Escaflowne - Good Smile Company Moderoid figure model review

I remember watching a couple of episodes of Escaflowne a long while ago (maybe 20 years?) on something like Cartoon Network, but never really got into it. At the time, I was really into Gundam Wing, and was looking for giant space battles. Escaflowne came across as more of a knights-in-armor kind of thing, so it didn't grab me at the time. That said, I did always think the main mech was cool looking and very unique (though now it sort of reminds me of Tallgeese).

Spending more time at home for the majority of 2020 reignited my old hobby of model kit building. I built quite a few during the year, and even took a couple of forays into areas I hadn't been brave enough to try out before. As a result, I've been looking at some snap-together, pre-colored figure kits. When I spotted the Moderoid version of Escaflowne, I was interested enough to add it to my wish list. A generous relative caused it to show up on my doorstep.

I just recently completed the build, and wanted to preserve my thoughts here. As with just about anything, the Moderoid Escaflowne has some strengths and some weaknesses. The box art is beautiful, and the instructions are clear and easy to follow. The kit is a relatively simple and quick build, and you end up with an articulated Escaflowne at the end of it. There aren't many figures of Escaflowne that have been produced, and the ones I can find tend to be on the more expensive side. I figured this would be an acceptable substitute. 

On the down side, the finished mech is pretty small, standing about 5 &1/4" tall minus the helmet spike. The detail is soft and sparse - even if I were to try to panel line this fellow, there just isn't much to line. There are some noticeable gaps at the seams of some parts that won't go together any tighter, and other places where parts fall off easily. The articulation is hindered in many places because of the suit's design, but the model doesn't really try to incorporate any engineering to overcome that. What I mean is that with the Infinitism models, as well as with 1/100 Gundam models I have built, there is some really creative engineering within the design of the arms at the elbows, or at the legs in the knees, where panels slide out of the way and allow for additional movement. Not so here.

Most frustrating to me is the paint work, or lack thereof. Significant paint apps shown on the package and prototype pics are absent: the plastic cape is red on both sides though it's shown as red/blue in the package, while the cloth version is red/dark blue (or black- can't really tell). The cloth is pretty vinyl-feeling, and I don't think it will drape the way I want, though I honestly haven't tried it attached yet. There are no gold highlights anywhere on the model, so any spots you see gold on the package or prototype pics were customized (the majority of the sword hilt, for instance, is supposed to be gold, but is actually just grey plastic, and the bottom tips of the cape, and the ribbons on the back have gold highlights in the box pics, but none in reality). 

In short, the model feels really cheap. In no way does this compare to a MG Gunpla or to Bandai's Infinitism series, despite a price tag hovering north of $60. If I had it to do over again, I would have passed on this and picked up an Infinitism Getter Dragon instead. I may opt to add some paint details over time, as well as some additional spots of glue, but overall this is a disappointing figure that I would not recommend to anyone who is not completely enamored by the anime it is based on. However, for those who love the source material, you may be very happy with this figure, and I'm sure that with a little work and patience, it could be customized into a much better looking replica.