Kit Review

Straight build

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Size comparison with a cigarette pack from various angles. It's a pretty big kit for a mecha plasti

Size comparison with a cigarette pack from various angles.
It's a pretty big kit for a mecha plastic model.

Compared to an adult male hand, it's roughly this size..

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Various angles (1/6)

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Various angles (2/6)

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Various angles (3/6)

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Various angles (4/6)

Various angles

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Detail shots (1/5)

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Detail shots (2/5)

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Detail shots (3/5)

Detail shots

Underside view.

The hands and feet can be swapped out for versions with the claws deployed.

Before/after claw deployment

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - A clear stand is included to support the large body — though if you balance the center of gravity p

A clear stand is included to support the large body,
though if you balance the center of gravity properly, it doesn't seem all that necessary.

The cockpit covers on the body can be opened.

The cockpit inside has some decent detail,
but you can't see any of it once the kit is finished.

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Arm and leg articulation range (1/3)

Arm and leg articulation range

Tail up/down articulation range

The gun barrel on the tail can rotate and be adjusted up and down.

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - The cover on the structure next to the gun barrel also opens, but the fit is loose so it tends to f

The cover on the structure next to the gun barrel also opens, but the fit is loose so it tends to fall off easily.

The 8 scale-like structures on the sides of the body are also articulated.

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Probably because the tail is so heavy, the connection between the body and tail tends to come apart

Probably because the tail is so heavy,
the connection between the body and tail tends to come apart easily.

Some accessory parts are also included.

Due to duplicate runners, there are some leftover parts.

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Pose with the body fully crouched (1/3)

Pose with the body fully crouched

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Attack pose with the tail raised up like a scorpion — the gun barrel is supposed to be pointing str

Attack pose with the tail raised up like a scorpion
The gun barrel is supposed to be pointing straight forward, but even with the body fully crouched and the tail raised to its maximum, it's still a bit short of that -_-

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Poses using arm and leg articulation (1/4)

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype - Poses using arm and leg articulation (2/4)

Poses using arm and leg articulation

Kotobukiya has officially kicked off their Ghost in the Shell S.A.C. (Stand Alone Complex) plastic model series. The first release is the HAW206 Prototype multi-legged tank — a scorpion-shaped insect-type mech. It made quite an impression in episode 2 of SAC as a runaway tank.

It comes in a military-style 1/35 scale, and once built, the sheer size of it is honestly surprising. When you think about the size of a standard 1/35 figure and how big it looked in the show, it does feel about right... but seeing it in three dimensions, it really is a big, hefty kit. That means a high parts count and a price tag of ¥6,800, which is on the expensive side — but considering this is Kotobukiya, whose value proposition is usually questionable, the price isn't actually bad for the size you're getting.

Looking at the overall appearance, the design was pretty much monochrome to begin with, so in terms of color separation it does a good job of capturing the look of the source material — but the desert-colored molded color feels a bit plain and kind of makes you want to paint it. The detail overall doesn't feel particularly fine, but then again the original design was smooth and clean, so it feels faithful to the source.

On the other hand, the cockpit detail inside turned out better than expected — it's just a shame you can't see any of it once assembly is complete. Flip that around though, and it's actually kind of impressive that they bothered to faithfully recreate interior structures that will never be seen. The claws on the hands and feet are reproduced by swapping in separate deployed-claw parts rather than using an articulated design. The parts don't look like they'd be that hard to engineer with articulation... so it seems like the design choice prioritized durability over functionality.

Some care has gone into the articulation of the multiple arms and legs and the multi-jointed tail, but it doesn't move as freely as you might hope. Rather than articulation, the bigger concern is joint strength given the size and weight — and thankfully, most of the arm, leg, and tail joints feel solid enough (stiff, even) without being loose. There is one problem spot though: the connection between the tail and the body keeps popping off or rotating on its own under the weight of the tail. That said, once you get it positioned right it doesn't sag on its own, and structurally speaking, that tail joint probably was a tough engineering challenge regardless.

Compared to other Kotobukiya kits, the snap-fit on this one is actually pretty well done — most parts hold together fine without glue. That said, for the structurally weak individual tail joints, gluing them is probably better for your sanity.

All in all, this is a kit that Ghost in the Shell SAC fans will find pretty exciting. Even from a general mecha model enthusiast's perspective, it's undeniably a unique one. For a Kotobukiya kit, the size-to-price ratio is surprisingly generous, and the build experience is pretty satisfying too. You can even roughly pull off the pose with the tail raised and the gun barrel pointing forward — so if you've had your eye on the SAC multi-legged tank, this is one distinctive kit you won't want to miss :-)

S.A.C. HAW206 Prototype | 2013. 10 | ¥6,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.