Sunday, October 14, 2007

Official Fusion: Double Arms Lizard

Name: Double Arms Lizard
Type: Chimera
Alignment: Republican
Components: Leoblaze, Unenlagia
Colours: Red, Blue, Grey (official model colour is white)



Instructions: Double Arms Lizard
Instructions are step-by-step with accompanying images. They are in a .pdf file. I am currently hosting the files with MediaFire.com, as it provides free file hosting and does not delete inactive files. If anyone can suggest a better host, please do so, although so far MediaFire seems adequate. To get the file, you need to click the link to go to the site for the download.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Update #002

Yay, I've taken lots of photos of all 17 of my Zoids, and added them to all of the Zoid model posts. I have used low-quality thumbnails so they shouldn't take long to load, and you can click on the ones you want to see the full image of, and in higher quality. I even took a photo of Leosune, my custom repainted Leoblaze, he's in the Leoblaze model review post.

I plan to start fusing my Zoids and attaching step-by-step instructions, probably in .jpg or .pdf format depending on if I include text or not. Before I create some custom Zoid designs (I already have one in mind I have previously created, Leo Guardian, who is made from Leoblaze and Mosasledge), I will be posting instructions for the Double Arms Lizard, an official Zoid that can be made with Leoblaze and Unenlagia. Once I have a few different fusions up, you can easily find the ones you want according to which Zoids you have by using the keywords to the right in the Posts About... section. So far they only link to the model reviews of course.

Zoid Models: 16
No new Zoids this update.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Model: Unenlagia

Official:
Designation: BZ-002
Type: Unenlagia Dinosaur
Alignment: Republican
Movement: None
Colour: Blue and Grey
Special: Can fuse with 3 others to form the Matrix Dragon
Approximate Size: About 16cm long and 7cm high when posed horizontally, and about 12cm long and 10cm high when standing more upright.

Review:
Unenlagia is a lovely blue raptor-like Zoid with great articulation. He can stand reasonably upright or more horizontal in a stalking pose, and being a Blox/Z-Builder, his limbs all move well. He can be a little unstable and the weight at the front can pull him down, but he is easy to pose if you balance him right. The blue works well with the orange canopies and eyes. Unenlagia is very useful for fusing, with nice parts including his nice face, the gun tail and his clawed arms and feet, as well as the guns attached to his arms. Unenlagia can be fused easily with other Zoids, and is easy to reassemble. Unenlagia is definitely one of my favourite small Zoids, although his name is not the easiest to say.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Assembly: Novice
Movement: n/a


Stalking

Model: Redler

Official:
Designation: EZ-005
Type: Dragon
Alignment: Imperial
Movement: Wind-up
Colour: Purple, Silver and Black with Semi-Transparent Wings
Special: It's wings flap when it walks
Approximate Size: About 23cm long, 7cm high and 17cm long with wings extended, 9cm with wings contracted.

Review:
One of my favourite Zoids, Redler is an awesome vibrant purple dragon that moves extremely well for a wind-up. Wind him up and watch him walk, flapping his wings as he does! You can also pull his wings up, and when you let go they will return to where they were locked, depending on what stage of walking he is at (just wind him up a little further if they don't fall as flat as you'd like). In Redler's tail has a silver sword hiding in it, and you can pull it up further than 90 degrees from the tail. Redler's wings are semi-transparent, and appear to be a dark purply-reddish berry colour. The part on his back that his wings are attached to can be lifted up a bit, and his head can tilt or open to reveal the pilot. Redler is easy to assemble, although make sure you take care when assembling him, make sure everything is nice and secure and he will work fine. Although he isn't as posable as other figures, his mobilisation, his lovely design, and the way the colours are spread out nicely are earning him a 5 star rating from me, although it should be noted I love dragons so no surprises. This guy doesn't have many faults, although I don't think his parts would be useful for fuzing with other Zoids.

Rating: 5 Stars
Assembly: Novice - Intermediate
Movement: Excellent


Wings down, tail sword partly out

Model: Rainbow Jerk

Official:
Designation: GZ-011
Type: Peafowl
Genesis Model Line
Movement: None
Colour: Purple, Silver, White, Gold with Green Caps
Special: Wings can be folded back or extended, and tail can be pulled up like a Peacock
Approximate Size: Wings and Tail folded back - 25cm long, 15cm high, 10cm wide. Wings and Tail extended - 12cm long, 22cm high, 31cm wide.

Review:
Rainbow Jerk is a lovely mixture of colours, with a purple and silver body, gold beak, crest, feet, top of the wings and middle of the tail, white on the face and wings (feathers), and to complete it green caps and orange cockpit and eyes. This Zoid is truly beautiful, and the way its tail can spread out like a peacock and its wings can be extended or folded back is great - the Zoid can look beautiful and majestic, and it helps a lot when sitting it on a Zoid-crowded shelf with not much room. Rainbow Jerk is the only Genesis Zoid I have right now. Apart from extending the tail and wings, Rainbow Jerk's head and neck can move up and down (moving the head down extends the wings if built correctly), and its feet and legs can move back for flight or forwards for standing, and the bottom part of the beak can move down for squawking. Of course the cockpit canopy can be opened to let out the pilot. Now this wonderful model isn't perfect. When the tail is retracted the stickers (the tail stickers are the only decals I've applied right now) occasionally get caught and you have to be careful. Also, when you look at the tail pieces, they probably slightly scratched even if they have only been extended and retracted two or three times. The tail is easy to extend though, you just need to life up the main piece. Another down point is that the Rainbow Jerk's eyes are small orange pieces that could easily get lost of they fell off. One of mine is secure, but the other falls off frequently and I plan to superglue it or something. Another thing that falls off frequently is the top part of the beak, but it is easy to reattach unlike Fire Phoenix's. Despite these drawbacks, this Zoid has a lot to offer so I shall still give it a high rating.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Assembly: Intermediate
Movement: n/a

Left: Wings spread
Right: Tail spread

Model: Mosasledge

Official:
Designation: BZ-003
Type: Mosasaurus
Alignment: Republican
Movement: None
Colour: Green
Special: Can fuse with 3 others to form the Matrix Dragon
Approximate Size: About 18cm long, 4cm high and 10cm wide.

Review:
Mosasledge is a pretty cool little Zoid, he is the first aquatic Z-Builder and is supposed to be capable of flying too, but slower than a Sinker. Mosasledge is a lovely shade of turquoise green, and is a simple design so he is easy to assemble which is important for a Blox/Z-Builder Zoid. Mosasledge has lots of great fuzor pieces, including a fierce tooth-filled face, a saw-like tail, four fins and a pair of missiles, not to mention his useful back canopy and chest piece. s, and the four core blocks... well, that's all of Mosasledge's pieces! Being a Z-Builder, Mosasledge can twist around nicely, and just about everything can be moved as all of his main parts are connected to the blocks using the typical socket joints. Mosasledge is a fierce-looking Zoid, but still cute. He fuses well with other Z-Builders of his size, and is easy to reassemble.

Rating: 4 Stars
Assembly: Novice
Movement: n/a

Model: Molga

Official:
Designation: EZ-006
Type: Caterpillar
Alignment: Imperial
Movement: Wind-up
Colour: Dark Grey, Light Grey and Red
Special: Molga has two panels that open
Approximate Size: About 16cm long, 4cm high and 4cm wide.

Review:
Molga was my first Zoid, so I am fond of him. He's pretty cute in an odd kind of way, and if you can get him to move very far, it's pretty cool. Molga's tail is pretty neat, and you can lift his head a bit. There are two panels on Molga that open, the front revealing a sturdy cockpit for the pilot, and the back one revealing a small missile launcher that you can swivel around. Apart from this, Molga is not very articulate, and you can't actually move anything sideways. Another drawback for Molga is that its parts aren't very useful for fusing with other Zoids. Still, it's a nice Zoid, and reminds me of the Pokemon Caterpie.

Rating: 3 stars
Assembly: Novice
Movement: Poor




Panels open

Model: Missile Tortoise

Official:
Designation: BZ-101
Type: Tortoise
Alignment: Republican
Movement: None
Colour: Blue and Grey
Special: Yes, he can shoot missiles! He comes with 2 bright red ones, and when you shoot them the Zoid makes one of 4 different sounds.
Approximate Size: About 12cm long, 8cm tall and about 9cm high.

Review:
I'm not sure why, but I think that Missile Tortoise is very cute. A lovely blue and silver Zoid, Missile Tortoise has a huge blue shell with nice weaponry including a huge missile launcher and a pair of red missiles. Missile Tortoise has a cute face, stompy feet with blox/Z-Builder joints at the legs so they can move, and of course a little tail sticking out the back. A fun little Zoid that is easy to build and fun to play with. His Z-Builder blocks are hidden underneath him, and he is one of the few Zoids that looks totally awesome with his decal stickers applied.

Rating: 4 Stars
Assembly: Novice - Intermediate
Movement: n/a

Model: Liger Zero X

Official:
Designation: EZ-054
Type: Liger
Alignment: Imperial
Movement: Battery
Colour: Black with either Red or Blue and Gold
Special: Comes with 2 different sets of Armour, Imperial Red or X Blue
Approximate Size: About 22cm long, including the tail about 34cm long. About 13cm high.

Review:
Liger Zero X is definitely worth it. Although I built mine originally with the red armour, since then it has lived in the blue and gold. The blue and gold armour is awesome, it has lots of fun things including heaps of decorative spikes and a nice tail. On each shoulder and rump is a nice... thing with blue plastic and a gold thing sticking out of it, and you can pull them open. By far the coolest thing about Liger Zero X are the blades that fold up onto his back, or can be pulled out for a blade attack. The inclusion of the blades in the blue version means no room for boosters, although the red armour includes boosters - the red armour makes the Zoid look like a red Liger Zero, while the blue armour is different. Liger Zero walks nicely and is fun to assemble, although the head is quit difficult. Liger Zero X is a big Zoid with two sets of armour for two neat looks, or you can mix and match them to your liking. He moves, he can fuse with other Zoids like a normal Liger Zero and I think he deserves 5 stars. Yes, Liger Zero X is in my top 3 Zoids.

Rating: 5 Stars
Assembly: Advanced
Movement: Excellent



Left: Attack mode

Right: Blades out

Model: Liger Zero

Official:
Designation: RZ-041
Type: Liger
Alignment: Republican
Movement: Battery
Colour: White and Black with Red
Special: It's Liger Zero! You can purchase different armours and different Zoids to fuse with him like Fire Phoenix and Jet Falcon.
Approximate Size: About 20cm long, including the tail about 32cm long. About 13cm high.

Review:
I'd like to start by mentioning that when I got my second-hand Liger Zero, it was missing 4 parts: his eyes, his front cannons, his pilot and most importantly, the piece that connects his head to his neck. Surprisingly I was still able to build him, although his head falls off if I touch him. I call him Liger Zero Ghost. Fortunately, I purchased Liger Zero X at the same time as Liger Zero, and he came fully functional so I do know what Liger Zero is supposed to be like. I'll start the actual review by saying this guy is a big cat, and that makes him really cool, especially when he mobilises! He has a neat tail that can move up and down and has a gun on the end, and you can simulate activating the boosters on his back. He has a nice colour scheme and cool gold paws and teeth, and was fun to build too although getting his head together is no easy task. Liger Zero is a great Zoid to get if you have some other Zoids to fuse with him, or as a stand-alone Zoid. He's fairly sturdy as in nothing falls off if you have all the pieces, but definitely not a Zoid to drop. Don't drop your Zoids, people!

Rating: 4 Stars
Assembly: Advanced
Movement: Excellent




Missing eyes, front cannons & neck piece

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Model: Leoblaze


Official:
Designation: BZ-001
Type: Lion
Alignment: Republican
Movement: None
Colour: Red and Grey
Special: Can fuse with 3 others to form the Matrix Dragon
Approximate Size: About 11cm long, or 16cm including the tail. About 6cm high.

Review:
I love this Zoid to bits (quite literally; he has been fused with Mosasledge many times when all I had were those two and a Molga), but there are a few things about Leoblaze that keep its rating down. Firstly, the colour scheme doesn't work well. I suppose I can live with the red and grey, but having an orange cockpit on red? Ick. A green cockpit would have worked much better in my opinion. A have actually repainted one of my two Leoblazes; he's now blue with silver and black paws. The blue does work well with the orange cockpit. Another more important problem with the Leoblaze is that it has a major design flaw: it's head does not fit properly because of its shoulders. A lovely blox/Z-Builder Zoid with many great pieces and a nice, feline design, as well as that oh so cool sword tail and those cute teeth, Leoblaze is a great Zoid except that he isn't very sturdy, mostly due to his main body being comprised of the Z-Builder blocks, but also because his shoulders don't allow enough room for his head so that joint is always a little loose. Also, his head is not the easiest to assemble as you have to have a few small pieces in place before snapping it together. Otherwise, this guy is easy to assemble. A word of warning though: once you snap on the shoulder and rump pieces, they don't come off. So if you put the shoulder piece on the rump, it's probably staying there. I did this with my repainted Leoblaze by accident, and didn't think I could take it off again without breaking it. Overall Leoblaze is fun to play with, he's a cute cat with posable arms and paws, a nice face, a cool sword tail, and is great fun to fuse. If it weren't for his awkward head-shoulder problem, and if he was a nicer colour scheme I'd rate him much higher.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Assembly: Novice (the head may be closer to the intermediate level though)
Movement: n/a
Leosune, my custom repainted Leoblaze

Model: Jet Falcon

Official:
Designation: BZ-022
Type: Falcon
Alignment: Republican
Movement: None
Colour: Light grey, Black, Orange with Red Buster Claws
Special: Can fuse with Liger Zero to form Liger Zero Falcon
Approximate Size: About 25cm long, 10cm high and a wingspan of about 38cm.


Review:
Like Fire Phoenix, Jet Falcon is big. With his wings folded back, he is still about 30cm wide. Jet Falcon features some neat Buster Claws that rotate nicely, and underneath him is a button that can bring them up closer to his wings. His legs can be moved back so it looks like he is in flight, or forwards so he can stand on his feet. His tail is pretty neat. Jet Falcon is a rather sleek Zoid, although he has chunky wings. His head is quite nice, and overall his colour scheme isn't bad either. He wasn't too difficult to assemble either. He's sturdy, although he has lots of pieces sticking out so I wouldn't drop him. His cockpit is secure but not tight, so it is probably capable of opening enough to let the pilot fall out if roughly handled.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Assembly: Intermediate
Movement: n/a



Left: Cutters back
Right: Underside with legs back

Model: Gorilla Tron

Official:
Designation: BZ-103
Type: Gorilla
Alignment: Republican
Movement: None
Colour: White, Red and Black
Special: Has red flashing lights on his back
Approximate Size: About 12cm high and 10cm wide.

Review:
Gorilla Tron (aka Gorillatron and in Japan, Ray Kong) is a neat looking Zoid. It has huge spikes on its shoulders, lights on its back when you press a button and looks like it's wearing a hockey mask. The tri-colour scheme works well, especially with the green eyes. His legs and arms are flexible and move very nicely. The Gorilla Tron is definitely a fun Zoid to play with, and has some useful Blox/Z-Builder pieces too. The top of his head has a compartment for the pilot, and although it opens easily when you pull it, it's probably not going to fly open while carrying him upside down if you ever had the urge to do that. Gorilla Tron is highly flexible while remaining quite sturdy - nothing is going to fall off unless you pull it. He's not the largest Zoid, he's in the same class as the Missile Tortoise, but he's not that small either. Gorilla Tron is the only Zoid I have with flashing lights.

Rating: 4 Stars
Assembly: Novice - Intermediate
Movement: n/a

Red lights flash on Gorilla Tron's back

Model: Gator(dus)

Official:
Designation: EZ-022
Type: Dimetrodon
Alignment: Imperial
Movement: Wind-up

Colour: Purple with dark grey
Special: The NAR version is called Gatordus, but is the same as the NJR Gator.
Approximate Size: About 8cm high and 16cm long.


Review:
Gatordus is a cute Zoid and very simple to assemble. If you wind him up, chances are he won't go anywhere unless you hold him in mid-air, but I did manage to get him to stomp along once. If you hold your finger under his head to take some of the weight off his legs, he can walk nicely. He looks like a very cute lizard. Gatordus is a deep purple colour, the same as the Redler. He has a fairly secure cockpit and is a fairly sturdy Zoid. Once the spine is secure, you can pick him up by it no problems. I think that some purple on his feet would have made him a nicer design as he is very simple. A cute Zoid, there's something endearing about him.

Rating: 3 Stars
Assembly: Novice
Movement: Poor - Average

Model: Fire Phoenix

Official:
Designation: RZ-101 (incorrectly designated, should BZ-101 as it's a Blox/Z-Builder)
Type: Phoenix
Alignment: Republican
Movement: None
Colour: Red and Orange/Yellow
Special: Can fuse with Liger Zero to form Liger Zero Phoenix
Approximate Size: About 12cm high, 23.5cm long and has a max wingspan of just over 30cm.

Review:
This bird is pretty big, but fortunately you can rotate its wings so that it's just under 20cm wide. Not my favourite colours, but it is a phoenix so what do you expect? A lot of things move, but my Fire Phoenix is very fragile as the piece on top of its head and the top of its beak fall out when you touch them, and take about 10 minutes to get back in. I have rated this bird advanced assembly-wise as it was not easy, but getting its beak to stay in was almost impossible. Perhaps it was just my particular model? I would look to see what the problem was, to see if it needs the sides scraped with scissors to make it fit better, but I'm afraid I'll never get it back in as I vividly remember how frustrating getting it in in the first place was. Due to its unstableness, I have not fused it with Liger Zero yet, but when I start creating the custom Zoid designs I might have a go at it. Despite these flaws, the Fire Phoenix is a pretty nice bird though. It's tail is real fun, and it has a few pieces and quite a few blocks that would make it great for fusing with other Z-Builders, were I to dare doing so.

Rating: 3 Stars
Assembly: Advanced
Movement: n/a

Back view

Model: Diploguns

Official:
Designation: BZ-007
Type: Chimera Fish
Alignment: Imperial
Movement: None
Colour: Dilute Cloudy Lavender
Special: Can fuse with 3 others to form the Chimera Dragon
Approximate Size: About 18cm long including his sword, 12cm without. About 6cm high.

Review:
Cute. Abstract, but cute. Diploguns is a very interesting colour, it's lighter and more greyish than Rainbow Jerk. It's sort of a bluish-lavender colour that's sort of cloudy grey at the same time. It's very nice though, and works well with the green eyes. Diploguns doesn't have a pilot. Diploguns is a small Zoid, with few parts, but there is something endearing about it. His head, tail and two parts of his body can move, so he can curve around like a fish. The sword-thing at the front is pretty neat too. Diploguns is the only Zoid I have from the Chimera Dragon collection, and personally I think he's one of the nicest from the set. Lots of parts can move, and he's pretty sturdy for a Z-Builder - nothing's actually fallen off him despite me handling him occasionally, although I've never dropped him. He's well designed, but a bit abstract.


Rating: 3 Stars
Assembly: Novice Level
Movement: n/a

Model: Dimetra Ptera

Official:
Designation: BZ-106
Type: Dinosaur
Alignment: Republican
Movement: Battery
Colour: Orange with grey
Special: It has 2 modes, Pterasaur and Dimetrodon
Approximate Size: Pterasaur mode is about 15cm high and long. Dimetrodon mode is about 13cm high and 25cm long.

Review:
The Dimetra Ptera is a special Zoid as has 2 different modes, it's also a Blox/Z-Builder Zoid, AND it's battery operated! It's not that hard to assemble, and apart from the colour (I'm not into orange) and the instability of its head in Pterasaur mode and tail in Dimetrodon mode, this is one neat Zoid. Being a Z-Builder means it's not as sturdy as other Zoids, although it only actually has 1 block, the rest is for the batteries. His walking motion is a little odd in both modes, but works fine. He kind of waddles, it's funny to watch. In Dimetrodon mode, his head is on the on/off switch so you can move his head up or down to turn him on or off. A lot of things can be moved on the Dimetra Ptera - his head, the cute antenna thingies on either side of his head, his wings can be moved back and forth, the guns on his wings and rotate, and his tail has a ball and socket Z-Builder-type joint as well so it can move. Apart from his head and neck, his front claws are also unstable and if you drop him, can go flying so watch out for that. Or better yet, don't drop him!

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Assembly: Novice - Intermediate Level
Movement: Good

Left: Dimetrodon Mode
Right: Pterasaur Mode with wings back

Friday, October 5, 2007

Model: Command Wolf AC

Official:
Designation: RZ-042
Type: Wolf
Alignment: Republican
Movement: Wind-up
Colour: Metallic blue with black

Special: Kit comes with CP-04 Attack Unit
Approximate Size: About 20cm long, and about 15cm high including his cannons.

Review:
The only difference between the Command Wolf AC and the other Command Wolves is the colour, I believe. Also, the Command Wolf AC comes with the CP-04 Attack Unit, which is neat. I love the colour of the Command Wolf AC. He's a good-sized Zoid, the biggest wind-up Zoid I have, and he walks really well for a wind-up. His head clicks into three different positions, so he can be looking around or stalking a foe. His tail and back cannons also move. The Command Wolf is very sturdy, and there's a piece inside the cockpit that keeps the pilot secure. Basically you can pick him up and shake him, and he can take it. In that aspect, I believe the Command Wolf is one of the best Zoids for children as he isn't too hard to build, he moves via wind-up, he's sturdy and the pilot is very secure so it won't get lost.

Rating: 5 Stars
Assembly: Intermediate Level
Movement: Excellent

Update #001

Welcome to the Zoids Fusion Lab! I'm Solloby, you may know me from the Blue Sky Height or Zoid Evolutions forums. This is my little blog, which I hope to fill with Zoid Model reviews, custom Zoid designs and maybe even repaint instructions. Yes I do plan to include pictures eventually, I need to get my digital camera out and have a photo shoot soon. See the Zoid Model number below? It lies. I actually have 2 Leoblazes. I repainted one blue, silver and black and named him Leosune. But for the purposes of Zoid analyses, I have 16 different types of Zoids. I also have some other fun friends, including 4 Transformers (3 of which are various Starscreams, the other is Jetfire), 3 Crush Gear (1 is still in the box) and a Go-Bot. But you aren't here for them, are you. Tiny Starscream weeps.

In each update I will include a list of my Zoid models so you can see if I have collected more. Updates will be few and far between though, most posts will be model analyses, and once they are done, custom Zoid designs.

Zoid Models: 16
Command Wolf AC
Dimetra Ptera
Diploguns
Fire Phoenix
Gator(dus)
Gorilla Tron
Jet Falcon
Leoblaze
Liger Zero
Liger Zero X
Missile Tortoise
Molga
Mosasledge
Rainbow Jerk
Redler
Unenlagia