Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack.
It's quite a bit bigger than you'd expect.

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Various angles (1/6)

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Various angles (2/6)

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Various angles (3/6)

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Various angles (4/6)

Various angles

Underside

Under the wings are a 20mm Gatling gun, rocket pod, and air-to-ground missiles.

Movement of the small Gatling gun under the nose section.

The propeller at the rear actually rotates too.

The cockpit opening. The doors open to the sides as well.

The seat can slide forward and backward, and the backrest and headrest angles are adjustable too.

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Trying out the Hexa Gear Early Governor Vol.3 in the cockpit. It's a bit tricky to get them seated prop

Trying out the Hexa Gear Early Governor Vol.3 in the cockpit.
It's a bit tricky to get them seated properly for various reasons..

Hexa Gear Steelrain - The front unit swapped out for the early-type canopy. The default front unit shown above is the late-ty

The front unit swapped out for the early-type canopy.
The default front unit shown above is the late-type.

The early-type canopy can be opened as well.

In the center underside of the body, there's a poseable arm and container unit.

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Structurally, those two sections tend to gap open easily, so you'll need to fuss with them a bit when g

Structurally, those two sections tend to gap open easily, so you'll need to fuss with them a bit when getting the angles right.

You can assemble it with the wings spread out like this and reposition the weapons.

With the main rotor folded and wings spread.

The wings can also be posed like this.

Hexa Gear Steelrain - You can use the extra parts to chain the rocket pods together in a row. The manual suggests extending u

You can use the extra parts to chain the rocket pods together in a row.
The manual suggests extending up to six, but you'd need to buy three kits to do that.. (-_-)

Mounted on a stand.

Leftover parts

Transformation

First, separate the parts as shown above.

Lower the tail section and fold it down like this.

Split the tail section in two and spread the vertical stabilizers out to form feet.

Fold them as shown to form the leg shape, then...

Fold the main rotor into the shape shown above.

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Rotate the Gatling gun under the wing 180 degrees horizontally to expose the arm, then rotate the shoul

Rotate the Gatling gun under the wing 180 degrees horizontally to expose the arm,
then rotate the shoulder section 180 degrees as well.

You can add weapon-mounting parts to the hands, which share the same structure as the bulk arms.

Pull out the head that was hidden at the top of the front unit.

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Transformed into humanoid mode. (1/7)

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Transformed into humanoid mode. (2/7)

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Transformed into humanoid mode. (3/7)

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Transformed into humanoid mode. (4/7)

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Transformed into humanoid mode. (5/7)

Transformed into humanoid mode.

You can also rotate the arm to use it as a Gatling gun.

Hexa Gear Steelrain - Action poses I struggled to pull off.. With weak joint strength and a hard-to-balance center of gravity

Action poses I struggled to pull off..
With weak joint strength and a hard-to-balance center of gravity, posing is just a pain..

Inside the thigh armor there's a random opening/closing unit too.

Together with the Forest Buggy.

Kotobukiya has released Steelrain as part of the Hexa Gear series. As you can see, it's a helicopter that transforms into a robot form just like a Transformer, and it's a concept that'll definitely appeal to anyone who has a thing for transforming robots.

Once you finish building it, the sheer size will catch you off guard — the large body measuring 35cm gives it a seriously impressive volume. (The ¥9,800 price tag is no small thing either.) The design itself is a sleek, futuristic combat helicopter, with a 20mm Gatling gun, rocket pods, and air-to-ground missiles hanging under the wings. The wings can move up and down, and can also be reassembled in the spread-out configuration.

You can choose between a clear early-type or an opaque late-type front unit, and both can be opened and closed. The cockpit seat slides forward and backward, and the backrest and headrest angles are adjustable — you can even seat a humanoid Governor figure inside. That said, the cockpit space is surprisingly roomy, which actually makes it tricky to get the figure to sit snugly.

The transformation from vehicle mode to humanoid mode is reasonably convincing, and the process itself isn't all that difficult. However, the combination of thin legs and a large upper body makes it incredibly hard to balance — it can barely stand on its own on a flat surface. The joint strength in the legs is also shaky, so to put it simply, don't expect much from the humanoid mode in terms of posing or proportions. You'll just have to be satisfied with the fact that it transforms into a robot at all. On the other hand, the vehicle mode is comparatively solid in terms of parts fit — just be mindful that the section where the tail connects and the propeller section that splits into the two legs tend to gap open easily.

Anyway, while the stability after transformation leaves a lot to be desired, the transformation concept itself is genuinely fun. The bigger hurdle is probably the price, which is close to ¥10,000 — but there's no denying it's an interesting kit in many ways. :-)

Hexa Gear Steelrain | 2020.9 | ¥9,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.