Tobot X

A robot from Korean screens

The Tobot brand was created in South Korea and rests on a simple idea that children grasp at once: an ordinary car unfolds and stands up on its legs as a fighter. The character marked with the letter X is one of the central heroes of this family, and according to the name that is exactly how it is designated. The maker of the kit is based in Korea as well, so it is a home treatment of home material.

A science fiction subject, not military hardware

The model belongs among science fiction and fantasy subjects, not among military hardware: the robot is a character from an animated series and not a real machine. That also shapes what the kit asks of you. There is no historical camouflage to match and no documentary photograph to check a shade against, so the colors are a matter of the series and of your own taste.

What to keep in mind during the build

Robot kits tend to be designed around colored plastic so that the result works even without painting. Anyone who still wants to paint should count on a coat of paint thickening the moving joints, which can start to bind, and that is why the mating surfaces are left bare. Sprue nubs on visible edges are best cut off with nippers and cleaned up, because the smooth surfaces of a robot show up every remnant of a gate. It is sensible to dry fit the assembly before the final build.

Models of this kind are a popular first project of one's own, because they call for neither spraying equipment nor experience with filling. At the same time they reward care: once the parts are rid of their gates and the surfaces are evened out, the finished piece looks markedly better than after a quick build. It is good to work on a light mat so that small parts do not disappear.