Introduction Scale 1/7.5 Sculptor K. Piero Maker Realize Completed 1/17/00 Parts 5 + 8 Retail 6300yen x 2 Yet another Asuka & Rei... in their very well designed plugsuits. I like this rendition of Asuka, she's very genki! Though this is another standing status kind of sculpt, the twists of the arns and her waist are done rather well, calling for my purchase :) I actually think this is one of the best rendering of Asuka in plugsuit. I also like the Rei kit, but for a different reason. I thought the plugsuit which represents advanced technology constrasts with the ramen noodle she's eating... plus it's Ayanami we're talking about, an abnormal girl who I can't imagine would eat :) It's quite funny. K. Piero always have these weird 1/x.5 scales. This kit is labeled 1/7.5, but actually it's more like 1/6.5, as it's bigzzer than Shiori, but smaller than Shiki.   Kit Review Seam lines: ?/5   Pinholes: ?/5   Casting: ?/5   Fit: ?/5   Part Break: ?/5   Help Parts: Asuka: front hair, head with back hair, 2 arms, body with legs. Rei: same division, plus ramen bowl and 2 extra arms. You need to supply your own chopsticks; I used a sanded down toothpick. The extra arms for Rei are just normal downward arms, making a static body even more rigid. Kits are very well cast, no problems here.   Building Asuka: The stray hair really helps her to look more dynamic, IMHO. Without them, the hair is rather mundane and dulls down the kit. Painting is done with Gunze Asuka color set, with red brown for shading and midnight blue for black spots. I don't like the flesh color that comes with the set, it's very white with a tint of pink; I finally decided to use my own flesh mix and do highlights with this flesh color. Many areas are handbrushed this time, I just hate masking. Rei: The body is really static for Rei, no bending at all; actually it's almost rigid. Only the ramen saves this kit :) I used the Gunze Rei color set, the plug suit is in a bluish tinted white, I use that color for light shadows, and mixed in small amount of neutral gray for deeper shadows. The color set has this pearl coating which is supposed to go on top of the plugsuit white. This is the first time I use pearl colors, it seems you need multiple coats to get the desired effect, but the finish looks great. I had a lot of fun painting the ramen's contents. All the black areas on the plug suit are hand brushed... I have never hand brushed so much before :) I had a such a long hiatus with her in the middle... it took almost more than a year between the start and finish!