Romu Eva-01 Test Prototype (no scale)

By Lorna Jenkins

Introduction - Neon Genesis Evangelion

One of the most popular anime series in recent times would have to be Neon Genesis Evangelion. Excellent animation, interesting characters and some really cool weaponry! Set in 2015, Earth has being invaded by the Angels, huge, powerful alien war machines. In order to fight the invaders, the Evangelions are developed. These are humanoid fighting machines piloted by teenagers who are able to interface with the mecha itself. Eva-01 is the machine of Ikari Shinji and has been a very popular subject for kit manufacturers.

The Kit (Click on thumbnails for full image)

This kit by Romu is another take on the Eva-01. In general, mecha kits are statically posed to allow for ease of construction. This one however, is a little different. Although you can't tell from the box art, the figure is posed as if it's in the middle of a fight, glancing warily around, arms extended ready to fire the weapon clasped in the hands and legs are splayed for better support. A very dynamic pose. Although this kit is smaller than many Eva kits (approx 15 cm) there is a lot of detail here. The kit itself is in resin and comes in 18 parts with crisp detail but a certain amount of cleanup on the seams and removal of tabs etc will have to be done. All the parts fit together well and construction is fairly simple. The only pitting I could find on the resin is fortuitously in a place where it will eventually be covered by the figure's armour. Your typical basic instruction sheet is supplied and the decals are attached to it.

This machine wears an interesting scheme of muted purple and olive (not as bad as it sounds, trust me). If you don't feel like mixing your own paints in order to get the correct colour, Gunze Sangyo have a range of "Evangelion" paints which have been approved by the creators of the series.

Conclusion

The attitude of this figure makes this model. There is a feeling of aggressiveness inherent in the model which brings life to what is a reasonably simple kit. If you like mecha or if you are into Evangelion, you'll like this kit.

My thanks to Hobbylink Japan for the review sample.