Looking for powered armor suit models

Division 6

Starship Modelers Store

Ok, I really like that Wappa Mobile Scout set. Those are the type of things I'm looking for. Future military in a sort of Mad Max, apocalyptic scenario. Those Dust armor models look nice too, but pricey. Why does every hobby I get in to cost so darn much.

I think I know what I'm looking for now. Armor, machines, robots, military, mechs and gritty all set in a Fallout type of environment. Yep, all rolled up into one.

Centurion

 

 

 

Thanks tetsujin,

You make some really good points. I guess it doesn't matter what company or make, but more or less I'm looking for something more military-like and gritty. The grit can come from the paint for sure, but some of the Gundam are a little too Voltron looking for what I'm looking for. And I'm not knocking Voltron; I'm a big fan, I just don't want to model bright colors with perfect looking finishes. I want robots and armor that has seen some action.

Yeah, I definitely know what you mean, there. I mostly build Gundam, and I have seen some impressive Gundam builds with an eye toward realism - but there's something fundamentally unrealistic about most of them. No matter how much they get loaded up with stowage or Zimmerit, and even if it's in a nice diorama scene with in-scale people, realism isn't exactly the strength of these designs.

I guess a good example (with an easy-to-point-out URL) would be the Gundams from 08th MS Team. They're a popular target among Gundam modelers for weathered, realistic builds, but even with that Ez8 on the cover - painted in military drab, loaded up with stowage, etc.: to some extent it's still kind of "super-robot" underneath all that. For most Gundam kits I think you'd have to make some pretty substantial alterations to break that effect. So it's definitely helpful to start out with a subject that's close to the aesthetic you're going for in the first place.

But the lesson I've generally taken away from Maschinen Krieger is that you can take some very simple shapes, paint them military drab with chipping effects and weathering, and they'll look like some kind of scale machine.  I think Bandai took this to heart when marketing the "Universal Century Hard Graph" line of kits based on various (usually minor) machines from Gundam...  For instance the Wappa - I really think they were going for a MaK kind of aesthetic with the sample photos for that thing...

You know, I don't think anybody's suggested "Dust" yet - it's got stout walking tanks, German jet-pack troopers... might be worth a look.

tetsujin

 

Cosmic J:

 

I like the Raiden and Shinden Armor from Gasaraki - but they're out of production and hard to find at a good price. If you can locate them, they are worth the effort.

The Votoms series has some interesting armor designs. The 1/20 Scopedog comes in two versions: the plain vanilla kit, and the special boxing w/ photo-etch parts.

 

 

Well, I don't know if 4-meter mecha really count as "powered armor suits"...  But Hobbywave has the Gasaraki kits.  Pricing is pretty reasonable, too.  I thought about buying some more to boost my collection but decided against it.

And there's more variants of the Scopedog, naturally: Red Shoulder Custom and Pailsen Files versions from Bandai, and Wave's line-up includes other stuff like the Turbo Custom and the parachute type...  Not to mention Bandai's Fatty and Takara's line-up of the other mecha from the show...

Centurion: You say you're not interested in the anime-looking stuff but would prefer more MaK or Mechwarrior-type stuff...  I think I get what you're saying, it sounds like you want stuff that looks more like machines and less like cartoon super-robots.  But it always seemed to me that the "MaK look" was mostly a matter of paint schemes.  The MaK stuff was originally kitbashes and stuff, after all, armor pieces cut from ping pong balls, etc.. it was mostly the paint schemes that gave them the gritty look for which they're known. So there may be a larger selection of kits that could fit your needs than you might at first think.

 

I can't really recommend any other powered suit-type kits besides what people have already suggested: but here's a few more mecha kits that might appeal to you:

• Sunshine: There may be other Armored Core kits that might suit your fancy as well, I don't know.  But "Sunshine" has kind of a modern-AFV aesthetic to it, so I thought it might be one to consider.
• Tieren: It's a Gundam kit, yeah, but it's really not like most other Gundam kits. It looks much more like "hardware" than other Gundam designs do.
• Loto: Another Gundam kit - it transforms into a tank...
• Frame Arms Gourai: Kind of similar to the Loto, actually...

 

Thanks tetsujin,

You make some really good points. I guess it doesn't matter what company or make, but more or less I'm looking for something more military-like and gritty. The grit can come from the paint for sure, but some of the Gundam are a little too Voltron looking for what I'm looking for. And I'm not knocking Voltron; I'm a big fan, I just don't want to model bright colors with perfect looking finishes. I want robots and armor that has seen some action.

So I guess I should have stated that anything that looks like armor, looks like a mech warrior or looks like a machine is what I'm looking for – it doesn't necessarily have to be powered armor. My lack of knowledge on the subject made me state what I thought was the name for all of the above. 

Thanks for the links; I'll check it out.

Burt

Cosmic J

I like the Raiden and Shinden Armor from Gasaraki - but they're out of production and hard to find at a good price. If you can locate them, they are worth the effort.

The Votoms series has some interesting armor designs. The 1/20 Scopedog comes in two versions: the plain vanilla kit, and the special boxing w/ photo-etch parts.

Well, I don't know if 4-meter mecha really count as "powered armor suits"...  But Hobbywave has the Gasaraki kits.  Pricing is pretty reasonable, too.  I thought about buying some more to boost my collection but decided against it.

And there's more variants of the Scopedog, naturally: Red Shoulder Custom and Pailsen Files versions from Bandai, and Wave's line-up includes other stuff like the Turbo Custom and the parachute type...  Not to mention Bandai's Fatty and Takara's line-up of the other mecha from the show...

Centurion: You say you're not interested in the anime-looking stuff but would prefer more MaK or Mechwarrior-type stuff...  I think I get what you're saying, it sounds like you want stuff that looks more like machines and less like cartoon super-robots.  But it always seemed to me that the "MaK look" was mostly a matter of paint schemes.  The MaK stuff was originally kitbashes and stuff, after all, armor pieces cut from ping pong balls, etc.. it was mostly the paint schemes that gave them the gritty look for which they're known. So there may be a larger selection of kits that could fit your needs than you might at first think.

I can't really recommend any other powered suit-type kits besides what people have already suggested: but here's a few more mecha kits that might appeal to you:

• Sunshine: There may be other Armored Core kits that might suit your fancy as well, I don't know.  But "Sunshine" has kind of a modern-AFV aesthetic to it, so I thought it might be one to consider.
• Tieren: It's a Gundam kit, yeah, but it's really not like most other Gundam kits. It looks much more like "hardware" than other Gundam designs do.
• Loto: Another Gundam kit - it transforms into a tank...
• Frame Arms Gourai: Kind of similar to the Loto, actually...

Indeed, MaK models are still being produced, with new models and variants being added all the time. Hobby Link Japan  has a complete list of what's available, just click on their MaK titles:

http://www.hlj.com/#!Page=1

http://www.hlj.com/hljlist2/?SeriesID=968&Title=Maschinen%20Krieger%20items

As far as I know, no American companies are producing powered suit kits. Revell used to sell kits from the Macross and Dougram series, which most Americans would recognise as Mechwarrior/Battletech mechs, but these were re-packagings of Bandai models. Others around here like Phil H are more knowledgeable on that matter than I.

Banai has recently announced that they are re-popping some of those old Macross kits, at a very reasonable price. Here's the Defender and the Monster:

http://www.hlj.com/product/BAN966789

http://www.hlj.com/product/BAN966791

Wave Corporation is also producing brand new toolings of some of the Macross destroids. The details are excellent, but the prices are not small. The Attack Tomahawk was the first released, w/ more to follow:

http://www.hlj.com/product/WAVMC-71

You might be able to get your Local Hobby Shop to stock some of these items, or just ask if they can special order them. I found my first Maks at the LHS, and you save a ton on shipping if they order them for you. Hasegawa is a mainstream manufacturer whose kits are widely available, and they still make a bunch of Macross kits, as well as some of the vehicles from the MaK universe. Your LHS should be able to get their kits w/ ease.

Thanks everyone for their input. So is it safe to assume that Ma.K models are still being produced? These types of models seem like they are strictly of Japanese make and the prices seems a bit high. Are there no companies stateside that make these kind of models? I release Japan has been doing this stuff forever; however, it's hard to believe I can't go to my local hobby shop and find this kind of stuff.

Anyhow, this is a good list for starters. I am open to other suggestions for Mech warrior type models as well. I'm not really into the Anime stuff or Gundam, but more so into the Ma.K looking stuff.

Thanks,

Burt

I get a lot of models off E-bay. I only buy the reasonably priced ones, which are actually fairly common.

Some of the M.aK suits are currently in production - the AFS and SAFS variants are available from Wave Corporation, at about $25 to $35 apiece. I saw a prototype Strahl suit (the Ketzter) over on the Maschinen Krueger site, it should be available soon.

http://maschinenkrueger.com/forum/index.php?topic=5715.0

I like the Raiden and Shinden Armor from Gasaraki - but they're out of production and hard to find at a good price. If you can locate them, they are worth the effort.

The Votoms series has some interesting armor designs. The 1/20 Scopedog comes in two versions: the plain vanilla kit, and the special boxing w/ photo-etch parts. Having the special kit, I'd say that the PE adds little to the model, and that the basic kit is the better buy considering that it can usually be found for $30 or $40 less. in either case, it's a BIG model.

SSm has a good selection of MaK . Not as good as HLJ . But  most of the suites are there and the prices are good all things considered. IMHO

SSM Store is a good source and vendor.

They are supplied by HLJ, and if they have an item in stock it can save a lot on shipping.

Said that they previously tried to stock other items(robots, power suits) and they didn't sell, so they are careful not to stock items that don't fit their customer(SSM Forum, etc wishes).

They will order items if requested though, but their main-focus is Star Trek, BSG, Star Wars, etc so don't expect much MAK, etc there.

Example: They don't carry the Fliege or Kauz, HLJ has quiet a bit of stock left. Many items that are sold out at HLJ are in stock at Hobby-Search, Rainbow 10 and vice-versa.

In short if you want a good selection you will need to hit the Japanese stores. Ones listed above are very good and reliable and also accept paypal, etc.

HTH.

Starship Modelers Store

Aoshima recently re-issed a lot of the old Dorvack kits. 1/24 Power-suits, but no cockpit details

Wave a has 2 1/2  Power-Suit kits out(similar to the Starship trooper suit). Kaiyodo released an unassembled 1/20 Action figure of it.  Posted some pics, but got a huge build backlog for when I get back home.

Bandai had a Vinyl Power-suit kit out of the Starship Trooper Suit from the Anime.

Crusher Joe(anime) also had a nice Power suit kits(same suit different scales) released. Some of their drone designs made it into Battletech as light mechs(Locust, etc)

"Southern Cross" (part of Robotech) most mostly power-suits.

Mospeada(part of Robotech) has the Ride-armor with the transformable Bikes.

Megazone 23 Bike/Robot,  Bubblegum crisis, Appleseed also got kits out.

That is for the plastic kit scene, there are some resin kits of power armors from "Galaxy Fraulein Yuna", Gundam Ladies, etc.

Most of the other stuff are controlled robots(3~6 metres in height like the Dust robots(very MAK in feel), Xabungle(converted agricultural robots, Patlabor, Dunbine, Votoms, Orguss etc.

That is just of the top of my head. Many of the kits take tracking down as  Arii and IMAI closed shop and the new licence holder is not doing much on kit-releases.

HTH.