Wave 1/20 Kröte Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

According to Wikipedia: "The story is set 880 years in the future. Events primarily take place between the years 2882 and 2886. A nuclear World War in 2807 destroys most of Earth's population, and renders the planet uninhabitable. About 50 years after the destruction, the Galactic Federation (details unknown) sent an investigative team to determine the condition of the planet. They discover the planet wave restored itself to a natural paradise and begin the process of sending colonists to populate Earth. The colonists prospered on the reborn Earth. Cities and towns are eventually reformed, but this growth attracts the attention of criminals, AWOL soldiers, political criminals, mercenaries, terrorists, and other people who had decided to leave civilized society, who began to make their way back to Earth as a suitable place for refuge. The Colonists had no real form of government to deal with the problem other than a few local militias.

The GF, concerned about the civil unrest and the Colonists forming their own independent government, gave the Strahl Democratic Republic (SDR) the right to govern the planet. The SDR's hard handed tactics to restore order; travel restrictions, hard labor camps for the unemployed, etc., created great resentment amongst the Colonists. The Colonists create the Earth Independent Provisional Government and declare independence from the Strahl Republic. The SDR immediately forms a puppet government and attempts to quell the uprising. The wealthy Colonists hire the mercenaries to form the Independent Mercenary Army. They attack the SDR forces and the war for independence and the control of the Earth begins."

I remember seeing various armored suit kits in the past for the series 'Maschinen Krieger' (Ma.K) but they seemed interesting enough though there didn't seem to be much of a following in the North American market. However, when Hasegawa threw their hat into the ring with their Falke Pkf.85, it was time to take a closer look.

Wave is one of the companies that produces the Ma.K armored suit kits and they've produced an interesting set of variants. We'd previously looked at a number of the armored suit releases but here is something different. In the Star Wars universe, this would be an Imperial AT-ST, but in the world of Maschinen Krieger we have an SDR 'Kröte' armored walker. Unlike the AT-ST, this one is an unmanned robot. A standing figure is provided to provide a display feature alongside this robot.

The kit is molded in RLM02-colored styrene and presented on six parts trees and a small set of clear parts for the various lenses. The instructions contain universal assembly drawings with captions in Japanese.

One thing you'll note when looking over the kit is that the model is designed to be articulated - movable. The feet are hinged as are the various leg joints, and they use the scale hydraulic actuators mounted onto nylon rings to keep the legs from collapsing.

As with the other releases in this series, the detailing is quite nice though you'll see some retro details that reflect World War II Wehrmacht engineering.

The kit comes with a variety of markings and maintenance stencils to allow you to create a unique look for your model.

This is another nice looking kit and offers a little variety for the hobby shelf.

My sincere thanks to HobbyLink Japan for this review sample!