グラディウスIV ビックバイパー (ゲーム「グラディウスIV」版) 1/100スケール組み立て式プラスティックモデル)

What you get in this kit is the Atelier Sai Gradius 4:Revival 1/100 scale kit rather than the sky girls version of the Vic Viper. When completed the kit is a pretty good size but it's not without its issues. Firstly the pieces fit very awkwardly and often times instead of a click or a smooth fit there would be a loud snap as though the pieces broke. I hit a major stop at step 3 because the top and bottom halves of the body didn't fit properly and I had to glue it together. The sprues are also really thick and the lettering and numbers are difficult to read. The decals are OK, there no Bandai or Kotobukiya water slide but they are decent so long as you don't pull the yellow backing with it. The canopy does require paint for the yellow effect , I used the Tamiya acrylic clear Yellow. Lastly... The stand can be quite flimsy to the point where I'm contemplating gluing the ship to it or just opting out for the landing gear. That said with enough patience you end up with a solid kit if you are willing to spend the money for it.

It is amazing that it has taken me this long to get something I wanted from my youth. I loved the Gradius series ever since I played it on the NES and in the arcade all those years ago. I was green with envy when they released die-cast replicas of the ship in Japan, and had hoped that they would bring it over here. As it turns out, they didn't, but they did bring in a builders model kit. Not quite what I thought I was getting, since I had been too excited when I saw this to read everything through. However, it is fine as it is, and it really is quite detailed and nifty to have it available for purchase. Hey, Konami, how about bringing over the die-cast ships, too? Just saying..... :)