First, lets just admire the kit for a little while before we go into some of the details. More seasoned readers may remember when she first graced the pages of Tomopop a few years back and I think she caught most people's attention back then! At the time I had not worked on a 1/4 scale kit before and the price tag was a little scary but in the end, I went for the plunge and it only ended up as the second most expensive kit I own!

Acquiring the kit also proved a mission in itself with my attempts failing twice before I was able to get one. I missed out at Wonder Festival 2009 and Chara Hobby! During that time, I went into full blown rant mode and very nearly decided to order a recast of the kit as a small F-U to Volks as they put strict purchasing limits at some of the events where she was on sale which prevented me from acquiring the kit but got talked down by a friend in the garage kit community.

Eventually, Volks made the kit available at their Hobby Round 3 event and I went and snapped one up straight away. No purchasing limits, no running out of stock. My proxy was able to go to the event and walk out with a kit, several months after I initially expressed interest. And once the kit arrived, I was glad that I went for the official kit. The feel of the resin and the way they fit together so well is something which I found lacking in some recasts (yes, I have dabbled with them before) and this kit was definitely something which deserved the best of everything I can give.

Getting the kit when I did was also a good call as it's almost impossible to find anymore! Volks certainly haven't re-released her again and even the pre-painted version with the Dragon's Tooth is a difficult find!

The kit also comes with a separate head part to show when KOS-MOS activates the Hilbert effect. Personally, I like this one much more than the standard part so this is how I display her.

Back shot. I'm still trying to figure out how to make the hair a light blue colour without losing too much of the transparency. Inks are out because they're too deep but for now, I guess the effect I managed by lightly spraying on the paint and washing some of the excess off will have to do!

The chain on the hairpiece also was not part of the kit. I had to go out and find one to use. Not too hard but it was a little tricky finding one which was the right size and could fit into the holes. And one of the benefits of 1/4 scale is that the decals are actually legible, though Alter also managed a similar effect wit their Almecha, which is considerably smaller.

Underneath the hair has a lot of details, too. Shame you'll never really see it!

There is one other side of the history of this kit and that one actually does relate to a certain toy site with a blue dog as its mascot. Back when when this kit was first announced, I was but a regular reader of the site after stumbling across it somehow (Don't ask me, I honestly can't remember what took me here, though I did discover Tomopop before Destructoid ...).

KOS-MOS was actually one of my first tips on the Tomopop tips line. I know a few of you use it! If you find something which we haven't covered and you think it's noteworthy, just send us an e-mail with a description and link and if we post it, we'll give you some credit on the post. We don't bite (well, some of us do, but we'll be sure to keep those guys away from you!). Writing a C-blog post works as well and I think that's the method others have chosen.

Tips like this, my promoted C-blog post about another kit of mine, the Knight of Gold and, possibly posting a few tidbits of Wonder Festival news before the team got their attention and I ended up being part of the team starting with the Wonder Festival Winter 2010 coverage. Was it that long ago? It was all downhill from there (I kid!). But it just goes to show that if someone like me can provide something to the site, then you guys can, too! A speciality subject is useful but all you really need to get the ball rolling is a desire to share!

OK, I'll stop there because this is getting way too close to being a motivational post ...

Sufficed to say, KOS-MOS is a very special kit to me. She opened doors, made me realize stuff about my spending habits and, currently, is probably the best show of my current painting skill level. Not bad, but nowhere near as ggod as the best out there. Lots of room to improve.

If I was stuck in a bad situation and could only save one figure in my collection, I'd still pick my bunny Haruhi, but if I could save two, KOS-MOS would take the second slot. Without a doubt!