Iron Man Mark 42 1/4 Maquette by Sideshow Collectibles & Legacy Effects
Here are some pics guys...happy to say that Sideshow delivered a solid Iron Man piece...at last! The paint colours are fab! Movie accurate golds and red and a pretty cool action pose too. Will try to get some shots together with Iron Patriot tonight as the two go great together (would've liked similar bases like we got for the Iron Man MKVI and War Machine Maquettes) but still a great pairing.
So is the Sideshow MK42 1/4 scale Maquette the best so far out of the three releases? Of course its a matter of opinion...but for me (having owned all 3) Sideshow take it. The Iron Studios version was a disaster in regards to paint apps...ironically, the pose is still my favourite of the 3 statues but that's where the positives end. In regards to the XM piece, i had that for about a month until i realised that i could'nt live without lights on my Iron Man statues and i know your gonna say 'but how often do you turn them on?!'
i actually turn them on probably when i have friends over or when i want to geek out to myself
it just brings the statue to life....something extra if you like which brings out the viewing pleasure. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but had the XM MK42 had lights then there's a strong possibility that it would still be with me
Sideshow's MK42 has nailed the colours...whilst the gold on the XM version was more metallic looking, Sideshow's isnt too bad but no way as good as XM's, which is probably the best painted Iron Man piece i've seen to date. However, Sideshow offer a cool action pose and a fairly decent base. I actually thought the weathering on the scaffolding was pretty amateur to be honest....like a quick 15 second touch up with a paint brush
and the rocks, whilst sculpted well, are painted a little bland...could so with more detail i think.
Again, i wont get into which RDJ head is better cos everyone's opinions are different...i can only speak for myself and say that the XM RDJ portrait would be more suited more for a classic Tony Stark look. Sideshows RDJ portrait isn't on par with say Hot Toys (who have the best likeness to Downey Jnr period) but it certainly looks more like RDJ than XM's version.
Here's some pics
So to briefly summarise, here's how i scored the 3 Iron Man MK42 1/4 scale statues currently on the market:
Iron Studios 6/10
*Great pose and bonus .5 for light features otherwise i would have given it a 5.5/10. Sadly let down by poor paint application
XM Studios 7/10
*Solid statue with unbelievable paint apps and a great use of alternate switch out parts. Sadly missing any light features and a Pepper Potts portrait which i never removed from the box
Sideshow 7.5/10
*Movie accurate suit colours, action pose, reasonable RDJ portrait and superb light features. Sadly there are still some sloppy black lines here and there and the base is actually mega light in weight which i hate to see