KlipKitz Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story

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m1ks

Guest
Popped into my local toy/hobby shop in the village today to see if they had any cheap Tank / tracked kits, (only a bridge layer which wasn't what I was looking for), for a short notice tank / AFV GB on another forum.

No joy on that score but I did get this wee kit for my little fella to give him a good grasp of kit building and whats involved, he often wants to help with mine but just being 6 can get a bit heavy handed with some delicate bits.

So i'll do an in box review with a brief synopsis of the build and photo's following.

The box is a brightly coloured box, pretty much as you'd expect an action figure, (no, it's not a doll!), to be in. The makers name, KlipKitz on the front, not heard of them before but presumably they do others.

The box contains.

A base for Buzz to stand / pose on.

A card backdrop for the base.

An instruction booklet, a'la Airfix

A sticker sheet.

Three purple sprues.

Three white sprues.

One grey sprue.

Upper body rear and front.

All of a relatively soft plastic.

The sprues are all pre-painted where appropriate and this kit is a great starting point for using Sprue nippers, files, sanding sticks etc without the worry of having to paint and wait for drying.

Theres no gluing involved, the entire kit is a slot / snap together construction and is designed in such a manner that it can be disassembled re-posed and reassembled.

The build begins with the legs which connect together by means of clever jointing pieces alowing the knees to be posed straight or bent, the feet connect in a similar fashion and can likewise be articulated.

The pelvic area follows being a front and rear section which snaps together.

the arms are built next in the same fashion as the legs with jointing pieces allowing articulated poses followed by the head which is again a front/rear piece snap together assembly, the head, legs and arms then fit into the rear body section and the front body section snaps on to hold them in place followed by two quicklock plastic screws to lock the front and rear body together.

At this point you have an option of fitting retracted wings or extended wings with both assembly's included.

The back plate covers the wings and is locked in place by a smaller quicklock plastic screw, (the sprue with the quicklock screws contain umpteen spares and two driver keys, provision is made under the base for keeping a key)

the glazed two part portion of the helmet is then connected together and fitted to the upper body section, this part is quite fiddly and I had to assist here as with a couple of press fittings as initially they're quite tight, with several removals and replacements, these will loosen nicely.

The helmet is articulated when correctly fitted and can be opened and closed as per the Buzz on the film.

The figure once completed is then connected to the display base with two further quicklock plastic screws and stickers can be added, (my wee fellas doing this while I type this review hence the pics are sans decals)

Overall i'd say this kit is an excellent introduction to plastic kit modelling for any budding modellers out there, (i'm sure there are some of you with kids or even grandkids who are curious and keep trying to get their hands on your styrene stash).

The only really fiddly bit is the glazed helmet, the figure is jointed very very sturdily and can be played with, (Buzz is currently firing his lazer around the door at me as I type this bit) and taken apart and refitted in different poses again and again.

I'd guess the scale to be about 1/8 to 1/6 so it's a good size and makes a great display piece.

For someone slightly older wanting a display only figure it would be a breeze to fit, glue, fill and re-paint the whole thing to make a stunning display piece.

A good thing for me is that is was great opportunity to teach him the proper and careful use of sprue nippers and a file / sanding stick for cleaning up the sprue stubs and he thorougly enjoyed it.

For £12.99 we've had a good 1.5 hours worth of building entertainment with the bulk of work done by my little lad with only minor assistance from me and his mum, (he got bored with the filing so that job got relegated to mum for a bit until she sneaked out to garden), and i'm sure he'll get many more hours of rebuilding fun and playing with it.
 
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tr1ckey66

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Paul
To infinity and beyond!

Well done that man on a fabulous looking figure! It looked like great fun looks like we have another young modeller in the making.

All the best

Paul
 
B

Bunkerbarge

Guest
All credit to you for taking the time to teach your son the joys of modelling. This is an experience he will remember for the rest of his life, as I do with my own childhood experiences.

As for the kit, what a great model of Buzz but more importantly, what fantastic picture of the builder!! Hopefully a modeller of the future.
 
L

loubo1983

Guest
ahh excellent.

i did the same with my little lad. he's 5.

it was the revell snap kit f-14. although he used a big set of nail clippers and one of his mums emmery boards. helped walk him through the instructions, and the smile on his face when he finished it said it all.

he played with it to destruction (literraly) ah well. he got his money's worth lol.
 
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