Kit Review

Straight build + Seals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Various angles (1/8)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Various angles (2/8)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Various angles (3/8)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Various angles (4/8)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Various angles (5/8)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Various angles (6/8)

Various angles

The four cranes are articulated.

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Since this kit doesn't have much in the way of moving parts, let's take a slow walk through the assem

Since this kit doesn't have much in the way of moving parts, let's take a slow walk through the assembly process.
First, assemble the bow deck as shown above.

Build the bow superstructure and place it on top.

Add the helipad to complete the bow section.

Assembling the rear portion of the bow section.

Assembling the stern deck.

Assembling the stern superstructure.

The stern superstructure attached to the hull.

There are quite a few small drill pipe parts.

Place them around the ship as shown.

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Assembling the central superstructure. (1/3)

Assembling the central superstructure.

Attaching the derrick to the central superstructure.

The clear vertical pipe is fed through the hole in the middle of the ship.

Finally, assemble and attach the side structures of the central section — assembly complete!

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (1/14)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (2/14)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (3/14)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (4/14)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (5/14)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (6/14)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (7/14)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (8/14)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (9/14)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (10/14)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (11/14)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu - Detail shots of various parts of the hull. (12/14)

Detail shots of various parts of the hull.

The pipe running through the center of the hull.

Together with previous releases.

This kit is the 1/700 Chikyu released as part of Bandai's Exploring Lab series, a plastic model of the deep-sea drilling vessel that uses drills to investigate the Earth's crust several kilometers below the ocean floor.

First off, it's a rare thing to see a modern ship plastic model from Bandai, and the assembly experience is fantastic — you build it up section by section, just like actually constructing a real ship. The color separation is well done, and the green areas on the deck are carefully reproduced with a generous number of seals, so the straight build quality is really impressive. As you can see, even a straight build results in a very colorful finished look, and true to Bandai form, it snaps together solidly without any glue.

Aside from the three cranes that rotate horizontally, there aren't really any other moving parts, so it's essentially a pure display model — but the assembly process itself is so engaging that it honestly feels more fun to build than just about any other plastic model out there. It's like putting together a precision LEGO set, with all these small, colorful parts clicking together smoothly and locking in nice and firm. All in all, this seems like a fantastic plastic model that I'd especially recommend to anyone who loves the hands-on joy of building. :-)

Exploring Lab. Chikyu | 2012. 11 | ¥5,700

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.