Mega Construx UNSC Frostraven VS. Decimus

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 1 hour 30 minutes to sort, 3 1/2 hours to 4 hours to build (your time will vary as I take pics of the build along the way)
Set Piece Count: 1,489
Minifigures: UNSC Pilot, buildable Decimus Mech Suit
Weapons: Gravity Hammer, Magnum
Accessories: Figure stand X2, buildable weapons rack, buildable missile racks
Special Features: Rotors spin and partially rotate, cockpit opens/closes, rotating chin mounted gun, rear rack for attaching Forgehog (not included), fully articulated Mech suit
Cost: $120 US (Mass Retail) I got mine from Amazon.

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The box art is pretty cool. Shows a good action sequence of the flying Frostraven and Decimus in his Mech suit firing at it.

On the back are several sets. As well, near bottom right, it shows how the Forgehog can fit into the rear pin racks.You get LOTS of bags of parts and a big instruction book with this set.

Most of the bags are numbered. However, two are not.

These include the figures, rotors and Mech pieces.

The set also includes Mega’s multitool. It’s VERY handy for prying apart pieces.

Likewise, the et also comes with a two-piece clip. You can use this to keep the pages of the instructions opened to a certain point if you like.

The second unnumbered bag has another bag within it.

Here are the printed pieces for this set. I’m really liking the instrument panels.

The pieces from one of the unnumbered bags are sorted out.

This set includes a UNSC Pilot. The color choice here is fantastic as it’s a normal pilot and not one stylized to have a “frost” theme.

The Decimus that comes with this set is the very same as the one that came in the Heroes line a couple years back.

Here is THAT figures, just to show it with the armor on.

I elected to keep the armor off of this specific Decimus, since I knew I was going to be putting it in the Mech suit.

Okay, let’s get on with the build, shall we?

Bag 1 and many of the pieces from the unnumbered bags hold the parts that make Decimus’ Mech suit.

This set of pics shows the mech suit in various stages. Technically, you do not need to have the figure inside of the suit, but it looks pretty cool with Decimus in it, so I kept him there.
There are loads of articulation with the Mech suit. Shoulders, elbows, figures, a little bit in the knees. Enough to get the Mech suit into a lot of cool poses!

The Frostraven starts to take some shape. Thankfully, with numbered bags, you do not have to open them all first and then start building. Now you only need open one, two or a few, according to the instruction. This makes for much less clutter during the build. As well, I think it makes it less daunting as you see your progression of the build, as you use up the bags of parts.

Below, orange stabilizing pieces are added to the rear of the Frostraven so that you can build without worry of it slipping away from you by accident.

At this point, we just start to get into the more fun parts of the build. Adding parts of the wings and for me, those cloudy translucent blue/white pieces.

Here is where I had some real fun! Though it did take a little bit of patience as well.

Once I sorted out these pieces by type, I then tasked myself with sorting the trans-blue/white pieces by how little to how much color they had in them. This made it seem like there was a natural gradient to the pieces. I HIGHLY suggest doing this as it looks better, IMO, than having lots of color, then no color, then lots of color, etc.

Once the cryo containers where built how I wanted them with color succession, I then added them to the undercarriage of the Frostraven. As you can see below, there is a very good pin and hole attachment system for doing so. They both attach to the craft via two pins, then to each other, by a small pin.

At this point, you build the two tails. You may note a small blue missile on the one. There’s another one on the opposite tail. They are placed there for storage. However, if you add the Forgehog for transport, I recommend popping those off and placing them in the cockpit.

The chin mounted gun is assembled. It has a button mechanism to shoot the small blue missiles. I also like the system of hoses and how they are attached to the ship. Note that the rectangle space on the underside holds a buildable rack.

Bag 20 includes all the parts necessary for the wing mounted missiles. These missiles do not launch. Rather they are there for looks. Though of course, you can take them off yourself and launch them, LOL.

We move on to the final bags. These holds the parts for the rotors.

There are two sets of rotors. The forward pair are a bit bigger than the rear set.

The Frostraven is complete!

The pilot fits very comfortably inside the cockpit.

These were the parts I had left over. I used most of them to make a kind of mini refuel hookup.

The full set with Frostraven, Decimus/Mech and Pilot!

I mentioned the rear rack. You have to manually reposition these to this position to allow for the Forgehog to be attached.

Thankfully, the Forgehog has bars built into it that the clasps of the rack latch on to.

As you can see, the Forgehog fits in well and is quite well supported too.

Summary: The set’s build time can vary a bit as I mentioned at the beginning of the article. I finished it in about 3 hours 45 minutes. Again, I was taking pics though, during the build. So set aside some time to build this. Maybe in two build sessions. Most of the build is easy. Just be a little careful when attaching the cryo compartments. The Decimus Mech is fantastic and I really enjoy the fact that Mega thought ahead to add racks to add the Forgehog to this, if you want to.

Overall Rating: I give this set 9 out of 10 medals.
Why did I give it a 9 out of 10?
• One small issue are those trans blue parts. I think I’d have rather had them all be the same color and not be mottled with dark blue and white. However, I made the best of it. If this doesn’t bother you, then it’s a non issue. 1/2 point off.
• I do think for the size of the set, we should have got at least another figure or two. Maybe a Banished Grunt and a UNSC Marine. Half point off. However…given the piece count of nearly 1500 and the set only costing $120, the price per piece is VERY good. See below.

Here’s my opinion on the break down of the value of this set. (In US dollars)
• The UNSC Pilot with the magnum and stand I put at $3.50.
• Decimus, with his Mech suit and Gravity Hammer are worth $12 collectively. This is not due to piece count, but rather to unique pieces manufactured to make the Mech suit.
• That leaves the Frostraven. Clearly is uses most of the rest of the pieces. This ship comes chock full with features, with rotating/spinning rotors, opening/closing cockpit, a rack available to add the Forgehog to. The sheer amount of pieces definitely makes it worth the remaining roughly $105.
TOTAL: $120.50 (before tax and in U.S. dollars) 

Given that the set costs $120 US before tax, I find the value right on par with the price. Though you do get a LOT more pieces than the typical 10 cents per piece guideline. This may add to its value.

Do I recommend it?  The ship is an obscure one. As of this writing, it’s only been in Halo Wars 2. However, do not let that deter you from getting it. It fits in well with the UNSC aesthetic. As mentioned, lots of features really add to the play value of this. I definitely recommend it!

If you have any questions about this set that I didn’t cover in the review, please do not hesitate to ask me. Either reply below or e-mail me at [email protected].

If this review gives you an informed decision on whether to purchase the toy or not, please consider a small donation (50 cents) to the blog.You can donate via PayPal to [email protected]. Or just click the paypal link at the right on the main page of the site.  It’s much appreciated and helps ensure that HFFL stays registered/active on the internet. Thank You.

-Sal