Gundam Model Kits

MG Force Impulse Gundam

2008-05-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

A completed MG Force Impulse Gundam (so fast!!) by Cagalli-bi.

Awesome action poses by Force Impulse itself...

... although the duel scene with Freedom seems to be the emphasis all the time.

Comparison with its earlier 1/100 scale version is obviously... no fight? ^^;

With another 'sharp-edged' SEED MG, Destiny.

The optional part for the backpack allows Impulse to use the backpack from Aile Strike/Strike Rouge, Freedom (however ridiculous it seems for it to be using the wing unit of its rival), IWSP and even 1/100 Akatsuki O_O
Not shown in the review, but I'm pretty sure Strike Freedom, Strike Noir, Destiny, and Strike's Sword and Launcher packs are compatible for this MG as well.

All images above are from Cagalli-bi.

Updates

2008-05-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

Folks who like the recently released HCM-Pro Gundam Deathscythe can have a look at the reviews on two websites: Climax-F and Taste.

Images from Taste.
Still on HCM-Pro, plenty of images of the hit HCM-Pro figure in August, Tallgeese:

Looks like there will be effect parts for the its thrusters.
Images from Toysdaily.

MG Infinite Justice

2008-05-24T04:22:00.000-07:00

Special Phase-Impulse MG Edition PV
Download (Flv, size 5Mb)

Here is screens capture in the end of special Phase-Impulse MG Edition promo video.
This mean next MG from Gundam Seed will be MG Infinite Justice this autumn 2008.

This month’s Hobby Japan magazine

2008-05-24T02:54:00.000-07:00

New MS from Gundam SEED FRAME ASTRAYS

GAT-FJ108 Raigo Gundam

New MS from Gundam 00V
GNX-509T Throne Varanus

HG Saachez Enact
MG MS-06K Zaku Cannon - August
HGUC Kämpfer - (no date yet)

MG RX-78 Ver.2.0 - July, 4,410 Yen

HCM-Pro Tallgeese - August, 2,940 Yen
HCM-Pro Gundam SandRock - July, 2,970 Yen

SD Gundam BB Senshi Sangokuden series

DX Chogokin Macross Frontier VF-25 (Alto) 1/60

Avalanche Exia 1/100 - July, 3,360 Yen

Ground Type 1/100
Gundam Astraea Type F 1/100
HG GN-X

HGUC Sazabi
MG Shin Musha Gundam

Gundam Abulhool
Gundam Astraea [Cones Type GN Drive]

1/100 Tieren Ground Type

2008-05-24T02:41:00.000-07:00

HGUC Zaku II FZ EDITED

2008-05-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

Now available on Hobby Search at 1,200 Yen.

Images from Cagalli-bi.

Shizuoka Hobby Show 2008 Part.7

2008-05-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

More goodies from Shizuoka Hobby Show 2008:

Large Gunpla diorama using HGUC models.Images from Toysdaily.

1/100 Astraea Type F - only the mask seems to be new (as compared to Astraea).

1/100 Avalanche Exia - heavy armored Exia

MG Gun Tank - Like Gundam Ver. 2.0, this Gun Tank seems a bit too simple from the outside, but I bet there are plenty of details inside waiting to be revealed.

MG Zaku Cannon - limited parts from MG Zaku Ver. 2.0 used for its armors...

... but for MG Zaku Tank (exhibit only), only the head seems to be from Zaku II Ver. 2.0

Variations and developments for MG Zaku IIs - one leg of Johnny Ridden's High Mobility Zaku II is also being displayed. ^^ Being a fan of the crimson lighting, I hope Bandai would release this Zaku variation soon ^^

B-Club's resin kit for MG MS-06D Desert Zaku - Desert Zaku's fans must be quite disappointed that they'll have to get this very expensive resin kit from B-CLub instead of a regular release by Bandai ^^;

SHCM-Pro MS-06J Ground Type Zaku II - Another awesome news for Zeon fans. This SHCM-Pro will be available in July, at 8,190 Yen (with tax).

Shizuoka Hobby Show 2008 Part.6

2008-05-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

Info from Gunota Headlines: BB Senshi Sangokuden Ryomou Dijeh / Kannei Kämpfer Gou Assault Marines - ship that transforms into 6 combat forms + two commanders set, August, 1,860 Yen.Image from Hobby Stock.

1/100 Tieren Ground Type

1/100 Nadleeh - exhibit only, with a new spread palm, shield ad rifle

HG Ali Al Saachez's Customized EnactImages above are from Hobby Shop Midori.

1/100 Astraea Type F

1/144 Kyrios with bombardment units - exhibit only

U.C.H.G. Earth Federation Forces Semovente Corps Set (with Type 61 Tank) - exhibit only

SHCM-Pro Gundam NT-1 - exhibit only

SHCM-Pro Zaku II FZ - exhibit only

Shizuoka Hobby Show 2008 Part.5

2008-05-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

Awesome photos just keep on rolling from the 47th Shizuoka Hobby Show 2008

MG Gundam Ver. 2.0 - Definitely the spotlight of the Gunpla booth this year, it looks deceptively simple outside...

...but talk about the details of its inner frame.

The best Core Fighter so far? We'll have to wait till we get to see more of MG Force Impulse's Core Splendor before concluding on that

There's some gimmick with the V sign in its waist, but it seems that the door for the cockpit hatch can now be opened to access the cockpit inside?And a new Amuro Ray figure too

More parts for the head unit, and nifty molding too, even the splits on the mask do not need panel-lining anymore

MG Shin Musha Gundam - Only the inner frame is from Gundam Ver. OYW, the rest all new parts. As a matter of fact, it's Gundam Ver. Ka using the frame mounted with all those Samurai armors

HGUC Sazabi - from the look of it, not all the yellow parts for the thrusters all over this HGUC kit are given. Time to get a yellow Gundam Marker if you're not planning to airbrush him

HGUC Zaku II FZ - With all those heavyweight Char's Counterattack HGUCs before him, this Zaku II FZ looks as if he's from another series (maybe it's just me) ^^;The pelvis joint isn't new anymore, but it sure works well for a smaller Gunpla too.

HGUC Kampfer - Except for the new mount clip for the bazookas, I haven't spot any major difference with its MG predecessor.

GFF Gundam Mk. IIIImages above are from GA Graphic.

Shizuoka Hobby Show 2008 Part.4

2008-05-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

MG Gundam Ver. 2.0 - with very short feet XD

MG Force Impulse Gundam

MG Zaku Cannon

Resin kit for MS-06 Desert Zaku. Not sure if this kit is going to use the upcoming MG Zaku Cannon as its base kit, or other previous MG Zaku II Ver. 2.0s.

MG Zaku Tank - for exhibit only. Anyone interested?

The next SHCM-Pro: MS-06J Zaku II

The world of BB Senshi Sangokuden at Shizuoka Hobby Show 2008:

Shizuoka Hobby Show 2008 Part.3

2008-05-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

MG Shin Musha Gundam

HGUC Sazabi

HGUC Zaku II FZ

MG Gundam Ver. 2.0 - July

Shizuoka Hobby Show 2008 Part.2

2008-05-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

1/100 Avalanche Exia

1/100 Tieren Ground Type

HG 1/144 GN Arms Type-D (exhibit only)

HG 1/144 Ali Al Saachez's Customized Enact

HG 1/144 GN-X

MSIA Nadleeh

GFF Metal Composite Psycho Gundam Mk. II

SD Knight Gundam

BB Senshi Sangokuden Chouun Gundam - with horse, July

BB Senshi Sangokuden Ryomou Dijeh - August, 1,500 yen
BB Senshi Sangokuden Ryomou Dijeh / Kannei Kämpfer Gou Assault Marines - set?,
August, 1,890 yen

BB Senshi Sangokuden Shuusou Doven Wolf - Fall, 630 yen

BB Senshi Sangokuden Shuuyu Hyaku Shiki - Fall

BB Senshi Sangokuden Chouryou Gelgoog - Fall

Shizuoka Hobby Show 2008 Part.1

2008-05-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

GFF Wing Gundam Series

S.H. Figuarts Domon Kasshu

MG G Armor

MG Guntank

Zaku Desert Type (B-Club)

MG Zaku Cannon

MG Zaku Tank

HGUC Kämpfer

MG XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero

2008-05-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

Show Off by New Type

Knight Of Gold

2008-05-12T22:52:00.000-07:00

Show Off by Paronya

MG-M01 Turn A Gundam

2008-05-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

Show Off by BasFubumI

Gundam G-3 ver.ka

2008-05-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Show Off by Ton_Za

MG YMS-14S

2008-05-11T22:59:00.000-07:00

Show Off by Undertone

MG RX79-G

2008-05-11T22:53:00.000-07:00

Show Off by GunZetta-Blue

Gundam MKII (Woodland Camouflag)

2008-05-11T02:50:00.000-07:00

Show Off by P'O

Gundam Heavy Arms Rider (1/144)

2008-05-11T02:37:00.000-07:00

XXXG-01H2R
Gundam Heavy Arms Rider Custom "Swan"

Show Off by Paronya

Gundam MKII ver.1.0

2008-05-10T19:11:00.000-07:00

Show Off by Wolverine

HG 1/144: TIEREN -DESERT BULL-

2008-05-10T18:39:00.000-07:00

Tieren -Desert Bull Type-

Scale: 1/144
Main Kit: HG00 "TIEREN Ground Type
Additional Kits:
- HG 1/144: "Double Gatling" Gundam Heavy
-Arms Custom
- Kotobukiya's reactive armors, spikes
- Kotobukiya's Bbzooka
- Wave's clear eye, antenna

Color Recipes (+ Flat Base #30):
Body = #119: RLM79 Sand Yellow
Joints = #333: Extra Dark Seagray BS381C/640
Weapons = #116: RLM Black Gray
Chest = #114: RLM23 Red
Blade/Gatling = #8: Silver

Panel lining/Weathering: Realtouch Marker Red & Black

Tieren Desert Bull: Front/Rear View

Close-up, head shot

Spiked shield (spikes from Kotobukiya's detail-up parts)

Double Gatling Gun mounted on left shoulder, from Heavy-Arms CustomKotobukiya's Weapon Unit: Bazooka

Action!

Crouching Bull

Bravo! Transform! Henshin!

Bull Mode!! (Tieren Toufu)

Bull Hovering

Action: Bull mode full assault!

Show Off by KAI

RX-121-1 Hazel-Custom (HGUC)

2008-05-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

Show Off by dech

RX-78 oneyear wars

2008-05-09T19:44:00.000-07:00

Show Off by centuryboy

Heavy Arms Custom 1:100

2008-05-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

Show Off by UltimatEX

New pic of MG Musha Gundam

2008-05-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

Source: Hobby Shop Midori

Gundam Astraea Type -S- (HG 1/144)

2008-05-09T04:41:00.000-07:00

GUNDAM ASTRAEA TYPE STRIKER

Base Kit:
- HG 1/144 Gundam Exia
Additional Kits:
- Conversion part "Gundam Astraea"
- "Twin Spear" HGUC GM Striker
- Kotobukiya's detail-up parts

Color Schemes (+ Flat Base #30):
Body = Light Aircraft Gray BS381C/627
Inner Frame = Extra Dark Seagray BS381C/640
Inlay = Khaki
Foot/Shield/Antenna = Red Madder (40%) + Character Red (30%) + Light Grey (20%) + Navy Blue (10%)
Camera/Thrusters = Yellow Green
GN (chest) = Yellow Green (60%) + Navy Blue (40%)
Blades = Silver

Panel lining = Dry-type Gundam Marker Grey, Realtouch Marker Black

Front/Rear View

Astraea = Goddess of justice

GN Sword

Action: GN Sword

Original weapon: GN Twin Spear

Action: GN Twin Spear

Show Off by K

Zaku II (Red)

2008-05-09T04:19:00.000-07:00

Credit : EarthSphere

Show Off by NewFace03

Sazabi

2008-05-09T04:15:00.000-07:00

Credit : EarthSphere

Show Off by Ajark

Zeta Gundam

2008-05-09T04:02:00.000-07:00

Credit : EarthSphere

Show off by FAZZ

Gundam Astraea

2008-05-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

Gundam Astraea

Series: OO 1/100
Price: ¥ 2800

Credit : duotiga

GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh (HG)

2008-05-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

Gundam Nadleeh

Series: High Grade OO (HG) 1/144
Price: ¥ 1200

Credit : duotiga

Gundam Throne Drei (HG)

2008-05-08T06:57:00.000-07:00

Gundam Throne Drei

Series: High Grade OO (HG) 1/144
Price: ¥ 1600

Credit : duotiga

Knight gundam (Modify)

2008-05-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

Show Off by Grinz

Nataku Gundam

2008-05-07T08:06:00.000-07:00

Show Off by Armchai

Turn A

2008-05-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

Show Off By Guntam

MG Rx78-2 TV COLOR

2008-05-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

Show Off By Ong

Scope Dog 1/24

2008-05-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

Show off by PRASAN

Model Shop (Bangkok, Thailand)

2008-05-07T06:16:00.000-07:00

Hobby Hub
Central Plaza Lardprao

Jupiter
Pirom Plaza 1 Floor (Sam-peng)

Hobby Hour
Pirom Plaza Ground Floor (Sam-peng)

Gazz
Pirom Plaza 2 Floor (Sam-peng)

Leo-Toy
Sapan-Lek (Sam-peng)

Klong Thom
(Saturday-Sunday)

Dot35 Plus

Union Mall (Lardprao)

Credit : shishi return

BANDAI PLAMO CON 2008 1st (Thailand)

2008-05-07T05:52:00.000-07:00

BANDAI PLAMO CON 2008 1st
MODEL TALK...
28 MAY - 10 JUNE 2008
SALE 20-70%

CENTRAL WORLD
ZONE B BEACON 6 FLOOR

Gundam Model Contest & Gundam Model Special Price

Source : www.dreamtoy.co.th

Zaku 2.0 Chocco Chip Camouflage

2008-05-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Show Off By SakamotoMiwa

Sazabi Metalic Coating version

2008-05-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

General and Technical Data

Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100
Release Date: 12/2007
Price: ¥ 14000

Show Off By RabbitRose

EXia Crystal Version

2008-05-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

Gundam Exia
Series: First Grade (FG) 1/144

Source: thebrilliantgreen From Koju

Gundam MFS (Part 3)

2008-05-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

RX-105 GUNDAM

RMS-142 Xeku Zwei

Wing Gundam Zero

Nu-GUNDAM

SCHNEE WEISSE

MSZ-006 C1

PERFECT GUNDAM

Source: BLUE MOON From Koju

Gundam MFS (Part 2)

2008-05-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

GUNDAM TR-1 HAZEL-RAH

SAZABI

ZORIN SOUL

NIGHTINGALE

PENEROPE

Source: BLUE MOON From Koju

Gundam MFS (Part 1)

2008-05-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

Hi-Nu Gundam

GAIA GEAR ALFA

Hi-Nu Gundam
Ex-S GUNDAM

Exs/S GUNDAM

MSZ-006 C1

DESTINY GUNDAM

Source: BLUE MOON From Koju

Wallpaper Gundam Model

2008-05-02T17:29:00.000-07:00

Source: www.modxtoy.com

Review: Sazabi HGUC 1/144

2008-05-02T17:03:00.001-07:00

Source: www.amazon.co.jp

Scan Gundam Weapon Musha Retsuden Zero

2008-05-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

Download Zip

Source: http://raptorial.e50.163ns.com/

Discounts on plastic kits! (In Japan)

2008-05-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

Deep, deep, deeeeep discounts on plastic kits! I'd buy them if only I had the time to build them...

Here's another great bargain deal that one usually find at such flea market events. Recently released SOC Raideen on 23-25% off!!

Source: tokyohunter

June’s Bandai Hobby Sales Manual

2008-05-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

MG Shin Musha Gundam - June, 5,250 yen

Tieren Ground Type - June, 2,940 yen

Gundam Astraea Type F 1/100 - June, 2,940 yen

BB Senshi Sangokuden Kanpei Gundam - June, 630 yen

Source: Hobby Shop Midori

Full scans this month’s hobby mag (bittorrent)

2008-04-30T06:37:00.000-07:00

Hobby Japan 6 2008, size 189Mb
Model Graphix 6 2008, size 85Mb
Master Model Vol. 58, size 64Mb

Download torrent

Source: Ikunlun

Product of Bandai Release Date: 05/2008

2008-04-30T05:45:00.000-07:00

Force Impulse Gundam
Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100
Price: ¥ 4500

Tieren Space Commander Type
Series: High Grade OO (HG) 1/144
Price: ¥ 1500

Zaku II Custom (FZ)
Series: High Grade Universe Century (HGUC) 1/144
Price: ¥ 1200

Over Flag
Series: High Grade OO (HG) 1/100
Price: ¥ 2200

Kakouen
Series: BB Gundam (SD)
Price: ¥ 600

Source: members.jcom.home.ne.jp

Gundam Unicorn Beam Gatling Gun

2008-04-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

Pic of Beam Gatling Gun for MG Gundam Unicorn Ver Ka.
It ’s comes with Gundam Unicorn novel vol. 4 limited edition.
Released date 26 April 2008 priced ¥ 1,260.

Source: dengekionline

Link YouTube from Fuji TV

2008-04-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

SP 02 - Bandai MG Gundam NT1 Vs Kampfer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGfetzrkoR8 (Link 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCgm2v0KvQs (Link 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgWvysj6wdo (Link 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpBAeBTJwA (Link 4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mLyLp_TmlI (Link 5)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CrGdO_KN1Q (Link 6)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXscKYsCC2M (Link 7)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW2c0UYFQ98 (Link 8)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElaczfH8ykI (Link 9)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrN1ziPbJyw (Link 10)

Bandai MG MS-07B-3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRotxDBEfmo (Link 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okp3TDLhceI (Link 2)

Bandai MG AMX-004 Qubeley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfVdnqweCzw (Link 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_WT4WYYHy0 (Link 2)

Bandai MG Gundam RX78-2 Ver. Ka
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whzbzFmc86M (Link 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SDupRGuPOE (Link 2)

Bandai MG MSM-07 Z'Gok + Diorama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ5v0-DNd2E (Link 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvWR-E_fxJE (Link 2)

Bandai MG RX-178 Gundam Mk-II Titans Version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNou7CSU_y8 (Link 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdGpjM2n85o (Link 2)

Bandai MG MS-09RS Char's Rick Dom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IQ_tXwqbTI (Link 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M14CaF_Geeo (Link 2)

Bandai MG MS-05 Zaku I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6A2jBp44Ns (Link 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzx2jfovUKY (Link 2)

Scans from Hobby Japan 6

2008-04-26T22:43:00.000-07:00

MSN-06S Sinanju 1/100 (Scratch Built)

MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. 2.0 Mid Year/MG Shin Musha Gundam

Zaku II Custom

2008-04-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

General and Technical Data

Series: High Grade Universal Century (HGUC) 1/144

Release Date: 05/2008 Price: ¥ 1200

Scans MG Ultimate Catalog 2008

2008-04-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

Total 68 pages

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Source: greedland

Product of Bandai Release Date: 04/2008

2008-04-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

General and Technical Data

Launcher/Sword Strike Gundam
Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100
Price: ¥ 5000

Gundam Nadleeh
Series: High Grade OO (HG) 1/144
Price: ¥ 1200

Gundam Throne Drei
Series: High Grade OO (HG) 1/144
Price: ¥ 1600

Gundam Astraea
Series: OO 1/100
Price: ¥ 2800

Gelgoog Mass Production Ver.2.0
Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100
Price: ¥ 4500

Source: members.jcom.home.ne.jp

Sazabi

2008-04-22T08:38:00.001-07:00

General and Technical Data

Series: High Grade Universal Century (HGUC) 1/144
Release Date: 06/2008
Price: ¥ 2940

Force Impulse Gundam

2008-04-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

General and Technical Data

Force Impulse Gundam
Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100
Release Date: 05/2008
Price: ¥ 4500

Gundam Expo 2008 in Nagoya

2008-04-22T04:51:00.000-07:00

25 April - 11 May 2008
OPEN 10:00 - 21:00

Source: http://www.parco-nagoya.com/web/08gunpla/

Nu Gundam (Review)

2008-04-22T04:17:00.000-07:00

General and Technical Data

Series: High Grade Universal Century (HGUC) 1/144
Release Date: 03/2008
Price: ¥ 2500

Source: Hobby toysdaily

Tokyo Inter Anime 2008

2008-04-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

BB MUSHA GUNDAM No. 308 "Koumei"

Release Date: 04/2008 Price: ¥ 600

BB MUSHA GUNDAM N0. 304 "Joe Chou"

Release Date: 10/2007 Price: ¥ 500

BB MUSHA GUNDAM No. 305 "Sonken"

Release Date: 11/2007 Price: ¥ 500

BB MUSHA GUNDAM No. 300 "Ryuubi"
Release Date: 05/2007 Price: ¥ 500

CLEAR VERSION BB MUSHA GUNDAM "Joe Chou" & "Shiba-I"
Release Date: 04/2008 Price: ¥ 1200

Source: Hobby toybu

Gundam Plastic Model?

2008-04-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

OK, Today I Think i will go over the different classifications that gundam models fall into. I will go over size first. There are 3 standard size models 1:144, 1:100, and 1:60. The 1:144 are the smallest models typically about 5 inches tall, they come in only HG (high grade) versions and this is the size you can find almost any mobile suit or Mobile arrmor in any series in. they are snap together like all gundam models. these you can also paint and do detail work on but because of the small size the detail work is harder to do. The next size is 1:100 the size I love to collect, these models are about 8 inches tall and come in both HG and MG (master grade) versions. The MG versions typically have more flexibility and better joints so you can pose them in may different ways, they also have display stands that come with them sometimes. The HG 1:100 models are the ones I mostly collect and have because the MG models are a bit more exspensive to buy. 1:100 models for the main gundams are typically all that is avalible of any gundam series. The last is 1:60 the big PG (perfect grade) models these are usually 14 inches or taller. They can be posed in almost any pose you see in the animes. these models can cost more than $100 each and can take days to put together. The 1:60 size only comes in the “hero” gundam typically. Gundam seed models are the only exception because both the strike and the strike rouge are avalible in the 1:60 size.

Source: bandai-hobby

RX-93 Nu-Gundam (Review)

2008-04-18T23:24:00.000-07:00

Head

Standard MG Gundam head features... transparent piece for eyes, seperate lower face plate, 2 piece outer shell. What's nice is that the antennae for this gundam is very sharp! No sharpening necessary for this one (I can't see why this can't be done for other Gundams... the NT-1 Alex's antennae is *awful*)!
Of interest is that the head attaches to a next piece which is connected to the main body via a pivot point - this allows the head to look upwards - presumably for a flying pose... but the way the whole thing fits together it looks plain freaky when positioned that way.

Torso

Nice internal details. Upper body armor can be easily removed to reveal the innards. The cockpit hatch pivots on a point near the next so the whole centre portion opens to reveal the cockpit.
When assemblying the joints in the upper body where the shoulders will attach, I found that they were on the loose side even though they were polycapped. My suspicions were proven right when after assemblying the whole model the shoulders would *slouch* under the weight of the arms.
Lower body is attached to upper via a huge ball joint. It also features a die-cast crotch piece to which the hips will attach. This adds nice weight to the model in general and adds to the great balance that this kit has.
All 6 armor flaps on the lower body are poseable which makes for vey good hip mobility.
A nice touch is the vents on the front and back flaps which reveal more internal parts inside. The parts are all molded in colour so even if you don't want to paint them, they'll look decent.
Backpack features full removeable armor - a departure from the normal one/two piece affairs with 5 seperate pieces of armor. The bazooka, fin-funnels and one beam-saber attach to this backpack.

Arms

Screws in the shoulder and lower elbow joint ensure that they remain tight. Elbow is double-jointed but each of the individual parts seem to be made up of more parts than necessary - meaning extra work and seam filling... Both forearms feature a sliding tab which - on the left arm - allows the saber storage mechanism to work... on the right arm it is non-functional.
All armor is attached via polycaps.
Hands are standard MG-type affairs with poseable thumbs and fingers (lower three are molded together and index finger is seperated). One interesting addition is a joint at the base of the palm... this allows the RX-93 to do push-ups if he wanted.

Legs

Left and right legs are made of identical parts which means monotonous assembly. The ankle joint is die-cast which moves the figure's centre of gravity down so it is very stable. The knee joint is pretty nifty: not only is it a double-joint, it also features 2 nice working pistons on the front. 3 screws hold the parts together and these babies are *TIGHT* which is good for a figure this big and heavy.
All armor is attached via polycaps and the rear of each leg features a booster that is poseable.

Weapons & Accessories

Each of the six fin funnels has 2 'joints' which pivot out to join them all together. They are flexible and feature a nice mechanism inside so the funnels 'click' into place when they are moved.
The bazooka and beam weapon are nicely molded and rather than make them 2-piece affairs Bandai has put in a little more effort so that some of the seam-lines are covered up by additional pieces. I spent less time sanding these weapons than normal as a result.

Conclusion

I guess one bad thing I didn't mention in the previous section is that I will now be tempted to get the Sazabi as well just to match this big guy... that's bad because the Sazabi is expensive and I've heard that Bandai did a poor job on that kit. Oh well... back to the Nu-Gundam...
In short, very nice kit. Will look good even if you decide not to paint it. I love the weight of the die-cast parts and it's commanding presence because of it's size and clean look. Can't go wrong with this one!

Contributor: GUNDAM_BASE

General and Technical Data
Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100 Release Date: 12/2000
Price: ¥ 5000

MSN-00100 Hyaku-Shiki (Review)

2008-04-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

Head

The head of the Shiki has more parts than most gundam heads:
1 transparent piece for the eyes2 pieces for top of the head1 face-plate2 side plates1 rear piece1 antennae1 transparent piece for the vent above the eyes1 polycap
Head movement is limited but a nice touch is that the vents on the left and right side of the faceplate are cut-out and the internals molded on a seperate piece so it looks quite realistic.

Torso

No internal details here at all except for the chair in the cockpit if that counts. The chair is molded with more detail than older kits which is also a nice touch... but the chair is hardly visible after the body is assembled. Shoulder joints are polycapped ball joints and so is the waist joint. Pretty simple except for a little gimmick for the cockpit hatch. Although looking at the pictures online and in the magazines you may think that the cockpit mechanism is just a hatch rotating on one axis, the two gold pieces on the left and right actually overlap the hatch slightly and slide to the sides when the cockpit opens.
Backpack has removable cover to reveal the engine details inside but the thruster assemblies are not poseable at all. The backpack literally hooks onto the back of the upper body and the joints have some polycaps to hold them with some security. 2 wing units attach to the sides of the backpac via polycapped ball-joints. There are also areas to mount the bazooka and the beam-rifle too.
Lower torso ends up with 5 pieces of poseable armor: left-front, right front, left side, right side and the back is one piece on a rotating joint. This allows for quite a range of hip motion. On the rear panel has opening 'clasps' for holding the beam-sabers.

Arms

Arm units don't have any internal details unless you want to consider the *very* minor upper arm stuff that is revealed when you remove the armor - I wouldn't consider that an internal skeleton though. Double jointed elbows allow for a good range of movement. The shoulder armor is more complicated than most gundams too - primarily because there is an additional piece that hangs on the outer side of the armor... it also tries to mold everything in color.
The hands are interesting. They aren't the typical MG hands you've come to expect. What you get is 2 sets of hands for each arm. The palm and thumb are molded in one piece and the 4 fingers are molded in another. The 2 pieces are joined with a pivot point to allow the 4 fingers to open and close to insert/remove weapons. However, the whole assembly slides into a gold piece which acts like an outer sleeve - it is designed to remove almost all of the movement in the hand so any weapons being held should stay put. This 'sleeve' assemble makes the Shiki's hands *huge*...

Legs

Knees are double jointed with quite good range of motion. Upper legs (thigh area) consist of 2 gold pieces... that's it! Don't expect any internal structures there.
The lower leg features some internal details with 5 pieces of removable armor - all polycapped on... but I suspect this was included because part of the Shiki's design leaves the leg exposed - I wouldn't be surprised if there were no internal details here if this had not been the case.
One of the gimmicks is in the legs - this is a working piston in the lower leg. Nice touch... the piston is thicker than any I have found in the MGs I have built so far, but there is not a huge range of motion though.
Feet themselves are also very simple - no fore-foot/rear-foot individual movement, just a ball-joint where the lower leg section attaches.
Some curious modellers have asked whether the Shiki can pose... well, it took a little effort, but the Shiki can do a decent crouch.

Weapons & Accessories

Nothing really outstanding here. The bazooka is a 2-piece affair which means lotsa sanding to remove all the seamlines. The rifle is generally also a 2-piece design (left and right halves) although there is a small rotating catch that flips out to allow it to be hooked onto the backpack. A nice touch is that both weapons feature removable magazines. The one for the bazooka is nice with even molded details of the shells inside.

Conclusion

The Shiki was definitely a pleasant build - like most new MG kits (Sazabi excluded), parts fit and finish is excellent and the plastic is of high quality *and* what is gold-plated is generally molded in nice colours.
With that said, you probably don't want to go through the trouble of painting these non-plated parts. I did... but like I mentioned before... the gold draws attention away from everything else - so the painted parts really don't add much to the look of the figure. hmm... should I remove the gold?
Plating is always a controversial topic. Although the Shiki has only minor seam problems (which is a big problem on most other plated kits), plating still doesn't suit everyone's tastes... As for me? I'm still undecided.
Closing thoughts? Nice kit, but it could have been much better. It's a little too simple in design for it's price... get it if you can get a good price, but S$84 is definitely too much to pay for it in my opinion. :)

Contributor: GUNDAM_BASE

General and Technical Data

Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100 Release Date: 03/2001

Price: ¥ 4500

MS-06F Zaku II (Review)

2008-04-18T22:36:00.001-07:00

Head

Just to give you an idea of the number of parts we are looking at at the Perfect Grade level, the head alone consists of 41 parts! That doesn't add the 20+ parts for the hose that attaches to it. I must do a count of the MG Zaku II head for a full comparison. :)
I really enjoyed putting this head together - took about 2.5 hours in all. The mono-eye has an LED that is ingeniously included in the whole head array so that it works even when the eye is moved left or right. This movement can be achieved by operating a lever on the base of the back of the head.
Detail is very nice and some is visible from the flip-top 'hood' on the top of the head. You can see more of the internals by removing the 2 sides of the head armor which is held on by polycaps - nice touch!
Batteries for the mono-eye are stored in the neck unit just under the head - you will need to purchase 2 LR43 1.5v batteries (normally used for watches I believe) for this. I strongly recommend that you get these prior to assembly so that you can test the whole light setup before you build the rest of the kit - so that you can correct any errors before moving on. I cannot stress this enough - I put the whole thing together only to realize after installing the batteries that the setup didn't work... a lot of disassembly followed. :)

Torso

Upper body houses the cockpit which features a chair which slides from side to side. The cockpit has 2 hatches which open. A small one which looks too small for the pilot to exit from as well as the entire central chest area which can flip open. Presumably the chair slides from side to side depending on the hatch that the pilot open. This sliding mechanism eliminates the engine block which is in the MG Zaku chest areas beside the fixed pilot seats.
Lower body is straightforward to assemble as all 5 flaps (2 front, 2 side and 1 rear) are poseable to allow for maximum hip mobility. Of special note is a little feature which is both useless but cool at the same time - the rear and front flaps are attached to a special suspension system so you can actually push down on them. The spring in the system pushes the back into position once the pressure is released. The crotch section lowers down to reveal inner details (insert own joke here).
The backpack features 2 thrustes and a couple of smart joints which allow the backpack armor to be flipped up to show the internal details. There is even a piston there which appears to hold the armor up - just like popping open a car hood. It's a nice touch. 2 thrusters are poseable but not like in most MG setups where the rocket output sits on a moveable ball-joint - rather, the entire rocket unit hiding under the backpack armor is moveable.

Arms

The next parts to assemble are the arms. These aren't hard to do, though you should pay special attention to use the correct parts for each step. With this kit, you should expect to spend quite a bit of time looking through the many runners of parts to find what you need.
There are cool chromed pistons that extend and contract when the joints of the arms move. The whole assembly is nice and tight and very cool to watch when in action. Compared to the arm of the RX-78, the Zaku arm is a little less complex but in my opinion that's an advantage - the whole assemby has a more solid feel.
One aspect of the design I especially like is on the fore-arm elbow joint. It's gonna be hard to explain but I'll try... there is a flap built onto the fore-arm that slides into the rest of the arm when the elbow bends - this allows the elbow joint a lot of flexibility without an ugly 'gap' in the forearm to allow for the joint to work. If you don't get it, just trust me on this... it's a simple idea but an excellent one nicely executed!
Hands are fully articulated with 3 individual segments per finger/thumb... this is *after all* a Perfect Grade kit y'know! I love these hands but due to the molding process, each segment has a little circle molded into one side of it which just got to me - so I puttied them up. They are hardly noticeable on a kit this big though so if you hate puttying, don't worry about it. Oh... it's nice that the articulated fingers are actually molded with the 3 segments already attached - very ingenious!
Although the armor is easily removable, there is only one 'flap' on each arm that can be opened. The Gundam, in comparison,has at least 3 hatches on each arm that can be opened to reveal internals.

Legs

The arms took time to build - more than 3 hours each... but the legs took me even more - about 5 hours each!
These are very well done and also feature several working chromed pistons. I especially like the knee design which has very nice action when bending and straightening. And speaking of bending, these knee joints have excellent articulation! I'm certain this figure can do a good crouch when completed. I'll be sure to get some pics up of the knee at full bend. This is even more remarkable when you conside that this is a bulky Zaku model here, not a sleek Gundam... so the full articulation is impressive!
The hip joint features (like the fingers) - working joints which have been molded as one piece.
The feet on the Zaku have individually poseable fore-feet and heels - this adds to the realism of the model design. Although the foot design is nice, there is limited forward ankle articulation.
All armor is easily removable to show the detailed inner skeleton. In addition, the knee pads and the armor on each foot can be 'opened'. The cables attaching upped to lower leg are essentially the same design as that found in the head and on the main body.
The whole leg assembly has a very solid feel and is very well designed.

Weapons and Accessories

To be completed.

Conclusion

All in all, I don't have many negative comments to make about this kit - I like it very much. It is costly but for the price you do get a lot. It may not have as many gimmicks as it's Gundam counterpart, but it makes up for it by just being a Zaku - which has attitude!!!
If you like Master Grade kits and feel that you are up for a greater challenge (and if you have a fat wallet) then go pick up one of these bad boys! You won't regret it.

Contributor: GUNDAM_BASE

General and Technical Data
Series: Perfect Grade (PG) 1/60 Release Date: 03/1999
Price: ¥ 12000

Zeta Gundam (Review)

2008-04-18T22:21:00.000-07:00

Head

Ok, the head is just the beginning of this amazing piece. The head is built by first inserting the metal circuit connectors and the switch, then the eyes/main camera faceplate (clear) with the LED, then screwed together. This is the base of the head, with little detailing all over. The battery case for the CR1220 battery (not incl.) is then inserted and screwed in. Then, the internal detail is built up even more with the vulcan guns. The outer armor on the head is attached, most of which is hinged so as to be able to expose the internal detailing. The V-Crest of course folds for transformation.

Torso

Where to begin…The cockpit has a seat with a scale figure, seated with a clear display panel. There is a blast shield cover that can retract over the opening, and also the red canopy cover that lifts up. The pilot can be swiveled from upright (MS mode) to forward (for wave rider mode, thus always being “up”). The cockpit is attached with a screw to the main chest piece, with much internal detailing and lifting panels to expose said nifty-ness. The chest piece is attached to the back of the torso via hinges and “pistons.” The shoulder plates are also attached with pistons and hinges. The neck has a ball socket for the head and also for where it attaches to the neck plate, giving it a huge range of motion. This is attached to the main body strut in a slot with a spring, so as to be able to make it hold it’s MS up-position well. The main white side panels are attached to a piece which snaps in and locks the sides up or pushes them down. The leg attachment plates are much like on the Master Grade, with a post connecting to the main body and a turning post to attach to the leg. However, the bottom of the torso has a locking plate which secures both legs very well in MS mode. The front skirt armor is hinged and pistoned, as is the rear skirt armor (with locking tabs, these’ll come in later). Numerous locations are screwed in.

Arms

The shoulder has a rotating section, separate from the shoulder vernier (with internal exhaust detailing) and from the arm attachment. Then, standard post attachment to upper arm, which has detailing and piston attachment to the elbow. The lower arm has actual piston-type movement for the wrist, as well as the sliding docking port for the grenades (with opening door at the wrist) or hole for the shield (or beam rifle). The hands are amazing, with pre-formed fingers that bend at every joint and slots for securing weapons. Screws at a few locations.

Legs

These were a little complicated. Pistoned knee and knee cover, spring-loaded power cabling at the back of the knee, and folding plate at the back of the upper leg to allow for transformation of leg. The foot has pistons for folding, a folding in heel, and a socket for the ankle, as well as 4 pistons arranged around said ball joint. The ankle attaches here with a spring mounted ball with the four pistons supporting it. Very neat shock absorbers. The thruster at the back of the leg is tracked move automatically when the leg is transformed by a neat pin/slot arrangement around the knee. The sides of the lower legs have a large amount of internal detail, as well as moving baffles on the side thrusters, allowing from fully open to fully closed. There is a side panel hinged to expose details on the outside of the leg. The knee joint cover is pistoned and can swivel to remain in place during transformation of the leg. The side armor/beam saber holders are built a little later, but I’ll include them here. Built with 5 degrees of freedom for the attachment to the leg, it’ll go just about wherever you put it and then some. Of course it opens and stored beam sabers securely, and tabs into the main body when transformed.

Weapons and Accessories

Wings/Tail- The tail holds another CR1220 battery (Also not incl.) with the circuit connectors, switch, and LED. There are clear pieces to light up both sides of the end of the tail. This connects to the second joint which has locking tabs for the wings in MS mode. This joint connects to the main joint, which attaches to the body in the back. The Wings are just amazing. Numerous metal connections to the wires which run in pre-cut grooves along the body of the wing, these wires actually run out to the end of the wing tips with the LEDs, keeping the connection in whatever state of transformation it happens to be in. The wings have a main casing, a main wing in that, and the extending wing tip. They also contain a removable piece where the die-cast landing struts may be inserted for resting in WR mode. The side of the wing contains a locking tab for connecting to the tail in MS mode to keep them from flopping around and also a connection that plugs into the side of the shield in WR mode to power the LEDs. They use a somewhat similar folding strut to connect it to the body as well as to extend the wing around the body for WR mode.
Weapons- AAh, weapons. The Grenade Packs are fairly simple in design, a case around a bunch of grenades (which are actually inside the casing). The beam sabers are also fairly straightforward, two sided casing with top and bottom cap; however, it includes a folding out tab to lock securely into the hand. The Lighting beam saber is similar in design, but instead of the tab folding out, the battery is inside the handle itself, and the “blade” is actually a long LED that locks into the handle, so a separate piece is included to clamp the saber and tab into the hand. The beam rifle is just neat. It has the folding handle, sight, and tab for wave rider mode, compressing barrel, and removable energy clip like the MG. However, it contains a spring and locking mechanism wherein when the handle is folded up, sight folded down, and barrel pushed in (ie: WR mode) it is locked in place. When the handle is pulled back down, however, the springs are released and the sight pops back up and the barrel back out. It also contains a tab to tab into the hand. The Shield is a real piece of work. The nose contains the batteries (2xLR44, not incl.) and the LED with a switch. The Cockpit display panel (remember?) when swiveled down for WR mode actually protrudes from the bottom of the cockpit, docking more securely in WR mode and fitting neatly into the socket for the LED to illuminate through the display panel the whole of the cockpit. There are two docking ports on the side to plug the wings into for both support and for connections to the batteries for lighting the wing-tips. The lower half can be raised and lowered, as can the strut to attach to the arm. There are two hinged struts, so that as it changes to WR mode, the shield doesn’t actually ever come off Zeta’s arm, then also secures into the opposite arm.
The transformation on this model is so incredible, I can hardly even begin. The head crest folds up, then the head and neck move into the body as the chest and cockpit fold out/up. Locking into the body, the side panels also fold up and lock in. The front skirt armor folds out for a moment as the locking tab on the legs also is opened. The leg-attachment-panels swing out and up, posting into the rear skirt armor. The legs fold back at the knee, compressing the leg. The side of the leg contains a slot for the tab that folds out of the rear armor to lock it into place also. The foot folds up, as does the heel. The arms fold in at the shoulder plates and are actually out of the way. The support struts on the shield now fold out and bridge the two arms, as the cockpit docks into the nose of the shield. The wings fold out, the struts swing around, and then they lock into the shield, both at the light connection and at the connection that had tabbed it into the tail previously. The Shield and Wings all have plates that can be removed to be replaced with the diecast landing struts. The gun folds up as mentioned earlier and tabs into the tail joint. The beam saber holders swing around and tab into the torso. The shield switch can be thrown, lighting the cockpit and wingtips, and the tail switch can light up the lights at the end of the tail.

Conclusion

Whew!! I think that’s it… This is without a doubt, the best model I have ever built. Period. It is complex beyond imagination, and just plain awesome. It is the most solid Zeta Gundam I have ever come across. Also the heaviest, at 827 grams in full loadout. (Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars)

Contributor: Slade Tekka

General and Technical Data
Series: Perfect Grade (PG) 1/60 Release Date: 03/2000
Price: ¥ 20000

Unicorn Gundam ~ Ver. Ka (Review)

2008-04-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

Here it is, my first Review (and about time too).So since this is my first review, I thought I’d start off with something a little special. Behold! The epic that is, ‘Unicorn Gundam’!Now, getting my hand on this godly kit was, for lack of words, a bish. Okay I lied. I was one of the lucky ones and probably one of the first to get my dirty little loli hands (Did i just say that? .. Out loud?) on this impressive kit. Upon first knowing about this kit I asked some of my friends for their opinion and feedback and all I got was negative ones. “It’s too white!” they would say, “Get an eva instead.” they would say. We’ll, screw them I say! I went with my gut and reserved this and when it finally came. All I can say is, “wow-ee”.

Contributor: `x_Fenrir

General and Technical Data
Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100 Release Date: 12/2007
Price: ¥ 5000

Freedom Gundam (Review)

2008-04-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

Head

The head of the Freedom Gundam looks great. The detail on parts of this size is often much better and less cropped than on their 1/100 or even MG counterparts. However, while this sometimes makes the head look plainit reaches the opposite effect for the Freedom. 10 parts snap together to form the head in a rather simple manner. In this case the functionality and simplicity of the kit don't interfere with it at all. A minor point of note, however, is that while the head is on a relatively high socket its movement is a little limited because of the way the rotation is slightly blocked by the way the torso is designed.

Torso

The torso of the Freedom is one of its more original parts; the cockpit block slides over the 'neck' peg and sinks into the torso, a small, molded in white figure is inside the pilot seat and the cockpit hatch uses a sliding mechanism to simulate the top loader cockpit seen in the anime. The design is simple and not entirely true to the anime but works without disturbing the kit. The shoulder sockets are positioned in such a way that they allow some movement which greatly adds to the poseability of the arms.The torso and waist connect on a single peg which allows full rotation of the torso, but there is no vertical movement whatsoever. The skirt armor allows for plenty of movement even tough its a solid piece. The design of the Freedom's skirt armor makes it pitched slightly which also creates extra space for leg movement. The side armor inhibits the poseability a little bit when the rail cannons are folded up, but it's less than I would have expected.

Arms

The arms are the pride of this kit. The construction is very similar to the arms on the MG God Gundam's inner action fighting frame, which means they are both sturdy and poseable really nicely. Although there are no screws to hold the joints they lock very smoothly and have great poseability. On the outside of the arms, under removable panels, are retractable pegs which you can use to attach the shield on and which are neatly concealed by the removable panels when you opt not to attach the shield or make Freedom hold it on the handle. The hands on this model are its main plus: 4 individual double-jointed fingers and single-jointed thumbs which rival the PG Strike's hands. Slots in the hands lock all weapons extremely sturdily with hidden pegs on the handheld weaponry.

Legs

The legs on the Freedom are very simple and nothing really stands out on them. However, the the ankle armor is incredibly annoying to keep in place and I recommend gluing them to the legs. The poseability is fine though and the knees bend quite a bit. The legs are a bit heavy too, but considering it can stand on its own with its wings spread they do their job amazingly well. This is something that the 1/60 Strike Gundam didn't do as it tended to fall over when equipped with the Aile pack.

Weapons and Accessories

Freedom's weapons are what makes it so unique: the Xiphias rail cannons and Balaena plasma cannons being the best ones, but the Lupus beam rifle is very nicely done. The beam sabers, normally stored on the hips, combine to form a dual beam saber as seen in the anime.
Balaena Plasma cannons & wings- These are HEAVY. Not only do they hold the humongous plasma rifles but they can even spread out for Freedom's famous HiMAT mode, and this model does it flawlessly. The joints are tight and the wings CANNOT sack because they only have a 45 degree rotation in the vertical arc. However this does NOT mess up poseability at all since the wings are mounted on pivot arms. All of the moving parts should make the wings relatively susceptible to sagginess in the polycaps, but the Freedom's wings are very sturdy and even with their weight they stay in place perfectly. Whether the plasma cannons are folded into the wings or over the shoulders in active mode they look fine and they don't sag. What more do you want?
Xiphias rail cannons- These really are Freedom's best weapons. They fold into the skirt armor exactly as they do in the anime and the rail cannons are so incredibly sturdy that even after folding them up 50 times in a row they still haven't lost their tight lock-up. Next to looking incredibly nice when folded up they also look very nice when folded out and the even have handles hidden in the guns themselves, which Freedom can hold on too.
Lupus beam rifle- The beam rifle has a nifty little peg in the handle to securely lock it into place in the Freedom's hand. Not only that, the armor on the beam rifle makes it look very nice and you can use the poseability of the model to get some really nice action shots with the beam rifle. Another nice thing about the rifle is that it can be stored on the back skirt armor. A little point of note tough is that when the rail cannons are fully deployed the beam rifle doesn't exactly fit in between anymore. Nothing major though as you usually wanna keep this rifle in the Gundam hand!
Beam sabers- These beam sabers are molded in red transparent plastic and the base of them in white and black. There's a fair number of parts here, mostly to hide away the little retractable peg which you use to secure the sabers in the Freedom Gundam's hands. The little caps at the end of the handles can be removed and replaced by a double one to join the two sabers together. When the sabers aren't in use they slot very nicely onto the top of the side armor.
Shield- There's quite a lot of parts to the Freedom Gundam's shield, and as a result it looks great. It's also pretty big but fits onto the arm nicely. Personally, I'm not a fan of shields so it will probably stay in the box when Ii put mine on display, but for those who like shields this really is very nicely done.

Conclusion

For only ¥ 5000, this kit is great. It beats the Strike Gundam model of the same line in almost every way and it's more fun to build and actually has more sturdiness and poseability than most MG kits do. If you're looking for a big Gundam kit and don't want to spend ¥ 12000 on a PG kit, buy this kit because its the closest you'll get to it for a nice price. For fans of SEED and Freedom in particular, this model should be on the top of your list. (Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars)

Contributor: A.M.G.

General and Technical Data
Series: 1/60 Scale Release Date: 08/2003 Price: ¥ 5000

Strike Gundam Striker Weapon System (Review)

2008-04-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

Head

If you’re familiar with the non-PG 1/60th line at all, you’d know that for the most part they’re really big renditions of the 1/100 HG line. So when it comes to the construction of the kit, it’s simplified, yet broken down so that there’s minimal or NO painting needed to have a great looking kit. The Strike’s assembly is an almost exact copy of the 1/100. Nine pieces total form the head, and all 3 of the stickers provided take care of the eyes, and head sensors. Since it’s so easy to assemble, it looks strikingly plain once done. Once detailed with a fine tip pen, or Gundam outlining marker, the amount of detail rapidly stands out. And that’s the added bonus of the size of this kit. Fine detailing is simpler, since the parts are so BIG.

Torso

Again, the simplicity of design and build make for a finely detailed set of parts. However, the size factor here makes a great difference. It allows for cockpit, with opening hatch, and modified arm pivots, so you can hit those nice poses. It comes with a bit more detail as well, in order to minimize painting. Mobility is still limited; since it’s not a PG or even a MG, it can only swivel its hips. The waist/hips themselves offer your typical abilities, with movable, opening side skirts containing the Armor Schneider knives folded and tucked inside. However, this is where my gripes come in. The way the Strike is designed, the actual mecha design, leads to an issue with the opening cockpit. The way the cockpit hatch is recessed, and stuck in between the gray“walls” on the front of the chest make it almost impossible to open the doors without a tool of some sort. On the hips/waist, the front skirt is movable, but the rear skirt is not. It’s one solid piece of plastic. This fixed skirt can inhibit the leg poseability, since its blocking most of the rearward movement.

Arms

This is a case where simplicity messes everything up. Shoulder-wise, everything is fine. Good solid sturdy construction, that allows for moderate mobility. In fact, the hands are well done too, with semi-jointed fingers, and holes in the palm to facilitate pegs from the weaponry to hold them tightly. The arm itself however is a different story. The simple design of the arm construction, to allow it to be easier to build SERIOUSLY inhibits arm movement. The elbow joint only allows for 90 degrees of movement up and down, and zero left to right movement. All left to right movement is done up top, near the shoulder. This type of design is found more in BASIC 1/144 kits, and smacks of poor thinking by Bandai when designing a 1/60 kit. The detail is decent however, and the construction is easy. They hold almost every weapon quite well, and quite sturdily.

Legs

Where the arms lack, the legs semi-make up for. Again, very simple construction, consisting of two halves and a polycap for the thigh/upper leg for example. However, they allowed for greater mobility and range of motion. The ankles for example are double jointed, at the top and bottom, so the feet have a remarkable range of mobility. The knees allow for decent poseability, without sacrificing strength. And the overall detail is decent. The only time the legs show any weakness is with the Aile pack. But minor posing alleviates that.

Weapons and Accessories

The weapons are this kit’s shining jewel, not to mention the only reason it exists! It comes with all three complete Weapons Systems seen in the series. So I’ll break it down that way.Strike- The basic 1/60 Strike Gundam kit came with the beam rifle and shield, however, I do not include them as part of the bare Strike pack. It’s more commonly seen with the Aile Booster system, so that’s where I’ll lump it. So all that really leaves you is the Armor Schneiders. These neato pocket daggers fold up and fit into the Strike’s hip skirt. They’re simply 3 pieces of plastic, 2 sides, and the blade. The Strike DOES look pretty hip holding them, but there’s really not much you can do with them, other than recreate some of the really early battle scenes.Aile- The Weapons System used through most of the series, the Aile is a beautiful add-on. Combined with the shield, and beam rifle, it’s a damn pretty sight to behold, and pretty fun to play with. The rifle is given decent detail, simple construction, and like the other big weapons in the set, a swinging plastic tab. This tab slides into the palm slit in the hand, effectively locking the gun into the hand. These tabs are also on the beam saber hilts, in the Aile’s backpack. It comes with the standard two clear-ish pink blades to go into the hilts. The only disappointing feature of the Aile is that the backpack’s wings don’t fold down like the Master Grade’s. A known feature of the backpack, easily implementable in a kit this size, seemed to have been overlooked. However, the actual thruster portions are movable, and help physically balance the kit while in Aile mode. The shield is broken down assembly wise so there’s no painting required, and it looks good. There is an attachment bracket for the shield, to allow for two different placements of the shield on the arm, as well as allowing it to be placed on either arm. The actual shield handle comes off, so you can have the Strike holding two weapons, while keeping the shield in place.
Sword- My favorite. ^_^ Another simple bit of construction, as there’s really not a whole lot to the last two weapons systems. The backpack is there to store the gargantuan sword, nothing less. The shoulder mount is actually 3 separate pieces, a front, middle and back, that clamp onto the Strike’s shoulder very securely. It also contains the Beam Boomerang, which like the Sword itself, features the swinging plastic tab, so you can lock them pretty tightly into either hand. My only gripe is that the plastic tab on the Sword itself is flimsy and prone to breaking, as mine did. Nothing short of a replacement tab will fix it either, as the plastic is simply too thin to glue or “weld” back together. The Sword also has the most translucent “beam” parts, with 2 for the Sword (blade and bottom tip), and one for the Boomerang blade. The Sword looks plain as well, until you give it at least a once over with the detail pen, to bring out the fine recesses and panel lines in the Sword itself.Launcher- Last but not least, the BIG GUN. And that’s exactly what you’re getting folks, a big damn gun. The gun’s assembly is part intensive, but definitely not difficult. Plenty of crevices and line to detail. The backpack attachment is simply the holding mechanism for the gun itself. It’s one long arm, replete with polycaps. The polycaps keep it stiff, while retaining its mobility. However, due to the Strike’s overall mobility problems, getting super awesome poses out of the Launcher set simply aren’t possible. The shoulder mount attaches much like the Sword, with 3 pieces, front, middle and back all coming together to lock onto the shoulder rails. Decent amount of detail is to be found in the shoulder Gatling, but definitely could use more.

Conclusion

In my honest opinion, it’s a great kit for the retail price. Decent mobility, lots of room for those modelers who like to change and things to go nuts, but yet simple enough and good looking enough for the basic modeler to get a large size representation of all 3 modes of the main SEED mecha. However, with my aforementioned gripes, the number one being mobility, I feel Bandai could have done better. I own many other 1/60 non-PG kits, and they don’t lack the mobility this one does. And what’s the point of having a big Gundam kit if you can’t put it in awesome poses?!
If you’re a big SEED fan, get it. If you’re a moderate SEED fan, and find one for near the Japanese retail ($60-$70), get it. If you’re just a Gunpla fan overall, then you can probably skip this, as it’s probably too simple for you. (Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars)

Contributor: Annastasia “Mylene” Culpepper

General and Technical Data
Series: 1/60 Scale Release Date: 03/2003 Price: ¥ 7000

Freedom Gundam (Review)

2008-04-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

Head

As expected, the head design is somewhat similar to that of the Strike’s. Modeled in correct colors, and unlike the 1/100 Justice Gundam, the little gray sections on the sides of the face come as a single separate gray piece, freeing us die-hard color-righteous fans from the pains of having to delicately paint such small sections. Naturally, you get stickers for the eyes and sensors, but they can easily be replaced by a two-second paint job, given the correct tools and the common sense of painting the pieces before you put the model together. The head vulcans are easily painted with a silver Gundam paint marker.

Torso

The torso itself is void of gimmicks like the head, and it only needs touch-up paint if you like to paint the insides of the chest vents black for extra detail (like I did). The machine cannons are also pretty easy to paint with a silver Gundam paint marker. The only uncolored part of the chest is the upside-down triangle symbol on the back, which is also easy to paint with a yellow marker. Unfortunately, the flexible sideways-turning shoulder joint design seen in the early GAT series kits was not designed into this kit, giving it less shoulder posing ability. The thrusters, for painting fans like me, offer a slight challenge in painting the inner sides of the thrusters red while painting the actual thruster nozzle black (this idea may sound a little confusing in words, but other painters out there should get the idea). The wings sadly come in only one color: blue. The kit comes with black stickers for the wings, but they just don’t look right compared to a painter’s touch. The wings also come complete with the HiMAT mode function, allowing the wings to split into ten different wings, making for some great poses. Unfortunately, the plasma cannons, which are stored in the wings, can’t be deployed in the HiMAT mode. The cannons, when deployed, come up and over the Freedom’s shoulders. The cannons come in only two colors, black and white. The little lines of red between the white and black pieces don’t have stickers, so paint is required.

Arms

Unfortunately, there isn’t anything unique about the arms. Single-joint posing in the elbows, giving the elbows a mere 90 degrees of movement. The hand design requires that you take apart the hand to hold the beam rifle, but if you’re careful, it isn’t that bad. The shoulder armor doesn’t get in the way of poses, and it looks cool too.

Legs

Because the knees have two bending joints, the Freedom’s legs can be bent at a near-135 degree angle. The skirt slightly hinders the leg posing. The foot design is made so the heel of the foot can come out of the foot itself, making it so that the Freedom’s legs can bend forward at the feet at a 45-degree angle for some nice leaning poses. The thrusters on the back of the legs don’t have any movement themselves, but the covers can be left up or down, just to show whether they’re being used or not.

Weapons and Accessories

Beam rifle- The beam rifle sensor comes in a clear plastic part, and the blue lines can be complete with blue stickers, but a blue paint marker job definitely looks better. The fore grip can also swivel for a two-handed rifle pose if you can get the arms to the right position.
Shield- The Freedom’s shield itself possesses a nice design, but the handle can only be removed, not laid down like the 1/100 High Grade Duel’s shield handle, although the handle can be moved up and down the back of the shield. The shield comes with the hole in the right side for the beam rifle of course, but it’s difficult to get the pose just right to get the rifle barrel in the hole.
Beam sabers- The beam sabers can be sheathed on top of the side armor just like in the anime. There are a pair of small hooks in the armor that hold the beam sabers in place, although they can rattle a little at times. The beam sabers come in only white and there aren’t any stickers for them, so painting is required for that black stripe that goes around the saber near the base. Of course, the beam sabers come complete with the clear red beams. The sabers can also be connected end-to-end for the double-ended beam saber from the anime, but a special piece is needed to connect the two ends. A special third hand comes with the kit, which is better suited to holding the beam sabers than the beam rifle hand.
Plasma cannons- The plasma cannons in the wings can fold out over the shoulders just like in the anime, but they don’t o anything besides sitting there for poses, naturally. The plasma cannons only come in two colors, white and black, without stickers, so the little blue and red colored areas need a paint job.
Rail cannons- The rail cannons fold out of the side armor just like in the anime as well. Little grips in the outer sides of the armor can fold out to be held by the Freedom’s hands. The rail cannons come in three colors, gray, red, and black, so there isn’t any need to paint unless you want to paint the indents and vents black. There is just one area that needs to be painted red, and that’s the vent at the back of the rail cannon, but a sticker comes for that (of course I painted it instead).
Head vulcans- Naturally, there’s nothing really special about these except for them being another little tidbit for devoted painters and a silver paint marker.
Machine cannons- Although they weren’t used in the anime, the Freedom comes with a pair of chest mounted machine cannons. There’s nothing really special about these either, except for painting.

Conclusion

All in all, the 1/100 High Grade Freedom Gundam lived up to my expectations. There aren’t any loose hinges or connectors which I have come to expect from 1/100 High Grade Gundam Wing kits. All the cannons can be deployed for the full-open attack made famous by the anime. This is the kind of model that’ll quench any fan’s thirst for the Freedom Gundam, at least until the Master Grade comes out. I only have one piece of advice, and this advice holds for all models, including Perfect Grades: get a set of Gundam paint markers. Gundam models look best when they’re fully detailed with paint, and paint markers are the best thing in paint ever made. They come at about 2 dollars per marker plus about 5 dollars or so for shipping, and they last for a long time. They also come in sets as well. (Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars)

Contributor: Shinji Asagi

General and Technical Data
Series: High Grade (HG) 1/100 Release Date: 07/2003 Price: ¥ 2200

Aegis Gundam (Review)

2008-04-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

Head

Looks quite nice, as small details are not forgotten. Smaller than average, but still very nice. The "V-Fin" has rounded points, so sanding might be required. All parts are molded in the right colors, and stickers are provided for the eyes, and for 3 of the blue cameras.

Torso

Unlike standard MS, the Aegis is transformable, and it's chest plays a large part in it. So by any means, it is defiantly not standard. So I will split this into a few parts.MS mode- The chest looks rather wide, much like the lineart, however the waist is rather thin looking. The crotch/skirt armor looks great however. The backpack is large and bulky, while the two tail fins are poseable, and are needed to keep the balance steady. There is hardly any shoulder articulation, other than the fact the joints allow upward movement, but this is more for transforming the MS, rather than posing.
Transforming- The transformation here is well done. The backpack opens up, and folds in to hide the head (without having to remove it, which is a plus). The chest and crotch fold up into positions nice and are sturdy. It is now where we are shown the terrible 'Scylla' 580mm energy cannon that it uses in MA mode.Wing binders- Loosely attached to the mid section, these wing binders serve two purposes. Mobility, and to store the Aegis weapons on in MA mode. For transformation, the manual suggests that you remove them, but I found it's highly un-needed, making Aegis' transformation completely self-sufficient. Nothing except the hands needs to be removed. Always a plus.

Arms

Pretty nice set up they have I must say. The arms are basically a transforming replica of the lower leg. As you can see, the shoulders look tremendously like the calf and knee guard of the legs. As well, the forearms resemble a transformed foot. That's because they are. In transformed mode, they form the four arms that open up, and they look all the same. The arms here transform quite well, and fit quite nicely. The hands are the same as the Strike kit, except it's got an extra open palm left hand. Very nice.

Legs

Look nice, but are a pain in the butt. The big reason is the hip joints. They aren’t the standard ball and cup joints that MS have. They are regular peg on poly joints, and sadly, the peg is small, and holds poorly. Its thighs are made of two pieces: the hip, and the rest, which allows the legs to turn, so that they may transform. Also works for poses as well, if you can get them to balance. The lower legs are pretty hollow, but need to be in transformed mode, so it suffers in MS mode. The feet however, have great poseability, but are a little loose, which, again hurts its balance.

Weapons and Accessories

Beam rifle- Long, and well detailed. It's handle fold in, revealing a hidden peg to store the beam rifle on one of the wing binders. One problem is, the forearm design hinders the holding of the beam rifle a bit. A sticker is provided for the sensor.
Shield- Molded and built in all the right colors yet again, however, the underside looks pretty bad. Has a peg to plug it into the side of the forearm, or onto one of the wing binders.
Beam sabers- Located just below the wrists, and at the heel of the foot on the forearm, these beam sabers are pretty spiffy. Molded in clear yellow, they look pretty sharp. According to the specs, there are supposed to be two more beam sabers on the actual feet, but they are not built in this kit. Sadly. Transformation- The ultimate gimmick of this kit. As I mentioned before, it's practically self sufficient, and goes rather smoothly...however, the legs have a tendency to fall off at the hip, and lining up the legs is tough. They should have had some kind of system to lock them into place, but sadly there isn't. So to achieve the best look in MA mode, leave the legs open as if the cannon is ready to fire.

Conclusion

Not bad for the second outing for SEED in 1/100, and definitely not bad for a transforming kit as well. Again, minimal stickers, and most pieces molded in their right colors. However, the transformation system makes a pretty unstable MS mode. Pretty good, but it could stand a few improvements. (Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars)

Contributor: Matt "GuyverC" Bellamy

General and Technical Data
Series: High Grade (HG) 1/100 Release Date: 02/2003 Price: ¥ 2200

Aile Strike Gundam (Review)

2008-04-16T07:04:00.001-07:00

Head

Pretty standard fare...looks accurate to both anime and lineart comparisons. The "V-Fin" is rounded on it's points, so it will require sanding to get the sharp look. As well, like any 1/100 kit, the vulcans need painting. Stickers are given for the eyes and front camera.

Torso

The torso takes more from the anime feel than the lineart, and it is compact and long, but looks rather nice. The torso is pretty basic, being made of few pieces, but enough pieces so that stickers or painting isn't required, but will help the look. One thing that stands out well is the shoulder joints, which allow for some very signature poses to be accomplished, rather than the old style of just a peg molded to the body. The only problem I find with the torso is the thrusters on the back are molded with the back piece, so no movement there. Of things that need painting, only the insides of the thrusters really require it.

Arms

They are standard to a fault really. Pretty basic, but still better made than older 1/100's. The hands, again, pretty standard, although, with no actual moving joints. Now you have to take part the hand off to switch weapons in it. This isn’t a big problem with this kit, as the beam sabers are easy to remove, and an extra hand is supplied for the beam rifle. So all you need to do is switch out the hands. Biggest fault I see is the elbows only have 90 degrees of movement, which is annoying, but livable.

Legs

Overall, the skirt/crotch is pretty well done, taking a bit of initiative on the design. The construction design on the legs, however, is where it shines. With inner gray parts building up the main leg, you add on the white armor later, and it makes quite the sturdy set of legs. This achieves two things: one, not needing paint for the legs, and two, a heavier bottom, making it better to balance in the end. The knees and hips sadly only have about 90 degree movement each, which is a bit of a disappointment. Feet and ankles help in this aspect a bit by not having too much flexibility, but still being able to move pretty well. Only flaw I see here is the rear skirt armor, which, sadly, is molded into place and doesn't move.

Weapons and Accessories

Beam Rifle - Pretty standard. Well detailed, with movable second handle. Fits well and sturdily into the gun hand provided. No sticker for the scope provided, however.
Shield - Very nice. All pieces molded in color, and no stickers used at all. It also has a nice thickness to it, seeming that it could actually stop something like a beam saber.
'Armor Schneider' Combat Knives - Basic of absolute basic. You get 2 pairs. Two open for the hands, and two closed to store in the hip armor.
Aile Strike Pack - The special addition to this otherwise standard Strike kit. The Aile pack is well designed, except for a few minor flaws. The first being is reliability on stickers. The majority of the stickers provided are for the Aile pack. The red tops on the upper wings are stickers, as well as the yellow vents on the articulated thrusters. However, thankfully, that's as far as they go. The lower winged thrusters are articulated quite well, and have a wide range of movement. Only thing that really requires any painting are the interior of the thrusters, and the rep tops on the upper wings, as the stickers look awfully out of place for them, being shiny foil instead of some flat red like the rest of the red on the pack.
Beam Sabers - Like the Aile pack, exclusive to this release, because of the fact they are docked on the Aile pack. Pretty standard. Hands don't hold them all that well, and the beams are pretty long, but are quite nice looking.

Conclusion

Not a bad first kit in the line for sure. It has its faults, but it's a pretty solid kit, and a very nice 1/100. Definitely a good starter for a semi-beginner, as it doesn’t have a ton of small pieces, and makes a great looking kit, even without painting. If this is a precursor to later SEED kits, it should be an interesting run. Pretty standard, but nicely done. (Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars)

Contributor: Matt "GuyverC" Bellamy

General and Technical Data
Series: High Grade (HG) 1/100 Release Date: 12/2002 Price: ¥ 2000

Buster Gundam (Review)

2008-04-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

Head

Buster's head is quite nicely done. The sculpt is pretty menacing, and looks dead accurate. Except for the eyes and camera, everything is molded in proper colors and looks great. It doesn't have a collar to prevent its neck articulation. It only has a neck guard off the head, but it doesn't affect it too much. Like with all the SEED kits, its "V-Fin" is rounded, so it could stand some sanding.

Torso

Quite plain in many ways, much like the Strike, looks great. Details are right from the lineart, and all pieces are molded in the right colors. I was quite pleased to see, as well, the shoulder joint from the Strike returns in this kit, giving the arms some much needed extra articulation to handle it's big weapons. The backpack is pretty simple, but I was pleased to find the booster jets are actually moveable. Not by much, but still a nice touch. The backpacks main feature, however, is to lock the cannons to when not in use.
Now, normally in kits, you connect the torso to the crotch/hip armor and are done. Well, the Buster has an extra piece to put in between. This is where the weapons are. The parts attached here are where the "arms" that keep the large cannons attached to the actual Gundam at all times. These "arms" are made up of quite a few joints, allowing the cannons to be positioned in many ways. More on this later.

Arms

Pretty standard arms sadly. They didn’t improve the design any, but I never figured they would. Elbows only have 90 degrees of movement, however, unlike with the hands on the other SEED 1/100 kits, you won't have to take these apart to use the cannons. The shoulder armor, however, has its ups and downs. The shoulder armor houses the missile launchers, with pop up cover. The missiles will need to be painted, as they are molded right to the shoulder armor. The big thing is, they are so bulky; it restricts the shoulder joints movement from the torso. Unless you’re like me, and leave the arms off the peg just a bit (or make extensions), it could cause some posing problems.

Legs

The legs on Buster again go back to simplicity like with Strike, but add some things from the Aegis that make them work much nicer. The thighs have two joints. The common ball and socket joint for the hip, and a horizontal joint in the thigh that helps turn the leg to the side for better balance. Tossing in the fact the legs are also very sturdy and heavy with ankles that move...but not too much, and you have the makings of a very fine, stable set of legs.

Weapons and Accessories

Gun Launcher - Very nicely detailed, with two handles. One hidden (with the trigger), and the other near the muzzle of the cannon (for holding onto in combined mode). The lack of articulation in the arms, however, makes this hard to pose with.
High Powered beam Rifle - Again, highly detailed, with two handles. A sticker is provided for the sensor. Again, articulation issues make it difficult to pose with.
Combined - The real power of Buster is putting the weapons together. Keeping one gun as far back as it can, and bringing the other forward, and plugging them together is all real simple. The arms fold forward easily, and they plug into each other pretty snugly. At least in combined forms, the arms have an easier time reaching the handles on the cannons. The process is basically the same for each version of the cannon.

Conclusion

A simple kit, with a bit confusing system to work its main weapons. Still a very solid kit, and a good show from Bandai. Standard, but with some menacing gimmicks that make a pretty good kit. (Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars)

Contributor: Matt "GuyverC" Bellamy

General and Technical Data
Series: High Grade (HG) 1/100 Release Date: 03/2003 Price: ¥ 2200