Kit Review

Straight build
+ seals

One Piece Going Merry - Size comparison with a cigarette pack. At first glance it doesn't look that big, but in person the he

Size comparison with a cigarette pack.
At first glance it doesn't look that big, but in person the height is really quite tall.
It won't fit in most display cabinets. -.-

One Piece Going Merry - Let's take a closer look at the straight build before applying any seals. (1/6)

One Piece Going Merry - Let's take a closer look at the straight build before applying any seals. (2/6)

One Piece Going Merry - Let's take a closer look at the straight build before applying any seals. (3/6)

One Piece Going Merry - Let's take a closer look at the straight build before applying any seals. (4/6)

Let's take a closer look at the straight build before applying any seals.

One Piece Going Merry - Detail shots of the straight build. Pretty clean overall. (1/5)

One Piece Going Merry - Detail shots of the straight build. Pretty clean overall. (2/5)

One Piece Going Merry - Detail shots of the straight build. Pretty clean overall. (3/5)

Detail shots of the straight build.
Pretty clean overall.

One Piece Going Merry - Finished shots with all 3 sheets of seals applied to the straight build. The color separation is a bi

Finished shots with all 3 sheets of seals applied to the straight build.
The color separation is a bit lacking, so there's quite a lot of seals to put on..

The hull fits together with a solid structure, so assembly feels nice and stable.

One Piece Going Merry - The trickiest part when applying seals is the twenty-odd circular spots on the sides.. You have to ca

The trickiest part when applying seals is the twenty-odd circular spots on the sides..
You have to carefully stick small round seals onto convex surfaces, which is no easy task if you just go at it normally..

One Piece Going Merry - The trick here is to use a beam saber-type part with a round hole — match the hole to the size of the

The trick here is to use a beam saber-type part with a round hole
— match the hole to the size of the convex surface and press down firmly, and you can get the seal to stick flat surprisingly easily.
But as you're doing it.. you might start thinking it'd just be easier to paint them;;

One Piece Going Merry - Accessories like cannons and crates. There's no real way to fix them in place, so you either just set

Accessories like cannons and crates.
There's no real way to fix them in place, so you either just set them on top or glue them down.

A total of 6 character figures are included.

One Piece Going Merry - The anchor is secured with a long rope, and normally the rope is shortened and draped over the railin

The anchor is secured with a long rope,
and normally the rope is shortened and draped over the railing like that.

Detail shots of the bow section.

One Piece Going Merry - The sticker for the main sail is made of clear seal material.. but it's really hard to apply it flat

The sticker for the main sail is made of clear seal material..
It's really hard to apply it flat on that awkward curved surface, so it tends to wrinkle up like that. -.-
Using waterslide decals with Mark Softer would probably give a much better result.

One Piece Going Merry - Detail shots of the deck and stern area. (1/5)

One Piece Going Merry - Detail shots of the deck and stern area. (2/5)

One Piece Going Merry - Detail shots of the deck and stern area. (3/5)

Detail shots of the deck and stern area.

One Piece Going Merry - The masts and flag section.. The soft parts used for the ropes are absolutely excellent quality. Very

The masts and flag section..
The soft parts used for the ropes are absolutely excellent quality. Very satisfied.
The stickers for the flag section are also.. pretty hard to apply neatly;
It'd probably be better to just paint it black and then apply the skull sticker provided as a clear seal, or use a waterslide decal.

The cannon section on the side.

One Piece Going Merry - The black section in the middle, the vertical white strips, and the white railing in the center all h

The black section in the middle, the vertical white strips, and the white railing in the center all have to be covered with seals.

If they'd done proper color separation there, I would've loved it.. hmph.

The large rudder.

The elongated white sections on the back and bottom are also done with seals..

The Going Merry emblem on the stand.

One Piece Going Merry - In order: Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro figures. The facial detail is pretty much all

In order: Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro figures.
The facial detail is pretty much all mushed together — they're only recognizable by their overall shape.

The rudder section has a small range of movement as well.

Together with the MG Figure-rise Luffy.
Putting the two together actually works pretty nicely.

Out of nowhere, the Going Merry from One Piece has been released as a plastic model kit. The MG Figure-rise Luffy made enough sense, but this one is both surprising and a welcome addition.

This quirky item — not quite a proper warship like the Yamato, and not quite a traditional sailing ship model either — has been reimagined by Bandai into a pretty unique kit. It's hard to find anything to compare it to in terms of parts layout and build feel; it's just genuinely one-of-a-kind. Because of that, it's a really fresh and enjoyable build experience.

The assembly process is very efficiently laid out, as you'd expect from a modern Bandai kit, and it manages to deliver great volume and detail with a relatively small number of parts. The color separation issue was a point of debate even before release.. The entire black section in the middle of the hull is handled with seals, and while the white railing is well color-separated, the white area below the railing is only partially separated — so the straight build ends up feeling a bit half-finished. That's why they've included seals to cover all those missing colors..

But looking closely, these are areas where proper color separation would've been perfectly doable, and it leaves you with a nagging feeling that they just stopped halfway. The seal quality itself is acceptable, but there's still an unavoidable slight mismatch in appearance. More than that, the sheer amount of seal work across 3 sheets — which takes way longer than the actual assembly — is something that might get a little frustrating.

The large skull on the main sail is provided as a premium clear seal, but the surface curves so much that it looks nearly impossible to apply it flat.. It might be better to carefully use the waterslide decal included instead, but the decal is so large that it's still quite a challenge — you'll definitely want to have Mark Softer on hand when you tackle it.

The part I liked most about this kit is the various ropes rendered in yellowish soft parts.. The detail is great, the material feels sturdy, and they look the part. There's a generous amount of them too, which really helps bring the overall look together — they're easily my favorite parts in the kit.

The detail on the 6 included character figures is just average. They're a decent size for painting, though for the faces you'll basically have to freestyle it. Also, the kit is taller than you'd expect.. so it probably won't fit in most display cabinets — definitely worth keeping in mind.

It's not really a kit with much articulation, so it's more of a display piece as-is, but the build itself is genuinely fun — enough that I'd quietly recommend it. The seal work is a bit of a pain.. but once it's all done, it definitely looks better than the straight build. If you're a One Piece fan, this is an easy recommendation, and even if you don't know One Piece, I'd say borrow a volume from the library, give it a read, and then build this. It's the perfect cure when you're burned out on regular Gunpla. :-)

Going Merry | 2010. 12 | ¥4,300

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.