid of the pour plugs and do some dry fitting.

Some of the flash, top-left photo, can be removed with a side cutter. But flash like that on the top-right photo will need a file. Pour plugs attached to one side, bottom left photo, can be removed with a side cutter but a saw is recommended. Pour plugs that go on two side like that of the bottom-right photo will require a saw.

After a lot of cutting, filing, sawing and sanding, the kits can be washed to remove the mold release on the surface. Once they dry, some dry fitting can be done.

 

 

 

Instead of simply dry fitting parts together, I decided to do a short straight build on the kit. Resin kits require CA/super glue or epoxy to build, but since using those would make everything permanent, I used PVA/white glue to glue things together. It takes around 12 hours for PVA glue to fully cure to full strength so I had tape pieces together that did not have pegs or needed pinning.

Doing this straight build gives me an idea of how I should build it and what to avoid so I don't mess anything up once everything is painted.

 

First thing I noticed is the knee and hip joints are pretty loose. They will have to be permanently glued in the pose I want once the final build happens. Putting the completed body on the waist is fairly easy but the hip and knee joint should be solid and non-moving so that the body can be securely positioned. Attaching the shoulder binders is the tricky part. The glues on the body should be fully cured and rock solid before the shoulder binders should be attached. In my case, since it's just PVA glue for now, I had to have someone attach the shoulder binders while I held the kit stable. The parts the binders attach to should also have a long pin since the weight of the binder can easily pull the part out of its socket. Permanently gluing it in place might even be preferable. After taking the photo of the front, I tried to move kit so I can take a photo of the back and one the binders fell off. Losing one binder will completely off the balance and the upper half fell in my hands as the knees and hip bent backward and the binders came crashing down. Good thing I have carpet flooring and that cushioned the falling binders and none of the parts from the binders got damaged. Lesson learned right there.

The painting WIP for this kit starts here.