Review

While the hero of the Paramount Pictures/Marvel Entertainment movie "Iron Man" is military industrialist and genius inventor Tony Stark, the hero of Moebius Models' kit is Stark's Mk. III armored suit, in which the inventor-turned-crusader battles globe-threatening bad guys. Iron Man's appearance and capabilities is a culmination of changes for the character introduced in the 1963 Marvel comic-book series "Tales of Suspense": capable of supersonic flight; weapons-resistant; and able to dish it out with repulsor rays emitted from the palms and feet.

Instructions begin with a list of modeling supplies. The most useful tool on the list will be a sharp hobby knife. Add to the list thin masking tape (such as Tamiya) and a burnishing tool (which can be as simple as a toothpick). The tools/supplies list and assembly notes are helpful to novice modelers. Even more helpful will be a little advice and supervision by a more-experienced modeler; interpreting the directions and building the figure is a little tricky, in spite of the "Skill Level 2" (ages 10+) label on the box.

The instructions suggest building and painting subassemblies before joining them and filling seams. Recommend to inexperienced customers that they build the subassemblies, fill seams and then prime the various parts. That will allow modelers to see any imperfections they missed. After cleaning those up, builders can join the subassemblies and get ready to paint.

The directions show photos of sprues and subassemblies over eight steps in a photo-text format. However, the photos show what may be an earlier tooling; the parts differed from those contained in my kit, creating doubt about location. This is especially true of the birdhouse-shaped connecting blocks joining the head and limbs to the torso; the instructions left me guessing. A little patience and common sense goes a long way to making sure the model fits together correctly.

When assembling and mounting the head (steps 1 and 2), customers should leave off the face plate (Part No. 1) and paint it separately to simplify masking later on. Most of the parts fit tightly together, which can complicate test-fitting, as parts are hard to pry apart. I bored out locator holes with a hobby knife to loosen the parts enough to check or correct their fit. Some parts, like the shins, hand plates and shoulder armor suffered from sink holes and shortfalls of plastic.

Even with the fiddly joints, the fit and assembly produced a sturdy model able to withstand a lot of handling - a good thing with all the painting, sanding, masking, and more painting. The model's instructions list two options for painting with Testors enamels or Acryl: 1) metallic red and gold, the easier option; or 2) a base coat of gold with a transparent or candy red overcoat.

For the display base, I used a number of different paints, including Testors flat black (as a foundation), platinum, transparent blue and Tamiya clear yellow. Of course, your customers may have different ideas on how they'd like to see the base finished. Talk it through with them and see what sorts of colors you can provide.

All in all, Moebius' Iron Man cuts an exciting and powerful figure, and provided me with about 18 hours of modeling enjoyment. The subject should be popular with young modelers and comic-book fans.