Before we begin, let’s unbox this sucker. While I don’t have any photos of it right now, the box itself is the shortest of any kit I’ve built.
Here are the runners. There are only seven, which is the smallest runner count of any kit I’ve ever built (I’m not counting the Panda’gguy, since that would be cheating).
Here’s the instruction booklet, which has the fewest pages of any … you get the idea, right?
My first reaction to seeing all this was skepticism. I wasn’t sure how these pieces were going to form a complete, 1/144th scale model. This is especially true considering that most of the pieces on the very largest runner are used to build the weapons. Will there really be enough left over for the unit itself?
Another surprise with this kit is that it has an inner frame. I don’t know enough to say if this is a first for High Grade kits, but I certainly don’t think it is very common. In this case, however, it makes sense. The mobile suits of Iron Blooded Orphans prominently expose their inner frames. It would be difficult to make an accurate model without one.
This gave me an idea - why not start by building the Astaroth’s frame first? I’ve always wanted to do this, but it’s been so long since I’ve built a Real Grade kit, so I haven’t had a frame to try it on. This also inspired me to perform a bit of an experiment. I decided I would paint the frame and the weapons with the remainder of my Krylon high gloss paint. Then I would spray the armor with the last of the Krylon matte paint. It would lead to a nice visual effect, contrasting the shiny, powerful Gundam frame with all the junk parts that are strapped onto it.
But painting is a little ways off. Let’s focus on the construction of the frame itself. The results were … great? Good? Goodish? I didn’t experience any problems, but it turns out that this isn’t a complete inner frame. It has no feet, for example, so it can’t stand up on its own. Furthermore, the head can neither be attached nor assembled without the use of some non-frame parts. Here’s what I have so far, as it lies down helpless and feetless.
A few observations. First, the frame isn’t as complicated as on Real Grade kit, but that is to be expected. It still has some great articulation and nice detailing. My biggest concern is that based on the way they’re attached, some of the joints could easily separate. Perhaps the armor will keep them bound together.
Second, the completed frame doesn’t look all that big. I know it is going to get both taller and bulkier once the armor is on, but even then, I wonder how it will stack up to my other models height-wise.
My final observation is in regards to the plastic. I know that the quality of model kit plastic does not remain static over time, but this feels like a major improvement. Every cut is clean, leaving few to no sprue marks. And what marks are there are easy to clean up. Is this actually something Bandai has improved upon. Is it coincidence? All I can say is that it sped up my build time tremendously (this was all done in one night, in fewer than two hours).
I’m crossing my fingers that I continue to get nice clean results like this for the rest of the build. It would be a huge boost to my morale.
Oh yeah - you can see the gallery for this part of the build here