Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky (1/7)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky (2/7)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky (3/7)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky (4/7)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky (5/7)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky (6/7)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky (7/7)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Detail shots (1/6)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Detail shots (2/6)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Detail shots (3/6)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Detail shots (4/6)

Detail shots

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - As you can see, the upper body is big and the legs are spindly, so this kit real

As you can see, the upper body is big and the legs are spindly,
so this kit really needs a clear stand ^^;
You can just barely get it to stand on its own without a stand, but posing is out of the question.

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - The General Shield on the shoulder can be removed and attached to the forearm, a

The General Shield on the shoulder can be removed and attached to the forearm,
and there are 3 missiles hidden inside the shoulder.

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - The missile cover on the front of the shoulder is reproduced as a detachable pie

The missile cover on the front of the shoulder is reproduced as a detachable piece rather than a hinged opening.

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - The Franky Sword has a locking pin, so it fits securely into the hole in the han

The Franky Sword has a locking pin, so it fits securely into the hole in the hand.

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Articulation is, hmm... not quite as good as I expected ^^; The legs fold up com

Articulation is, hmm... not quite as good as I expected ^^;
The legs fold up completely thanks to the transformation gimmick, but that doesn't really help much with posing,
and the forearms only bend about 45 degrees, which is a bit disappointing.

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - On the plus side, the up/down and forward/back range of motion on the shoulders

On the plus side, the up/down and forward/back range of motion on the shoulders is great.

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - The hands are nice and big, with every knuckle articulated individually. The fee

The hands are nice and big, with every knuckle articulated individually.
The feel is similar to Kotobukiya's Iron Kong hands.

Rawr~

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Punting shot~ (1/4)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Punting shot~ (2/4)

Punting shot~

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Dynamic shots using those massive arms. (1/4)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Dynamic shots using those massive arms. (2/4)

Dynamic shots using those massive arms.

Missile launch~

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Franky Sword pose (1/3)

Franky Sword pose

Reproducing the General Cannon requires some additional parts.

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - General Cannon~ (1/4)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - General Cannon~ (2/4)

General Cannon~

Transformation

For the separation transformation, you first disassemble the body like this, and then...

You'll also need the separately included transformation parts.

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Remove the wristband from the wrist area, then use the separate parts to extend

Remove the wristband from the wrist area, then use the separate parts to extend and lock the wrist section longer.

Open the cover on top of the shoulder to expose the muffler,

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - then combine with the separately included wheels and body unit to complete the t

then combine with the separately included wheels and body unit to complete the transformation into the motorcycle-shaped
Kurosai FR-U No. 4. Transformation complete.

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Kurosai FR-U No. 4. (1/5)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Kurosai FR-U No. 4. (2/5)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Kurosai FR-U No. 4. (3/5)

Kurosai FR-U No. 4.

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Detail shots (1/3)

Detail shots

Underside view

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Next, to transform the body section, first pull the cockpit unit in the center o

Next, to transform the body section, first pull the cockpit unit in the center outward.

Fold the legs up completely,

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - then add the separately included head and combine everything as shown to complet

then add the separately included head and combine everything as shown to complete Brachio Tank No. 5!

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Brachio Tank No. 5 (1/4)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Brachio Tank No. 5 (2/4)

Brachio Tank No. 5

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Detail shots (1/4)

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Detail shots (2/4)

Detail shots

Cockpit open.

Underside view

One Piece Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky - Kurosai FR-U No. 4 and Brachio Tank No. 5. The transformation process is pulled

Kurosai FR-U No. 4 and Brachio Tank No. 5.
The transformation process is pulled off pretty cleanly ^^

Compared to the Grand Ship Collection, this thing is huge~

In Bandai's One Piece series, which had been all pirate ships as you'd expect from a pirate story, General Franky has now made his grand entrance as a plastic model kit. As you can see, he's a colorful, personality-packed robot design that also features a separation transformation into 2 different vehicles.

Just like the existing One Piece pirate ship series, this kit shows off excellent color separation combined with stickers for a great straight build result. Sure, applying all those stickers takes quite a bit of time, but the end result is pretty satisfying ^^

And despite the odd combination of massive arms and skinny legs, the joint strength is actually quite impressive — everything holds together solidly without a single polycap used. That said, the articulation feels a bit more limited than expected, so you can't really pull off a draw pose with the Franky Sword on the back. On the flip side, the clear stand holds the body nice and steady, so when you stretch out those big arms and hands, it looks absolutely imposing.

On top of that, you can configure the Kurosai FR-U No. 4 and Brachio Tank No. 5 through detachable transformation, and the shoulder missile cover and General Shield are also well-executed as detachable pieces. You can also recreate the General Cannon scene with the hands clasped together using separate parts, and overall the kit does a solid job of reproducing various features like the Franky Sword and the cockpit opening.

It's a fun kit that any One Piece fan should build at least once, but more than anything, it has a unique assembly feel and hands-on satisfaction that you just don't get from a typical Bandai Gunpla — so it's an easy recommendation as a character model kit for anyone who just wants an enjoyable build :-)

Iron Pirates BF38 General Franky | 2013. 12 | ¥4,300

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.