More Witch From Mercury this week with the HGWFM Demi Barding.
Fun Fact: I read "demi" in the sense of a demigod or demihuman for the longest time. I thought the Demi Trainer was a "sort of" trainer. And the Demi Barding was a "sort of" barding, which didn't make a lot of sense to me. It wasn't until I saw the Demi Garrison kit that I realized "Demi" was the base model name - like "Dilanza" or whatever.
That made me feel kind of stupid.
This is another really solid Witch From Mercury kit. All polystyrene parts. No polycaps. Everything cuts off the runner very nicely. Fits together very nicely. The color accuracy is pretty good - though there are a few color-correcting stickers.
I really wish I had a better solution for the eye though... The clear green just doesn't pop very well. I tried painting some chrome behind it and that doesn't do much either. I just don't have a recipe for anything that'll shine like the foil stickers do - and there isn't a sticker for the eye.
The legs have the same problematic ankles as the rest of the Demi kits. There's just no articulation in the ankles themselves. There's some good flex in the toes... But the ankle itself is solid. This significantly limits the kind of poses you can do and affects stability on its feet.
So we get the Demi Barding itself, two beam sabers, the rifle, that massive backpack, and a wire to connect things. No spare hands - but this will obviously work with the option parts for the Demi Trainer.
Also - there's no stand in the box, and it could really use one.
As you can maybe see - posing on the ground is a little limited due to those ankles. There's a limit to how much you can move those legs and maintain stability.
And as cool as the backpack is - it doesn't help with the stability any. This kit is very back-heavy with the backpack attached. Really wants to topple over backwards.
I like the inclusion of actual beam saber effect parts in this kit. I guess I don't expect a lot of weaponry out of "trainer" kits - but the previous kits (Demi Trainer and Chu Chu's Demi Trainer) felt kind of lacking without those effect parts.
As I mentioned, there's no stand in the box, and that's a shame. Getting this thing up on a stand really helps with the stability and allows for far more dynamic poses.
And, of course, you need a stand to display the Baori Pack on its own - which really looks pretty cool.
I really can't complain too much - it's another fantastic HGWFM kit.
But...
Those ankles remain problematic, and it really could've used a stand in the box. Even just one of those simple runnerless stands would've been better than nothing.
