Hasegawa 1/20
Falke Antigravity Armored Raider Pkf.85

Background

According to Wikipedia: "The story is set 880 years in the future. Events primarily take place between the years 2882 and 2886. A nuclear World War in 2807 destroys most of Earth's population, and renders the planet uninhabitable. About 50 years after the destruction, the Galactic Federation (details unknown) sent an investigative team to determine the condition of the planet. They discover the planet has restored itself to a natural paradise and begin the process of sending colonists to populate Earth. The colonists prospered on the reborn Earth. Cities and towns are eventually reformed, but this growth attracts the attention of criminals, AWOL soldiers, political criminals, mercenaries, terrorists, and other people who had decided to leave civilized society, who began to make their way back to Earth as a suitable place for refuge. The Colonists had no real form of government to deal with the problem other than a few local militias. The GF, concerned about the civil unrest and the Colonists forming their own independent government, gave the Strahl Democratic Republic (SDR) the right to govern the planet. The SDR's hard handed tactics to restore order; travel restrictions, hard labor camps for the unemployed, etc., created great resentment amongst the Colonists. The Colonists create the Earth Independent Provisional Government and declare independence from the Strahl Republic. The SDR immediately forms a puppet government and attempts to quell the uprising. The wealthy Colonists hire the mercenaries to form the Independent Mercenary Army. They attack the SDR forces and the war for independence and the control of the Earth begins."

The Kit

I remember seeing various armored suit kits in the past for the series 'Maschinen Krieger' (Ma.K) but they were usually from specialty hobby companies, but when Hasegawa threw their hat into this ring, it was time to take a closer look. Their first entry into the Ma.K series is Pkf.85 Falke that is a subsonic raider that features an anti-gravity lift system and a more conventional forward thrust propusion system. This single-seat fighter is also endowed with a big gatling gun. The resulting subject looks like a cross between an A-10 Thunderbolt II and a Star Wars Snowspeeder.

The kit is molded in olive drab styrene and presented on five parts trees, plus a sixth tree molded in desert yellow containing the parts for the two crew figures. The instructions contain universal assembly drawings with captions in Japanese and English.

One of the unique features of the craft is the lack of windows. The pilot can evidently see through the technology and sits inside the armored shell. The kit has a hinged cockpit hatch, so you can pose the cockpit open and closed (movable). Also movable are the stabilator/airbrake paddles.

The kit features two optional crew figures, one seated for inside the cockpit and one standing.

Markings

The decals are provided for eight different subjects that are illustrated with the two full-color data cards included in the kit. The color schemes are inspired by a mixture of German World War Two aircraft and armor camouflage, so you can certainly improvise with other variations and combinations and armor and aircraft schemes to render a Falke for your tastes.

Conclusion

This is a nice looking kit and I've seen some interesting builds online, including one modeler who replaced the solid dome cockpit cover with a more contemporary windscreen and canopy. Since this is a subject out of the anime universe, you have few people who can tell you that your model is inaccurate!

Definitely recommended!

This kit is available at under $64 USD from HobbyLink Japan here.

My sincere thanks to HobbyLink Japan for this review sample!