All references to 'metal' means gunmetal plastic injection, there's no literal metal in this kit, unlike the Archer kits which have a metal shaft for the arrow.
Besides the colors, there are only *two* differences between the two kits, which is the little forehead emblem and the sideways crest. Everything else uses the same mold. Why this is currently a little more expensive, I have no idea, you're not getting anything extra.
The color difference is the gunmetal armor and the blue parts instead of dark red. The blue is not as saturated as they are on the pictures, but they are very blue and unlike the dark red that looks quite nice on the Liber version, here it looks worse, it kind of makes the model look cheaper.
Most class-up packs are just additional pieces that you add to a class (and nothing else), while this expansion pack includes armor parts from the Liber Swordman/Swordsman kit. It is fully compatible with Silhouette 1 kits (Archer, Assassin, Knight, Lancer and Priest). I haven't tried putting it onto Silhouette 2 or 3, but from experience I can tell you that they generally won't fit that well.
Swordman double parts (in gunmetal): Head parts (face, back head plate and crest), chest and back plate, shoulder pauldrons and waist armor (back, side skirts and front piece).
Besides all of those gunmetal parts, you also get a spear in the same material.
The blue parts:
Blue Roman style Crest and blue emblem for the face plate
Full round shield (works on its own and you can slot the Swordman metal shield onto it)
Large ringlet sheath (also works as an in-between attachment part for the shield)
Left and Right cape halves - Literal halves of a cape
Two cape holders, so you can attach them anywhere individually
A single cape holder that combines the two halves
Cloth styled parts for side skirts, as intermediate parts for the shoulders and the back of the shoulders
A cloth strip/Pennant for the spear (or anywhere with a 3mm hole)
'Fantasy Spatha' style long sword
Great Sword, sword expander - Slots the spatha into it and fits into the Ringlet sheath
Thoughts:
The 'great sword' also fits the metal spatha that the Swordman has, it's identical to the blue one. The Knight long sword does not really fit into it, nor does the spatha fit into the sandwiched Holy Knight 'great sword' upgrade and probably likewise the Paladin versions, but I don't have that Class Up, so I don't know for sure (since only the blade goes into that one and not the cross guard).
I like this style of 'class up' where you have extra parts, so you don't have to rely on buying the kit that it's based on. This is definitely the right way to go for the 30MF line.
The biggest advantage of the line is its modularity, but instead of having extra armors, it's mostly specific to the individual class kits and is too dedicated, in my opinion, so while you can't use all the blue parts on all other armor parts, you at least have an extra set of armor that you can use on most other Silhouettes.
Would I recommend this despite the cheap looking blue? Yeah, it's still a good kit.
Alternatively you can buy the Liber version and put the red parts on it instead, but you won't have the two pieces for the head. You do NOT need any of the included metal armor parts, they are all extra, apart from the spear, which would then be in gold instead.
If you do this, you can just paint the extra gold face parts with gunmetal, then you'll also have a matching crest and emblem.
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