Transforming Keropla God Keron's Keroro Robo Mk-II into its alternate mode called "Keroro Jet" is the focus this time. ^^
The shield and rifle must be detached first. Keroro and his control pod can stay put on top Keroro Robo Mk-II's body though. ^^
The cover behind the body is lifted for a full 90 degree.
The upper body is pulled upward.
The lower body is swung upward from the back for 90 degrees.
The spinal cover lifted earlier on now sits right on top of the rear hip, perfectly. ^^
The foot is bent downward using its ankle joint until its heel seems retracted into the rear ankle guard.
The side thruster is flipped upward for 180 degrees.
All the transformation steps mentioned above are repeated for the other leg.
The leg is bent upward via its knee joint. The foot is slide into the compartment between the shoulder and the figure of Keroro.
There's no tab or peg to secure the foot to Keroro Robo Mk-II's body. However, the edge of the sole touching and resting on the inner wall of the "collar" area can be used as an indicator that the foot's positioning is correct. ^^
Checking on the balance of both legs' positions on the body. ^^
Both arms are pulled outward using their shoulder blocks.
The forearm and hand unit are straightened.
The arm is flipped upward from the back for 90 degrees.
The shoulder needs to be bent outward slightly as well so that the wing doesn't hit the large V-fin.
The shoulder is folded downward until the expanded segment of the shoulder block sits inside the dedicated placeholder on the shoulder.
The forearm is rotated for 180 degrees at the elbow swivel until the shield slot is facing the top.
The shield and rifle are mounted on the left and right forearms respectively.
Done for Keroro Jet's transformation. ^^
The lower body's transformation reveals a peg slot on it main connector - the spinal column if you will. ^^ That slot can be used to mount Keroro Jet onto the figure's display stand. ^^
While the slot seems like it can accept the peg of other display stands like Action Display Base 2 to mount the model kit, unfortunately the opening beneath the body is too narrow for the stand.
A very small display base supporting a relatively huge model kit is mighty impressive. ^^
More images of Keroro Robo Mk-II in "Keroro Jet" mode:
Closeups on the details:
Bottom view:
As part of the "kiddy factors" mentioned in Part 24, the transformation is very simple, but pretty effective nonetheless. ^^ Except for having a ball-like nose on a really fat fuselage that totally defile aerodynamics, XD "Keroro Jet" does look kind-of believable as a fighter jet. XD
Impressively, unlike many other transformable kits, there's no part-swapping for any of the major components as well. ^^ While there's nothing wrong with part-swapping in transformation, complete transformation gives the model a more realistic feel. The models that transform that way feels like they are representing how the actual mecha transforms, not merely how they look like after the transformation sequence. Therefore, however simple the design is, I really appreciate the brilliance in part design to realize the complete transformation on Keroro Robo Mk-II, and the rest of the platoon as well.
Even more impressively, this is not the only mode Keroro Robo Mk-II is capable of transforming into. It was only labelled as the "Secret Mode" in its initial individual release, which isn't so secretive anymore now as all the gimmicks were revealed back in October 2007 when Dororo Robo Mk-II came out. ^^
For me, even though the formation of God Keron is definitely something I'm excited about, the experience of building the individual kit of Keroro Robo Mk-II tells me that the rest of his robo buddies are going to be extremely fun to put together, especially when the robot designs are getting weirder down the list. ^^
Not finish with Keroro Robo Mk-II just yet. ^^ Even though its transformation doesn't involve any part-swapping, you can play around with its joints to get certain different configurations. ^^
In Keroro Jet mode, the leg can be bent downward for the mecha's Gerwalk mode, or maybe it's Kerowalk mode. XD
Then again, the straight knee is inaccurate to the inverted knee as seen on Valkyrie fighters in Gerwalk mode.
How about this? ^^
The ball-type joints for the hip and ankle allow them to be rotated around to get the inverted knee, but the foot can be rotated so that it faces forward as well.
The inverted knee is capable of supporting the upper body very well. ^^
Another look at the inverted knee. ^^
With the arms deployed.
The complete Keroroid mode XD
It's tri-form transformation for Keroro Jet alone XD
I remember "Keroro Gunsou" poking fun at Gundam all the time, but not so much (or maybe none at all) at Macross. I wonder if Keroro watches that mecha anime series as well. XD If he's indeed a fan of Macross, he will definitely enjoy riding in Keroro Robo Mk-II now. It's the ultimate official and unofficial combination of Gundam and Macross elements. XD
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