IMAI ZERO X AT GLENN FIELD

Here are a few photos of my large Imai Zero X kit, all fully assembled and ready for a trip to Mars.

I'm really pleased with its look, even though it’s not a totally accurate representation of the original filming model.

As I said in my previous post about making the kit, I do see it as more of a toy than a model, so I’m not overly concerned about how accurate it looks.

It's a fair size kit. The wingspan is more or less a third longer than the Aoshima  Zero X,  for which I originally built the Glenn Field diorama  so the Imai does look much bigger in scale , which isn’t a bad thing as far as I’m concerned.

The whole thing can be separated into five parts – heat shield, MEV, main body, lifting body 1 & 2 which is handy for storing it.

The main body is fitted with a motor (which you have to buy separately as Imai don’t provide one, although they do supply all the wiring and connections, including a battery compartment) which is operated by turning the middle engine bell on the lower bank of five.  Although, the kit can be built as just a free wheeler, without any motor if desired)

When it’s separated from the main body the MEV uses a key operated clockwork motor set on four wheels which allow it to accelerate at an excessive speed across a flat surface.

Both the lifting bodies have a couple of spring loaded missiles housed in each side of the wing engines.

Keeping that ambiguity between model and toy, Imai provide quite a few water slide decals which really enhance the kit’s look. These can be quite fiddly and some require a little trimming to make them sit right.

But they are worth the effort and when the toy is not whizzing across your playroom, it can look good in your display cabinet.

That leads me to another thing I noticed. While looking on line I found loads of photos from the box and the unmade kit but none assembled. This is a relatively easy kit to put together, you don’t even have to paint it, and the end result is infinitely more enjoyable than looking at a box of parts.

So if anyone has got one of these kits gathering dust in their collection, my advice is get it opened and make it.