Overview
Voyager Model is not a name you associate with snap-fit girlpla. Known for their super-detailed WWII traditional model kits, Voyager Model operates to this day, even making model upgrade kits for other companies you might be familiar with from this guide such as Takom (the company allegedly behind Suyata and The Hunter’s Poem) and Border Model (Hell Knight Syl and Pirate Queen Anne).
So fittingly, like Suyata and Border Model, it would seem Voyager Model decided to throw its hat into the girlpla ring in 2021 with Project Witch. Unfortunately for Voyager Model, unlike its compatriots, the Project Witch lasted all of two kits (Veronica and Meroy, possibly intended to be Mary) before ceasing sales entirely due to poor sales for reasons that will become apparent below. It should be stated that there are very few English-language resources for this or indeed resources in general; even the logo presented here for Project Witch is one we customized ourselves based on Veronica’s boxart.
Project Witch’s lore, as far as can be discerned1, is largely creating a series of cyborg girls (the titular Witches) to fight various threats. The kits also came with special editions that had unique weapons such as sniper rifles and machine guns for the girls, as well as photo-etched parts.
Construction and Engineering
If you find yourself so fortunate as to acquire one of the few Project Witch kits that have not been assembled or binned yet, you will notice that the box size is incredibly small; in fact, the box sizes are scarcely bigger than the average Bandai Entry-Grade kit, and definitely smaller than a Sister or Sousai Shojo Teien kit. Looking inside, there are maybe about 3-4 runners; about as much as the average 30ML kit, giving the impression that these kits are simple.
That size is deceptive.
The engineering of these kits is, in a word, insane, and not in a good way. The kits are very poorly engineered; joint tolerances are all over the place meaning parts will be either very loose or very tight with an over-reliance on polycaps and rubber rings to compensate for the poor tolerances, while they will often use 5 or 6 parts to achieve what other kits can do with 1 or 2 moving parts. What this adds up to is an insanely difficult kit relative to how many parts it actually has.
Their baffling choice to make their heads entirely out of solid PVC, rather than separately assembled parts (as is industry standard) or even partially PVC and partially separated parts (as is found in some smaller kits) makes the head significantly heavier than it should be, which can be difficult to deal with in combination with the piss-poor plastic quality. Stability is also adversely affected by the poor tolerances and quality, making the kit very reliant on modifying a stand for it (as the stand it comes with is also poorly made).
Moreover, the photo-etched parts are incredibly poorly made; they are very difficult to liberate from their sheets, and insanely prone to bending or being stressed, an especially poor choice for parts intended to be weapons.
Aesthetics:
While Veronica and Meroy are, admittedly, very cute (and a large part of the reason we even bought these kits was for their cuteness), that’s where the fun stops. Project Witch kits are generic in aesthetic, even more than the already very simplistic aesthetic of the early Sisters kits or Megami Device WISM kits. Unless you really like how they look, aesthetics is not this line’s strong suit.
Ease of Acquisition:
These kits have been out of sale for the last 4 years and never made their way out of China and Japan. We only acquired our own copies after months of searching from a random seller in Shanghai, after getting stiffed on buying the pair from a different seller. We will not be providing price estimates as these kits are so rare that it is impossible to say how much these would even rate on the market. However, if you wish to embark on your own personal quest to find one, your first port of call will be Taobao.
Personal Verdict?
Unless you are like us and intending on building things from every line, no matter how big or small, for the sake of experience, we cannot in good faith recommend the line. Please do not search this line up unless you are either insane or dedicated. Probably both.
Personal Recommendations:
As we like to at least find the bright side of things, we at least liked Veronica’s appearance and seeing Veronica was part of the reason we even wanted to try out Project Witch. If only she were a design from a better designed line, she probably would be getting the time in the sun she richly deserves. Alas.
Official Site: None. The Weibo has been down for several years and the only records of this line existing are a few YT reviews, a Japanese blogger’s review linked here (site not secure and in Japanese), the Mecha Musume database (linked in the Useful Links section) and this very review. Voyager Model does have an English (and Chinese) site, but there is no trace of Project Witch on it whatsoever.
- Disclaimer: the lore is largely in Chinese and we are not Chinese speakers; the Weibo for this toyline has also been down for several years. ↩︎
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