Rai K. The Kit behind the Rai.

So, today I take a turn for a smaller model - the EZ-023 Helcat (wind-up), better known as the Atak Kat to some American modelers. Unfortunately I was unable to find any readily available anime images of the Helcat, so we’ll just go with this:

Difficulty: 1.5
Durability: 2
Accuracy: 5?
Pose-ability: 1

Being a small, wind-up Zoid does have it’s perks, mostly in the area of difficulty. With very few parts and a good parts fit, this little guy is one that could be easily built by a first-timer. I will give a slight caution about the legs - if you don’t make sure that the tiny silver rods (attached to the motor) are in the hole on the back of the legs, the Kat won’t move.

While being small makes building this Zoid easier, it also takes away from the Zoid’s durability. If used for play by a child and left out it could be easily broken by accidentally stepping on it or dropping something on top of it. I’ve never had a problem with the rods that control leg motion breaking, but they seem fragile. While not really a durability issue, the Kat does have some problems keeping its legs on said rods, and if used a lot you’ll need to keep popping them back in place. The Kat also likes to lose it’s head and attached guns. Unfortunately glue can’t really fix this, because it would limit the model’s already horrible pose-ability. I would recommend the Helcat for display, photos, or light play, but try not to give it to a kid that’s gonna throw it.

As far as I can tell, the Helcat is completely accurate to the anime. It lacks detail, but so does its animated counter-part. The body has a nice downward curve that matches with its stealthy-ness, and is overall well-proportioned. What bothers me about little models is the small number of gyro caps (the cap things on the joints), but the animated Helcat didn’t have any more of them than this little guy.

Once again, being motorized is a downfall. Luckily the wind-up motor does help a bit here. Those silver rods I was talking about? The legs can easily be popped off of them so that they have a higher range of mobility. The tiny feet also move up and down. The head and two guns can be swiveled, and the cockpit opened. Normally I would have heightened the Helcat’s score just a bit because of the somewhat-pose-able head, but the fact that tail doesn’t move up and down like it does in the larger feline Zoids stopped this.

A few notes:

Most Helcat models are the same. There weren’t any differences between the Tomy and Hasbro models that I could find (I own both, thanks to my friend Brittany and my Aunt Alisa). If you want something more ‘exciting,’ but don’t feel like painting it yourself, there is a model called the ‘Helcat Noir’ that is a special edition based off a Zoid in Zoids VS. II. I don’t know how much it goes for these days, but it’s probably expensive. Here’s a pic: