Kotobukiya's MSG MW-20 Gatling Gun Part 1

For the love of Gatling gun
Backing to assembling model kits after the review on Revoltech Ingram Unit 1, ^^ but this kit is going to be quite different from all the other ones assembled so far. ^^

This is MW-20 Gatling gun from Kotobukiya's Modeling Support Goods (M.S.G.) - Weapon Unit series. It was released in March 2011 at 630 Yen (inclusive of tax).



If you don't know this already, the M.S.G. has many subcategories that cover almost all accessories, joints, upgrade parts, extra parts for model kit modification, display base, display cases and many other wacky but useful items for your model kits. ^^ The extra thruster nozzles used for the Funnels on my HGUC Sazabi reviewed last year were from the M.S.G. series as well, but unlike the Gatling gun (obviously), they are from the Pla Unit subcategory instead.

More information, including a full listing of all releases in the M.S.G. series can be seen on Kotobukiya's dedicated page for this product line. ^^

As the name depicts, all of M.S.G.'s items are meant to compliment your model kits. It's a different story for me with MW-20 Gatling gun though. ^^; I like this weapon unit very much and view it pretty much on the same level as a model kit on its own. ^^ I think my liking towards this model kit has a lot to do with my feeling towards the Gatling gun (or mini gun) as a weapon unit. ^^ It's a very "cost-ineffective" weapon as the design stems from the idea of firing as much and as fast as you can with very little regards to precision, hoping that you'll hit the enemy with that much firepower. ^^; It's useful as anti-air attack on warship or fighter jets, as their aerial adversaries are fast and the sky is virtually unlimited. On the contrary, I don't really see that much usefulness of Gatling gun for ground combat. ^^;

Still, it's a really coolsome weapon design. The first crazy Gatling gun action I saw was in the movie "Predator", when Mac (Bill Duke's character) freaked out when he first detected the Predator warrior and started mowing down trees and bushes with his friend's mini gun. ^^;


The mini gun action starts at 0:40 mark in the video.
Video clip is from Youtube. Follow this link to the website if you can't see anything.
The "cost-ineffectiveness" of the weapon is totally demonstrated when Poncho (Richard Chaves's character) - the soldier with the hat on in the video came back from his sweep and reported, "No blood, no bodies. We hit nothing!" ^^;

Or maybe it's Mac's poor aim to be blamed. XD

Just like how many people favor huge swords on their model kits, I favor Gatling Gun - the more the bigger the merrier, XD and this M.S.G. Weapon Unit is just the right release to suit that fantasy of mine. ^^ It's like Lego sets to me - one allows you to construct the basic model, but when more comes in, the possibilities for add-ons and creative variations can be limitless. ^^

While the design and appearance of this M.S.G. Weapon Unit set are good enough for me, it has another special fun gimmick: a wind-up motor part is included that will allow the barrel to rotate, just like the actual weapon, albeit slower that is. ^^; It's a common feature in those old Takara Tomy's Zoids model kits I believe, where the wind-up motor parts are used to give those completed models the ability to move. It's kind of childish to some, but at least there's some playability with this weapon unit on its own. I'm not too keen about the gimmick myself, mainly because the design and appearance are the only things I'm looking for in this kit, but the special gimmick is a good bonus nonetheless.

For your information, this is actually the first release in the entire M.S.G. Weapon Unit that incorporates such gimmick, ^^ not that many other weapons out there would need this gimmick to be honest XD

Closer look on the content of this M.S.G. Weapon Unit set:


Rear view of the package.



Just a very simple plastic package for the content where the backdrop is the assembly guide.


As printed on the cardboard, the weapon is suitable for model kits of about 15 to 20cm in "size" (height I suppose), which is the range of a typical 1/144 or 1/100 scale model kit.


Content


All three runners for the M.S.G. Weapon Unit set.
As the part count is low, there's only part numbering but no separate label for any of the runners.






Closeups on the runners.
It's great to see that some parts have clever design to minimize visible cut marks. ^^


All the parts are removed from their runners.
As the part count is low, I didn't bother doing my usual organization for the different components. ^^


The wind-up motor part mentioned earlier on. ^^


Including the wind-up motor part, there are only 30 parts for this kit.




Following the assembly guide closely, the wind-up motor part is fixed inside the Gatling's housing.



The barrels and securing cap are added on to the rotor.


Other separated components include ammo pack, handle, supporting grip, the cap to conceal the wind-up motor's button and an optional extension component to connect the weapon to other model kits.


Separable components of the weapon before the final assembly.


The wind-up motor's button is hidden with the cap shown earlier on, which in turn becomes the trigger to fire the barrel's rotating gimmick.


All done for the Gatling Gun. ^^
More images of this completed "model kit": ^^






Closeups on the details:









Putting on the barrels is the most enjoyable part of the assembly for me, as it's the step when the look of the Gatling Gun starts to emerge. ^^ In the case of assembling large swords, putting on the blade is the equivalent fun part I suppose. ^^ On the other hand, I sort of wish that the barrels could be made a little longer though, so that the entire weapon would look a little larger. ^^;

On a separate note, you can also see that there are many connectors and slots designed on the body of the weapon. They are obviously meant to connect to other models kits, or to combine with more weapon units to form your imaginative super weapons. ^^ It's great to see that their appearance is pretty "subtle" and doesn't stand out too much as the obvious "toy factor". ^^

A look at the special rotating barrel gimmick:


Video clip is from Youtube. Follow this link to the website if you can't see anything.
The sound made by the motor can be treated as the weapon's sound effect, which is quite a good compliment XD

While I'm quite satisfied with the weapon unit itself, it's still important to show it wielded by model kits and figure, which will be covered in the next posting. ^^