- Navigation
|
- HMM-036 Dibison Thoma Ver.
Number of Pieces: 455 | Number of Frames: 32 | Custom Pilot: Thomas
Dibison plastic quality is another one of those annoying ones that can snag easily and thus cause you to lose a slab of plastic. This has been a growing problem with newer kits. If you're careful you should be able to avoid it.
Otherwise the kit is very sturdy. I've only had problems with a single part being lose, and its got quite a lot of weight to hold. On the flip side it seems like it doesn't have many gimmicks. I mean, it does, but they're all compacted into the same areas which leaves a little to be desired. The overall detail, though, looks amazing.
If you're a fan of marbling you'll like this kit. If you're not, you're not going to be happy. There is a LOT of marbling. On the black plastic, the silver, just about everywhere.
Pros:
-Extremely sturdy
-Unique detachable weapon design
-Custom painted pilot
-Additional weapons and features from original design
Cons:
-Easily scrapping plastic that cuts more than intended
-Marbling on all black and silver
-Small piece on the back that will not stay in at all.
- Box Art
Gimmicks
- Horns
I was kinda surprised at this feature, but Dibison's horns can rotate at a pretty wide range. I don't like the look of this at all, but it's still interesting.
- Cockpit
The top of the head flips forward to show the cockpit of the Zoid. There's a decent amount of detail including a small rotational console that can flip forward into the pilot's lap.
- 8-Shot Missile Pods
The pods on each side of the face have been adjusted to have openable doors. You'll see two tiny little slits on the inner most part of the door which you can pick at to open them up. The pods themselves can also spin in a wide range.
- Jaws
Dibison's jaws open up like most Zoids, but interestingly he has sharp teeth, not blunt teeth. The inside of the jaw also shows a six shot missile pod that was never seen on earlier versions.
- Neck
The Dibison has a neck that's got a hinge joint on it but because of the guns on the back of the neck it really can't make use of that range of motion.
- Head
Thankfully to make up for the lack of motion in the neck the Dibison's head can spin just about as far as there's no obstruction, which is quite a ways.
- Shoulders
The shoulders are the main point of articulation on the legs. The legs themselves are rather stiff so you'll need this range of movement to make different poses.
- Front Leg
The center joint of the front legs are very unarticulated. They have a small range of motion that doesn't really allow for the legs to be posed past the shoulders. On the bright side the Dibison has a stable leg design that hasn't been seen in many Koto kits. There are no loose pieces at all.
- Hooves
The feet are sliiigghhttly iffy. Here you see where the halves don't stay together real well. If you press them together they'll stay if let be, but sometimes when posing they come loose from the stress on the parts.
- Mid Section
At the middle of the body the Dibison can tilt up and down a little less than an inch. It can also rotate sideways, where it can move a lot more. The sideways movement provides much better poses.
- Rear Leg
The rear legs have the same major rotation abilities as the front legs. Just the same it is one of the main points of articulation in the leg.
- Rear Leg - Mid Section
They added an extra section to the Dibison's leg design. I can't decide how to feel about this. It was added to provide better ranges of motion, supposedly, but in a bison it just looks unnatural. If this pieces is folded up it looks a little better but then it puts the leg at a very awkward angle in comparison to the thigh.
- Rear Leg - Bottom
Just like the front leg this piece has a very low range of motion. This is still disappointing but I do like the details and shape dynamics they have going on with the design.
- Leg Joints
The area where the legs attach to the body allow the legs themselves to rotate inwards or outwards. The back legs can move more than the front legs but the range of motion isn't bad on either.
- Rear Guns
These guns are placed on the rear of the Zoid, one on each side. They have a great range of rotation and show a small missile pod on the very end. Because of their rotational abilities this really evens out the Dibison's range of firing. It can fire in almost any direction.
- Tail Gun
The top of the tail gun can flip upwards. I'm not sure if the bottom part is also supposed to be a gun but it sort of looks like it. Maybe just a pipe? Either way, more guns ftw.
- Tail
A ton of the Dibison's gimmicks rely on a hinge joint, and this tail does too. It flips up and down but has no rotational ability otherwise.
- Detachable Cannons
Well, Dibison's most distinguishing feature is for sure the huge cannon assortment on its back! On the HMM version, however, this has been updated to detach and be a weapon all on its own. I have a whole lot of information to cover on this piece so here I'm just going to go over the detachment.
In the first couple of pictures you can see that the pieces on the back/sides of the cannon set can detach. Don't worry about putting a little bit of pressure on these, they use sturdy pegs meant to be constantly opened and closed. Detached they have a hinge joint that allows them to flip outwards and away from the cannon set. The third image shows the items detached and flipped outwards. The piece in the middle can also flip up and rotate backwards just a little.
Last but not least you'll see the legs that fold out from the bottom of the cannon pack, allowing this little piece to skitter around all on its own. The sides have two sets of three legs, and two additional legs that fold out from the back.
- Cannons - Back Interior
A lot to cover here, too. First we're gonna start off with a small radar dish. The main L-shaped arm flips out and a secondary joint in the arm flips upwards. The dish itself can spin in a full circle as if to rotate, and the whole radar section can flip forward through a slot on the armor, so that it can be up even when the panel is down.
Second up is the control panel. I can't remember if this Zoid actually comes with a second pilot or not, sorry! I borrowed Thomas from the cockpit to put here for an example. It has a large console to be flipped forward over the pilot.
The one loose piece problem I had with the Dibison was this orange piece, shown in the last couple of images. It is supposed to go up underneath of the inside (under the bar) but it is supposed to rely on pressure from the sides to keep it in. This does not work. Even if I could get it to just barely hang on for a few seconds as soon as I moved the Dibison it fell out. I recommend super glue.
- Cannons
Now for the big barrels! You can see that the four on the sides can rotate in and out. Not very far, but still. On a plus they can rotate seperately. The guns in the center are very impressive, all able to rotate their own way. They can't rotate outwards like the ones in the show but they all move separately. The annoying part here is that a green piece on the top blocks the center row from rotating all the way up, meaning they don't have the same range as the side barrels.
