Academy's 1/30 Starcraft Terran Marine CMC-400A Powered Combat Suit By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Strength. Pride. Discipline.

"These ideals have enabled the Confederate Marine Corps and Colonial Fleet to defend Confederate interests along the Galactic Rim for more than two centuries. Marines come from all walks of life, but they are united in their devotion to the preservation of the Confederate way of life.

The Corps offers countless opportunities for young men and women to see the sector and gain valuable real world experience. We will train you. We will teach you. We will shape you into an efficient warrior, garnering respect and admiration from your peers. We can even help you work past criminal and/or anti-social tendencies through counseling, drug therapy, and neural resocialization."

In the distant future a small group of human exiles have been doomed to fight for survival on the edge of the galaxy. Through military strength, espionage and deceit, a unified Terran government has maintained an uneasy peace. As resources run short, however, these Confederate nations find themselves looking towards the rich worlds of their alien neighbors, the enigmatic Protoss. To further complicate matters, it seems that a previously unknown and deadly species known only as the Zerg has entered Protoss space and is destroying everything in its path. The time for war has come... (quoted from the Blizzard.com website)

The Kit

Welcome to the world of Starcraft, an award-winning computer game by the people at Blizzard Entertainment. Many of you may already be familiar with the game, but for those of you that aren't, basically it's a shoot-em up type of game, set in a 3D top-down layout. You can choose one of three different groups to be a part of, and basically the last man standing wins.

The minds at Blizzard have come up with some very interesting outfits for these warriors, and Academy has come out with a kit of the Terran Marine. The parts are molded in a dark gray plastic and is designed more towards the younger generation. It's a snap-together kit, but the fit is quite good. The construction is broken down logically for the figure, allowing for almost full movement of every part of the figure.

The legs are made up of a lower and upper section, each having a right and left half. The lower leg sandwiches around the upper leg, with a pin allowing full travel at the knee. This assembly then has a ball joint that matches up to the hip, although the movement here is somewhat limited. In fact, without some serious trim work, forward movement of the leg is nominal, resulting in the final figure only being able to take baby steps. Somehow I don't think this is quite right, but I don't have the game so I can't check to see.

The torso is split into four pieces, with the hip section separated into a front and rear half and the upper chest in a right and left half. The upper chest pivots in the hip section, allowing 360 degrees of movement. There's armor plating provided separately for the front of the chest, and a pack on the back, both effectively hiding the seam there. There's also a separate flap covering the upper rear part of the legs where they meet the torso section. The last bit for the main body is the head, and two choices are given here, one complete helmet and one with the visor back, revealing the human occupant.

The arms have no elbow movement, being split in right and left halves running from the shoulder to the hand. The hands are separate, and the kit provides an alternate hand grasping the weapon. There are also large dome-like shoulderpads that fit on top of the arms, probably for protection against alien weaponry.

A small decal sheet is provided with a couple of different schemes seen in the game. Painting instructions are given as well, allowing you to paint it up to match those seen on the screen.

Conclusion

When I first saw this in the review sample box, I thought 'what am I going to do with this?', but once I started building it (it goes together really fast) I started to get more and more into it. There's a lot of potential for something like this, and it's definitely a step off into another realm of modeling. The change is good and allows me to try out some new ideas, so if you're feeling like you're in a modeling rut, perhaps this is just the ticket for you. Of course, if you're a Starcraft fan you've probably already bought one....