Wednesday 1 April 2009

Takara Kerberos Panzer Cop Saga ~ Panzer Jäger Tetsorou Kai.











A (mis) interpretation :

Name : Tetsuya König.
Age : 28 years old.
Rank : Major -Molosser Panzerjäger Spezialkräfte; 1st Panzer Lehr Division; Japan Ground Self Defense Force Bodenselbstverteidigungsstreitkräfte.
Armour Type : Spezial Panzer Anzug Typ 61 (Pz.Kpfk.61).
Std. Armaments : Maschinengewehr 42 machine gun, Panzerfaust 60 anti-tank weapon, Luger P08 artillery sidearm; Stielhandgranate model 24 hand grenades, "Stahlfraser" katana, "Molosser Klauen" steel claws.

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Latest fifth release from Takara (the male Panzer Cop, the three variants of female versions) on their Kerberos Saga range, called Tetsorou Kai of the Japan Ground Self Defense Force. The is the military ie Panzer Jäger protect suit version based on the prototype first used during the Battle Of Stalingrad. It is bulkier and fuller comparitively, with equally excellent articulation expected from Takara on this range. I like the tougher, heavier armour design, and the olive green is actually ok as oppose to when I first saw it on web. The hound mask is different and looks very much fiercer than the Panzer Cop version. Molosser, mentioned in the Wiki, is an ancient war hound. The base Stahlhelm helmet is the same but comes with a separate front half helmet to be strapped on. As usual, I have issue with their decals but a little extra caution carry will get the job done...although the part where I slot in the second bullet cartridge broke when I pressed too hard...luckily it attached back albeit abit loose...the tube where it attach to the breathing mask seem glue on and felt like it is going to give up soon (which I cross my finger it won't happen)...nice to see it actually come with an additional faceless head, for easier slip on of the balaclava, but I suppose it has got to do with some complaints that the fabric is staining the character's face after a while. The weapon which comes with it include the removable grenades attach to both legs (and can be removed to be placed either on the lower legs or on the tight area) and the infamous anti-tank rifle, Panzerbüchse 39 (PzB 39)  which, historically, is discontinued halfway through WWII due to improvement of Allied tanks armour and also reliability issue. Subsequently, I decided to arm this guy with a MG-42, supposedly as an upgrade to the military as opposed to Panzer Cop usage of MG-34. Decided to ditch the Panzerbusche 39 (passing it to the kitbash Panzer Cop sniper instead) to a metal Panzerfaust 60, metal link bullets from MG08 (which by the way not accurate but looks cool), replace the hand grenades with metal version, all from DID, and finally, an arm shield from a spare Kerberos parts to "ensure" better bullet feeding to the MG 42, a pair of extra knee pad from another Molosser, as elbow padding. Again my amaturish attempt at "recreating" an alternative senario for the creation of the Molosser did not work out..this time round, I am lazy and bulk of infos from Wiki. Couple of months later, got imaginative (well, as creative as my dull-ish mind could achieve anyhow...), took off the half baked backpack and replaced it with a proper one, courtesy of a Kerberos police officer. Then added those ninja era three claws (from Hot Toys) like thingy onto each of his hand, to serve as...claws of the hound (whatever that means..) plus a nice katana, shovel, food canteen (?), coz I wanted him to be like a human panzer tank. In real life, this poor fella would have been weighed down severely by the load alone hehe. But then this is fiction and I am happy to let it run wild. And that's the beauty and enjoyment of kitty bashing a figure I suppose. Finger cross he won't collapse under his own weight :P

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