I thought it was a nice thing to compare a recast from GKM to the original, an excellent specimen for this is actually this Crystal GK I got from Woderfest this year, a friend of mine got her copy from GK-Model and she sent it over so I can paint it for her, so being that this is such a rare opportunity, I decided to go ahead and do it as I don’t come across having an original and a recast of the same kit at the same time 😛
I’ve recommended them so much that it’s now time to put my money where my mouth is LOL btw I do NOT recommend you buy this from e2046, you’re going to get a horrible recast as their quality AND service have decline tremendously over the years, so don’t buy from them, at least not this one.
On to the comparison.
ORIGINAL COPY OF THE PARTS LIST SHEET AND THE PARTS THEMSELVES
COPY OF THE PART’S SHEET A LITTLE DARKEN BUT THAT’S WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU DO A COPY OF A COPY, THIS IS NOT REALLY SOMETHING CRITICAL AS YOU THROW THIS AWAY IN THE END.
ORIGINAL DECALS ACTUALLY LOOK MORE GRAINY? I ACTUALLY PREFER HOW THE RECAST VERSION LOOKS LIKE AS THE PRINTING DOTS ARE MORE TIGHTLY PACKED AND YOU DON’T SEE THEM AS MUCH AS IN THE ORIGINAL, I ALSO LIKE THAT THEY LOOK A BIT MORE DARKER WHICH IS A PERSONAL PREFERENCE FOR ME.
SOME PARTS HAVE SEVERAL LITTLE TABS COMPARED TO GKM, BUT BOTH ARE REALLY NICE CASTINGS, SOME SCULPTORS TEND TO REMOVE A FEW TABS BEFORE PUTTING INTO THE BOX TO SELL, SO I’M GUESSING THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED HERE, GKM’S TABS ARE ALSO NON INTRUSIVE AND VERY SMALL, EASY TO REMOVE.
THE SAME ISSUE IS PRESENT WITH THE LEGS, THE KEYS ARE VERY LONG AND THE CONNECTION SOCKETS ON THE LOWER TORSO ARE NOT DEEP ENOUGH TO ACCOMMODATE THEM, SO AGAIN GKM FIXED THE ISSUE AND EVEN SMOOTHED OUT THE AREA OF CONNECTION WHICH IS ALWAYS NICE.
THESE ARE THE CONNECTION SOCKETS ON THE TORSO THAT I MENTIONED IN THE PICTURE ABOVE, THEY ARE NOT DEEP ENOUGH TO CONNECT THE LONG KEYS FROM THE ARMS, ALSO GKM’S VERSION CORRECTED THE SOCKET ISSUE YOU CAN SEE IN THE ORIGINAL.
YOU CAN SEE THAT THE ORIGINAL HAS SOME LONG KEYS TO CONNECT TO THE TORSO, HOWEVER, THE KEY CONNECTIONS ON THE TORSO WERE NOT WELL CASTED IN THE ORIGINAL AND YOU CAN’T CONNECT THE ARMS TO THE TORSO UNLESS YOU EITHER CUT THE KEYS ON THE ARMS AND MAKE THEM SHORTER OR MAKE THE CONNECTION SOCKETS ON THE TORSO LONGER IN BY DRILLING IN IT, GK MODEL’S COPY ALREADY “FIXED” THIS ISSUE, SO THEY PRETTY MUCH SPARED YOU A LITTLE WORK THERE, THE FITTING IS ACTUALLY RIGHT ON THE SPOT.
THE TABS ON THE ORIGINAL ARE BIT MORE THICKER AND BIGGER THAN THE RECAST
PARTS OF THE HAIR, THE ORIGINAL HAS A FEW MORE TABS THAN THE RECAST, YET BOTH OF THEM HAVE IDENTICAL DETAILS AND GKM HAS DONE A WONDERFUL JOB PRESERVING THEM.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SAILOR FLAP ALSO HAS COME SINCE CORRECTIONS TO THE RECAST.
I SAW ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE EXCEPT FOR THE POSITIONING OF THE TAB, WHICH IS STILL VERY SMALL
HEADS LOOK THE SAME, THOUGH THE ORIGINAL HAS MORE TABS THAN THE RECAST,
THE HAIR PARTS ON THE RECAST WERE A LITTLE MORE CLEANER THAN THE ORIGINAL, THE RECAST STILL KEPT ALL THE CRISP DETAIL FROM THE ORIGINAL.
THE SKIRT HAD SOME TABS THAT I PERSONALLY DON’T LIKE IN THE ORIGINAL CASTING, IT’S A LITTLE TROUBLESOME TO REMOVE THEM AND IF YOU’RE NOT CAREFUL, YOU’LL SCREW IT UP, HOWEVER, THE RECAST DOESN’T HAVE IT AND THUS, THEY WILL SAVE YOU THE TROUBLE OF HAVING TO REMOVE IT UNLIKE THE ORIGINAL
So there you go ladies and gents.
Both castings are great, however after seeing how gkm corrected several things I actually prefer gkm’s version to work on happily without any major issues, the original one will require a bit more work because of that, but all and all, I still stand by this amazing store, if you have a chance, go to their website and check out their stock 😀 gk-model
The thing I also love the most is that GKM doesn’t thicken the kit’s pieces if they’re too thin, they will correct some areas but they will not do what e2046 does and ruins it’s recasts.
