Mailes Byakuchi (Drill And Claw Arm)

Mailes Byakuchi with a drill and a claw arm

Mailes Byakuchi (Drill And Claw Arm) is a kit of a combat machine from the world of Kyoukai Senki by the manufacturer Bandai. The addition in brackets specifies the form: the machine is listed with a drill and a claw arm, that is with working rather than purely combat limb attachments. The model is snap-fit, the parts are molded in color and click together, so you build it without glue and without paints.

The real subject

Kyoukai Senki, also given as Amaim Warrior at the Borderline, is a Japanese mecha series with piloted combat machines. Mailes is one of the designations of combat machines in it and Byakuchi is one of them. The variant with a drill and a claw changes the character of the machine: on the ends of the arms it carries tools that show up on the model as pronounced sub-assemblies built separately.

Building and painting tips

Nip the gates off a little way from the part and level the rest with a sharp blade in two passes, so that no light burr is left on the colored plastic. The drill and the claw are the most striking parts of the model and it pays to set them apart: a metallic shade applied with a brush or a pigment patina on the edges will lift the whole model more than anything else. Bring out the engraved lines with a weathering paint and finally unify the surface with a matte varnish. When spraying, use a primer and preferably acrylic paints; a strong lacquer thinner can set off hairline cracks in thin parts under tension.

Who the model is for

• Fans of the Kyoukai Senki series and collectors of robot models.
• Modelers who want a machine with unusual arm attachments in the display case.
• Beginners, because the build needs neither glue nor paints.
• Those who are building the whole group of machines from this range.