Kit Review

Straight build + panel lining + partial painting + decals

Size comparison with the universal standard — a cigarette pack

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - Upper body front shot. The partial painting has gone way beyond "partial" level;; Quite a

Upper body front shot. The partial painting has gone way beyond "partial" level;; Quite a lot of work involved..
Used the enamel wash method where you flow it in and wipe it off, which also gives a slight weathering effect.

Rear view.

The head is 100% identical to the original Ingram Unit 1.

Pilot Noa.. her outfit has changed a bit.

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The rubber parts of the Reactive Armor even come with these huge gate marks;; (Looks like

The rubber parts of the Reactive Armor even come with these huge gate marks;; (Looks like a vaccination scar??)

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The rubber material on the Reactive Armor is just kind of sketchy -_-; It's soft and plia

The rubber material on the Reactive Armor is just kind of sketchy -_-;
It's soft and pliable, but the surface is absolutely slick with oiliness, and it gets all over your hands.
I scrubbed it hard thinking it might be mold release agent, but it doesn't really come clean..
And weirdly, it attracts dust like crazy. Leave it out in the air for just a few days and it seems to suck up every dust particle around it ;;;

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - Pilot before and after painting. The Reactive Armor pilot has a slightly different helmet

Pilot before and after painting. The Reactive Armor pilot has a slightly different helmet shape,
and the outfit has changed from short sleeves to long sleeves.

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The Reactive Armor has a different hand configuration compared to the normal version. In

The Reactive Armor has a different hand configuration compared to the normal version.
In particular, that baton (;;) comes molded together with the hand as one piece, which gives it better proportions.
And there's also a new dedicated hand for holding the revolver.

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The cockpit hatch can't be opened separately — you have to remove the front armor panel t

The cockpit hatch can't be opened separately — you have to remove the front armor panel to access it.

Outer armor removed

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - Inner frame shot. Look closely and you'll spot quite a few differences from the normal ve

Internal frame.
Look closely and you'll spot quite a few differences from the normal version.

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - Since there's no external armor attached, most of the arm and leg frames have been replac

Since there's no external armor attached, most of the arm and leg frames have been replaced.
All the armor attachment pins on the shoulders, arms, thighs, and knees have been removed.

Comparison with the normal version arm frame. You can see the differences, right?

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - Left is the normal version, right is the Reactive Armor version leg. As mentioned above,

Left is the normal version, right is the Reactive Armor version leg.
As mentioned above, the external armor attachment pins on the legs have been removed.

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The back frame has also been changed — pins have been added to secure the Reactive Armor,

The back frame has also been changed — pins have been added to secure the Reactive Armor, and the detail has been revised as well.

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - Shield comparison between the normal version and the Reactive Armor. The Reactive Armor o

Shield comparison between the normal version and the Reactive Armor. The Reactive Armor one looks tougher ^^;

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - Articulation feels slightly better than the normal version, probably because the soft rub

Articulation feels slightly better than the normal version,
probably because the soft rubber feels a bit more pliable.
But when you actually try posing it, the real-world difference isn't that noticeable.

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - If you force the arm, it can bend almost completely — but in practice, the rubber's elast

If you force the arm, it can bend almost completely --
but in practice, the rubber's elasticity just springs it right back open. OTL

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - As you can see, the arm in frame-only state has a double joint by default, so of course i

As you can see, the arm in frame-only state has a double joint by default, so of course it folds completely.

Quick-draw action

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The Reactive Armor loses the extending right arm gimmick, but if you just bend the legs s

The Reactive Armor loses the extending right arm gimmick,
but if you just bend the legs slightly, grabbing the gun isn't much of a problem.

Action po~se

The Reactive Armor has some serious issues with action poses —
the shoulder armor doesn't rotate and is fixed in place, so when you raise the arm, the rubber sleeve on the arm gets pushed and pops off like that;;

Raise the arm out to the side and it pops off the same way..

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The rubber on the legs is also so soft that it pops off easily with even the slightest mo

The rubber on the legs is also so soft that it pops off easily with even the slightest movement.. T_T

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - Actually, the design intends for a round retaining plate to be attached over the shoulder

Actually, the design intends for a round retaining plate to be attached over the shoulder rubber
before inserting it into the body to keep it from coming off — but the problem is the rubber doesn't stay attached to that retaining plate properly T_T.
Even gluing it doesn't hold well, it's just a total headache..

Still, it does look pretty cool ^^;

Baton action

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The wrist joint is so loose that it can barely hold the baton up — it just droops down on

The wrist joint is so loose that it can barely hold the baton up — it just droops down on its own.

With the face guard on.

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The included 1/35 Shigeo and Asuma figures. The Reactive Armor series uniquely includes t

The included 1/35 Shigeo and Asuma figures.
The Reactive Armor series uniquely includes two standing figures per kit. (Because it's more expensive??)

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The Reactive Armor kit leaves a ton of leftover parts. That said, you can't convert it ba

The Reactive Armor kit leaves a ton of leftover parts.
That said, you can't convert it back into a normal Ingram; they're just leftovers from how the runners are laid out.

A shot alongside the normal version.

The body design is quite different, but the head is the same.

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The Reactive Armor feels like a slight step down in quality from the normal version, but

The Reactive Armor feels like a slight step down in quality from the normal version, but paint it up nicely and it actually looks pretty sharp.

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type - The joints on the Reactive Armor kit are strangely loose across the board — in particular

The joints on the Reactive Armor kit are strangely loose across the board —
in particular, the waist joint connection, which was already weak on the normal version, is even worse here.
It barely holds together, so if you pick it up by the upper body, the lower half automatically separates and falls off;;
It's a really nerve-wracking point unless you glue it in place..

Straight build photos

In addition to the Ingram Units 1 through 3 that were already released, a Reactive Armor version has now been added to the lineup. This version replaces the body's external armor with Reactive Armor plating and changes the arm and leg armor to soft rubber — and there are quite a few differences reflected in the actual kit as well. The problem, though, is that the overall quality feels like a bit of a step down -.-;;

First of all, the rubber parts added for the Reactive Armor arms and legs have a really sketchy feel to them. When you first open the packaging, they're absolutely slathered in what must be mold release agent — just dripping with oily shine. So when you touch them with your hands, fingerprints show up badly and it's just generally kind of gross. But if you scrub them clean with detergent, this time all the sheen disappears and they end up looking weirdly rough and dull.

On top of that, whatever this material is made of, the surface has a slight tackiness to it that acts like a dust magnet -_-; Leave it out in the air for just a few days and dust sticks all over it, making it look filthy. When I was taking the review photos above, I used tape to quickly remove the dust beforehand — but dust was still settling on it while I was shooting, so you can even see it in the photos;; It's really a troublesome material. If you want to paint the rubber parts, there are a lot of extra things to worry about, just like with soft vinyl kits.

The Reactive Armor on the body looks pretty bare without at least some partial painting, but if you do go for partial painting, you basically end up having to paint almost the entire thing. For the kit above, I used a combination of roughly brushing on enamel and wiping it off with thinner on a tissue, along with regular brush painting — and once you get the color in there, it actually looks quite a bit better than you'd expect. ^^ Of course, you'll also want to paint the clear parts on the head and the figures to really make it look its best..

The strangest thing about this Reactive Armor kit is that the joint strength is different from the normal version. As you can see in the frame shots above, the arm and leg frames on the Reactive Armor are all-new parts with the external armor attachment pins removed — but in the process, the joints have somehow become noticeably looser. The forearms, the knees.. especially the hip joints, which have gotten weirdly loose, and the waist joint pops off really easily (like, really easily). That makes action poses quite a struggle, and if you pick it up by the upper body, the lower half drops straight to the floor.. T_T

On top of that, there's the same issue that existed on the normal version — the rubber's elasticity limits how far you can bend the joints. The forearm frame is capable of a full bend, but once you fold it, the elasticity of the outer rubber armor slowly pushes it back open on its own. The new hand parts are also a bit off and don't attach securely to the wrist. In short, the joints have become absolutely terrible — out of the three Reactive Armor kits I've actually built, two of them are bad and one is somewhat better. That could mean there's a luck-of-the-draw factor involved, but the one that's in relatively better shape is one I picked up quite a while after the initial release, so it's possible the molds were revised at some point. Either way, before or after any revision, this kit has a lot of joint-related problems.

With the switch to Reactive Armor, whether it's because that sketchy rubber material is expensive or what, the price has gone up by 1,000 yen on top of everything else, landing at 4,000 yen. The head is the same as Unit 1, and only some of the external armor and the hand parts have been changed — so that price increase is a bit hard to swallow. And it's hard to justify it just because they threw in one extra standing figure either.. hmm.

I've been listing nothing but negatives ^^; On the plus side, it does a decent job of capturing the unique Reactive Armor look, and with some decent paint work it has a pretty imposing style. But between the weakened joints, the weird rubber material, the noticeably lower out-of-box quality, and the higher price, it's not a kit I'd really recommend unless you're an Ingram fan who's already planning to paint it. You can tell the developers put some thought into differentiating this product, but there are some mold-related missteps that leave it in a kind of awkward~quality zone..;

MG Ingram 1 ~ Reactive Armor Type | 2002.5 | ¥4,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.