Interest

Figure Build Close-Up: Dragonball Z's Figure-Rise Standard Krillin

Figures are provided courtesy of Bluefin Distributors

Bandai Hobby's Figure-Rise Standard series for Dragon Ball Z has given us three different kinds of Goku, Vegeta, and even Cell. Now it's finally time for short-statured Krillin to have his turn.

What took so long? Compared to the others, Krillin is a bit off-model—his head is shaped differently, and his hands and feet are smaller. So this kit came with a bunch of custom parts just for Krillin (and when you're finished building, some extra Goku/Vegeta parts will be left over).

In spite of those changes, Krillin is an expressive, easy build. As usual, the “muscle build-up system” layers pieces of malleable plastic to make for an extremely posable figure. My favorite part was how easily Krillin stands alone without any need for an action base or stand.

The instructions are in both English and Japanese, but it's unlikely you'll need to read anything—just follow the pictures and numbers for order, like with Legos.

As usually, I built this part with hobby nippers from Bandai Hobby and a hobby knife from the GSI Creos Mr. Hobby kit. Sorry my manicure looks awful this time, but I want you to notice how I don't cut out pieces flush against the edge—I leave a little nub.

After that, I remove the nub either with nippers or my knife. Once the part is cut out of the runner, I have a lot more flexibility to get a clean cut. It's just one extra step but it makes a world of difference in your finished model.

This is one of my favorite things about the Figure-Rise Standard series. You combine these alien-looking parts together and suddenly have a very expressive looking face.

Pardon the body horror here. Look at the bulbous yellow piece—it goes behind one of Krillin's three faces to complete the look. It's really easy to swap out faces when you want to.

As I nip and cut, the plastic nubs start to pile up. Krillin wants to know what I'm about to do with those sharp pointy things.

Krillin comes with three sets of hands that allow him to wield a Destructo Disk, fire an energy ball, or snugly hold the Android detonation remote. This kit's box and instruction artwork strongly suggest posing Krillin with the Android 18 figure but it's sold separately.

Perhaps because Krillin is so short, he was the easiest of all of my Dragon Ball Z kits to pose in position and keep there. Goku and Vegeta tend to topple more often.

This kit took me about an hour to finish. It's a quick build with straightforward directions and no curveballs. If you're a Krillin fan and want a version of him that you can stand up in a number of different poses with various expressions, this is a figure with that kind of flexibility.