Spinosapper

I added this guy in with some other stuff in an HLJ order, since I thought it looked kind of neat. At least, it's a different sort of design, being a Zoid geared more towards engineering/drilling/rescue sorts of things than actual fighting...although I suppose they might be decent in an ambush from underground...

Due to the extra parts from having both the drill thingie and the chainsaws, Spinosapper comes in a box larger than one would expect for a Zoid of its size. It's closer to Gun Sniper in that respect, but its box is more like a Command Wolf's. Other than that, it has the usual sorts of parts, although the clear piece for the cockpit is thicker than many. Perhaps it's a safety sort of thing...I know if I were drilling and chainsaw-ifying things made out of really thick metal, I'd want a nice thick piece of transparent aluminum or whatnot in between myself and all those flying metal shards.

As far as construction goes, Spinosapper wasn't any more difficult than other small two-legged Zoids I've built. It followed the usual pattern of build body, stick stuff on it, build legs, stick them on too...one thing I noticed was that the piece to wind Spinosapper up with didn't fit on the tail that well-the hole was a bit small. I widened it a bit with my xacto knife, so now I can get it off without it getting stuck. Unlike Gun Sniper and Snipe Master, Spinosapper can move its neck up and down a bit, which I like...well, Snipe Master can move its head up and down, but it's not the same.

The last things you build are the chainsaws and the drill. The chainsaws are simple to put together, but the drill took me a bit of fiddling, mainly due to it having a reasonable amount of smaller parts. Once you've got them built, you can pick which one to put on Spinosapper. I found the drill a bit annoying to fold back in and out, not to mention heavier, and I liked the chainsaws better (pointy! Whee!), so I left them on. They fold nicely along Spinosapper's back, and can be swung forward somewhat and turned at different angles. Being the picky person I am, I took the trouble to carefully trim those things so that all the little teeth were intact with no extra bits of plastic in them.

Spinosapper suffers from the same not-quite-strong-enough motor problem as Gun Spiner, although not to the same extent. It walks a bit farther and a bit more smoothly, although it still doesn't go very far. When not in motion, it's a funky-looking Zoid...it's certainly not elegant or cute (if that word can even apply to a Zoid) or anything, but it does look unique. I think black caps would have been a better choice, as the rest of Spinosapper's colors are rather earth-like in tone (black, brown, and off-white), but since it's already got the bright orange cockpit wrecking the idea of that being some sort of camoflage, it's not too bad. The Republic must be obsessed with those orange-yellow caps on small dino Zoids...Gun Sniper has them, Spinosapper has them, and the limited Snipe Master has either them or blue...