Judge Joe Anderson, the hard-as-nails judge in Mega-City One, lives by the rules and is both fair and harsh, depending on the circumstances. This version of the comic book hero was created by Brian Bolland, who was responsible for the “Judge Death” and “Judge Death Lives” comic book series.

Halcyon, through Model Rectifier Corporation, offers three highly-detailed vinyl kits from this comic series: Judge Anderson, Judge Dredd, and their adversary Judge Death. I have classified this kit as Intermediate level because of the issues surrounding the building of a vinyl kit (trimming, specific construction techniques, painting). The sculpt of the figure was done by Colin Batty.

The Judge Dredd kit is molded in light gray vinyl and includes 18 parts: shoe soles (2), lower legs (2), upper legs/waist (1), torso (1), upper arms (2), lower arms (including hands)(2), head, knee pads (2), shoulder pad (1), belt, badge, and gun. Also included is a large stand with the series’ insignia on it.

An interesting feature is that the soles of the boots are molded separately from the boots/lower legs. The kit instructions recommend attaching the soles to the boots, sealing any openings, and then filling the boots with Plaster of Paris to keep the completed figure balanced on its own two feet. Another option, after filling the boots with Plaster of Paris, is to drill holes from the underside of the base up through the boot heels into the lower legs, and gluing lengths of brass tube (pins) to the base. Styrene can be added to the underside of the base to keep the pins in place at the base level. This would allow the figure to be removed from the base for transport, but would keep the figure from tipping over when it is being displayed.

The kit is built from the bottom up, starting with the boots/lower legs. The upper legs/waist is attached, and then the torso is trimmed and put into place with the belt acting to hide the seam between the parts. It goes together as upper legs/belt/torso in order of assembly. Careful trimming of the head is necessary as the neck must fit flush inside the raised collar of the uniform. The right arm is assembled and attached. The left arm is assembled but is not attached until after the shoulder pad is in place on the left shoulder. The badge attaches at the end of a molded-in chain running from Judge Dredd’s uniform collar. Once that is all done, the knee pads are trimmed and attached. The final piece is Judge Dredd’s sidearm, which attaches to a grip molded as part of his right hand.

As with all vinyl kits, the instructions recommend using super glue for assembly and acrylic paint for detailing. Enamel and vinyl do not play well together, and I’ve seen kits that have been destroyed by using the wrong paint.

I purchased the review kit on eBay for $34.99, but an eBay search as of the date of this review showed the same kit selling for between $31.00 and $60.00 US.

The completed figure looks to stand about 12 inches tall, and the base is roughly 6.25 inches in diameter.

Review by: Rich “Lonewolf” Dula

Entry created: March 27, 2013