Gundam Wing Model Kits

Gunpla Chronicles OVA 1 - Misc 2016-12-18

I decided to build a few more … miscellaneous items before getting to the mobile suit itself.

Figurines

OK, so I didn’t really build these things - I just cut them out. This isn’t my first time getting a figurine in a model kit, but it is the first time I got two. The second one, not shown here, is sitting down, and I’m going to embarrass myself by revealing that at first I didn’t understand what it was for. More on that later.

Gunpla Chronicles OVA 1 - Weapons 2016-12-13

I am sure there are exceptions, but I believe that in general most model kits can be assembled in any order you choose. I personally tend to start with the weapons first. They’re smaller, simpler, and hide mistakes better than the mobile suit itself, which makes them a great as a warm up.

As is typical of Gundam Wing mobile suits, the Wing Zero’s arsenal is simple; two beam sabers, two beam rifles, and a shield. In this post we’ll take a look at all of them.

Gunpla Chronicles OVA 1 - Build Setup 2016-12-11

(Not yet) Time to build. I made some big changes in preparing for this one that’d I’d like to go over. But first, a bit about what is inside the kit.

Upon opening the box, you will find a mountain of runners. I count seventeen in total, which makes this the clear heavyweight champ of my collection. One thing that is interesting is that none of the runners are quite as large as the box itself. Why the packaging needs to be this size, I cannot say, though it is a trend with Master Grades.

The instruction booklet is like a hybrid of a Real Grade’s and a high Grade’s. It is a stapled, multi page booklet, but there is one section that is just an extra long piece of paper folded up accordion style. Inside there’s a few pages of flavor text about Gundam Wing, but hell if I can read any of it.

The long foldout page inside

Gunpla Chronicles OVA 1 2016-12-04

Way back in the 90’s, my brothers became instant fans Gundam Wing, especially my older brother. Whereas I lost interest in the show almost immediately, my old brother remained a dedicated fan throughout the decades, to the point where he refused to watch any other Gundam show until Iron Blooded Oprhans.

If you have any brothers, you can imagine the kinds of petty squabbles, arguments and teasing we engaged in as we argued over what we each thought was the best Gundam show, best mobile suit, best character, etc. You can imagine which show all of my brothers’ choices came from. Since this effectively made our arguments two-against-one, I was generally on the losing side.

Now, sixteen years later, I’ve been hit with yet another counterattack.

Ever since I started building model kits, my brothers have been asking me to build one from Gundam Wing. I kept telling them that I had no interest, but eventually I decided to be a little cheeky. I told the that I would build a Gundam Wing kit, provided that one of them bought it for me.

Well, Christmas is almost here, and at the very least one of them called my bluff. In fact, he not only called my bluff, but raised it. One day in December I received the following package from Amazon, tastefully gift wrapped and everything:

It’s not just a Gundam Wing model kit. It’s a freakin’ Master Grade.