Bought a B.Duck on impulse for a kid who loves rubber ducks. Nothing could prepare me for this insanely goofy behemoth of a kit (B.Duck HipHop Duck review)
My daughter is obsessed with rubber ducks – always keeps a few in her purse, or some mini-ducks in her pocket – so when I saw an ad for a gorilla mech with a rubber duck pilot, I bought it on impulse to build for her. I didn't research it ahead of time, but it kind of reminded me of the Keroro mechs and I figured it might be like a little nicer version of that. A week later a gigantic almost Perfect Grade sized box arrives on my doorstep. I looked at my wife and said “Honey, I think I fucked up.”
This is indeed basically a PG-sized kit, maybe not in height because of the stubby legs but certainly in terms of overall chonk and shelf presence. It is by far the biggest model I have ever built (I don't really have the shelf space for big kits, but this one was for the kid at least). Luckily the part count is closer to a MG with around 400 parts, but it's still way more intense than what you would normally expect from these sorts of kid-oriented IP (think: Hello Kitty or Keroro).
It's also a gleefully absurd design. This seems to be the second (mostly) original kit in the B.Duck mech line, with the first being Spa Duck, a comparatively normal (or at least obvious) “bath time” themed mech. But this one’s concept was a little hard to figure out – a mix of Coca-Cola, B-Boy/80s Hip-Hop, Baseball, and Cowboy theming, that I eventually realized was intended to evoke “American” for a Chinese audience. Details include Adidas on the feet, Soda can six-shooters in the arms, baseball jacket chest details, soda can crotch, bottle cap bolts, a chain medallion with real metal links, and ridiculous 80s hip hop themed decals that say things like “Jam Master Duck” and “Straight Outta Playground.” You know, America stuff.
The build is fun, and not overly complicated. It has a full inner frame partly borrowed from the Spa Duck (cockpit and hips), but the arms and legs are new, as is all the armor/outer shell. The engineering and fit are high quality, but the limited articulation and abundant seam lines keep it from feeling like a Bandai MG build.
Actually sealing all of the seams would be a lot of work, so I didn't put too much effort in on that, though I did mitigate some of them with putty or glue without trying to get them perfect. On the more premium side, it does feature some cool electronic gimmicks, like magnet-activated lights and a spray can that makes sound effects. Includes both waterslides and sticker decals. There is a shoulder lamp that seems to have a space for an LED, but no LED included, oddly. Can easily get a magnet activated LED unit for $5 and pop it in there if it bothers you.
Since I am making it for my daughter I gotta put the effort in on a premium finish. I wanted to lean into the soda theme by giving it an anodized aluminum look like a coke can. I used Gaianotes Primary Metallic Red and then a second coat mixed with Clear Orange on top to get a more saturated color, and Tamiya Semigloss top coat from a spray can for the final satin finish. Some Mr. Hobby Red Madder on the non-metallic parts like the bottle caps and Spray Can, and Gaianotes Star Bright Iron and Stainless Silver for the gray metal. Quite happy with how the paint job came out.
It has a lot of silly accessories including a refreshments bucket and an ice tray with individual ice cubes. I used cement to close up the soda bottles watertight and then filled them with real cola, for a little extra realism.
Overall it's a fairly beginner friendly build considering the size and part count, except for a lot of undergating that needs to be cleaned up well (typical of Chinese kits). And some parts need a good bit of torque to go together. But I was more impressed that the assembled model actually feels incredibly kid friendly. You could give this model to a 7 or 8 year old as a toy and expect them to pose and play with it and not worry about anything falling off or coming loose. It's rock solid. It's also functionally designed to handle painting well without scraping, so even a fully painted kit like mine is capable of being a children's toy, which is a very rare thing in this hobby.
So while it might have been a little more than the weekend project and small shelf knick-knack I was expecting, I had a ton of fun building it, and the price was right (less than $60). The absurdity of the design and sheer size make it an absolute conversation piece. I don't know where she's gonna display this beast, but that's another issue.