I built a few Star Wars model kits over the past year, but it has been a long time since I built a Gundam model kit, on account of a little disaster I experienced back in 2017. I might get into that in a later post. Maybe. It is still a rough patch for me.
My gunpla dry spell is over now, however, with the kit I purchased during my latest trip to Disney World. Behold the Dijeh:
The Dijeh is a fun, weird mobile suit. If you were not already familiar with it, you might assume it is some kind of Zeon unit. The head looks just like a Gelgoog’s, it has a shoulder-mounted shield, and the rest of the overall design features the bulbous, curvy look typical of Zeon mobile suit design.
And yet, it is not a Zeon design. The Dijeh comes from Zeta Gundam a show in which all factions have some amount of Zeon-esque designs, on account of former One Year War engineers spreading around and working for different manufacturers. In particular, the Dijeh was manufactured for Karaba, the Earth-based resistance group that is allied with the heroic AEUG faction. It is a one-off, sorta custom made design built to be used by one specific Karaba pilot, a certain Amuro Ray.
Yes that is right folks. The hero of the One Year War, the pilot of the original Gundam, is the same person who eventually pilots the Dijeh. I admit it feels a little weird see a former Federation ace running around in a Gelgoog-esque mobile suit, but he manages to kick a good amount of butt with it in the handful of episodes in which it appears, and that went a long way toward changing my mind in favor of the Dijeh.
For a little bit of technical background, the Dijeh basically takes a bunch of good ideas from previous AEUG mobile suit designs (specifically the Rick Dias and Hyaku-Shiki), and wraps them up into a new package specifically optimized for ground based combat. At least that is what all the lore and info online claims to be true.
The box for the Dijeh is a bit bigger than most other High Grades I’ve built, which is usually a sign that there are a lot of pieces. Let’s take a look.
Holy crap that’s a lot of runners. What could it possibly be doing with all of them? Are they even all being used? I guess we will find out. I will say, however, that I find it fascinating that a kit like the Dijeh, which has a fairly clean and simple design, uses so many parts, while the High Grade F91, which looks extremely detailed and intricate, uses significantly fewer.
Weapons
Why is it that the only weapon that ever gets reused in the Gundam universe(s) are beam sabers? You would think that stuff like beam rifles and bazookas and shields would also come in standard issue forms, but you would be wrong! It seems like every MS has a different design for these types of armaments, despite the fact the lore rarely if ever mentions anything about these weapons boasting new features or improved designs. I think it boils down to the fact that unique weapons help certain mobile suits stand out more, and that means more model kit sales. Seriously, that probably is the reason why.
Anyway, the Dijeh is unique in this regard, in that all of its weapons are recycled.
First up is the beam naginata, which it borrows from the Gelgoog. I am shocked that this kind of weapon is not more common in the Universal Century stories. It just looks so badass and powerful. Perhaps that explains it then. If a cool weapon is overused, it stops being cool. This is the same reason why we don’t see more dual bladed lightsabers in Star Wars.
The beam naginata is also, arguably, powerful to the point of being unfair. There is a scene in the recent Gundam Narrative film in which a Dijeh locks blades with an opposing mobile suit, but wins the duel simply by swinging the lower blade of the naginata upwards and cutting through its target. It makes you realize that in the right hands, having two blades can be quite the advantage.
The Dijeh uses the same beam rifle as the Hyaku Shiki. That means that Char and Amuro are both using the same kind of gun by the end of Zeta Gundam, which is kind of cool and weird. Stylistically, it reminds me of a larger version of the Rick Dias’ beam pistols, what with the round, raised area at the back of the weapon. I tried painting the hose/tube/thingie on the top yellow and black, as is shown in the promo art. It was extremely tough, but after a number of coats I got it as close to even and consistent as I am going to. It adds a nice bit of color that most High Grade weapons lack.
I am really happy that they recycled the Rick Dias’ clay bazooka. It is one of my favorite weapons from one of my favorite mobile suits, and since I don’t yet have a Rick Dias kit, this will have to do. I added some gold paint to make it look a bit fancier.
The shield is the typical Zeon design that is strapped to the right shoulder. I kind of hate this type of shield. I’ve never seen it used in any Gundam show, so I have no idea how it works. Is it supposed to be able to swing out to be held in front? Or is the pilot supposed to pivot into a profile stance so that the shoulder (and thus the shield) is facing incoming fire? Does the mobile suit crouch down a bit to reduce their exposure (these types of shields are never large enough to protect most of the unit)? It just feels so superfluous to me.
Oh, I painted that little triangle red. It just seemed like the appropriate color.
Head
The head of this kit is the coolest, and also the stupidest. An earlier release of the Dijeh in the RE/100 product line revealed a little easter egg that was mostly unknown until then. While the mobile suit uses a traditional monoeye camera system, apparently it’s engineers added a pair of inactive Gundam-style eyes as well, as a sort of nod to its eventual pilot. These eyes were etched into the monoeye structure on the RE/100, and it turns out that they did the same thing for this High Grade variant. You actually get two monoeyes - one with the Gundam eyes carved in, one without them. On one hand, props to Bandai for this kind of attention to detail. On the other hand, this feels like the most unnecessary addition imaginable. The head is so small that there is no way the secret eyes will be visible, even if you stick the head right up to your face. The only way you can see them is if they were painted …. so that’s exactly what I did. I figured that if it didn’t look good, I’d just use the alternate eye.
It turns out that I like it! The idea of a Zeon-style head with Gundam eyes is trippy and fun. Also, the monoeye is almost completely obscured by the mask; seriously, how does it see anything when the eye is looking straight forward? With the Gundam eyes painted, you can actually see some color in there.
Chest
The chest piece resembles that of the original Gundam, if the original Gundam stopped exercising and began binge eating. Its chubby, rotund appearance is almost comical
The skirt armor on this thing is fantastic. All of the pieces lock in tight, and they fit together perfectly.
Legs
The legs (and feet) are what reminded me that I was, in fact, building a High Grade kit. They are made out of quite a few pieces, but they are lacking in articulation and parts separation. When assembled, they feel like a few big chunks of rigid plastic connected by ball joints.
I knew I needed to do something to spice it up. First I painted the side vents yellow (with gold underneath). In retrospect, this shade of yellow is a bit too light, and clashes with the green, but it still adds a level of color separation that is much needed.
Next, I went to town with the panel lining. This made a huge difference. While I did not intend it, some of my panel lines are a bit thicker and heavier than usual, while others are blended into the piece. The result is that much of the panel lining on the legs look less like outlines and more like shadowing, which in turn gives the appearance that the legs are made out of more parts than they actually are. This really enhanced the look, and taught me an important lesson on how proper technique can lead to different visual effects.
Arms
The weapon rack on the left arm is pretty much only there to keep it from looking too plain and simple. I am not even sure how it works (I am writing this section before the build is complete).
The right arm has the shield. I know this is a typical feature among Zeon-inspired mobile suits, but I still think it is stupid. You have to point the mech’s shoulder toward enemy fire in order for it to offer any protection, which makes it kind of hard to shoot. Plus, these shoulder shields are never large enough to protect the entire body of the unit.
At the very least the Dijeh’s shield looks cool. It reminds me of the carapace of an insect or something, which is a far cry from the flat, angular shields we usually see.
Backpack
The backpack is mostly a vehicle for the Dijeh’s massive wings, rather than any thruster system. It still has thrusters, mind you, but they blend in to the rest of the body. I do like how they are red on the inside. That’s an inspired bit of color separation.
Now about those wings. Or maybe they are fins. Whatever they are, they are not at all complicated, though I did put some super glue on the green pieces so they stay embedded in the blue frame.
Visually, they are by far the weirdest part of the Dijeh. When combined with the head piece, the unit looks less like a robot and more like some sort of underwater monster. The Zeta Gundam show boasts a lot of very oddball, creature-like designs, though the Dijeh is one of the only ones that fights for the good guys. This makes it stand out quite a bit against the straight GMs and hero Gundams it fights alongside.
Anyway, the wings add even more size and bulk to the kit, though they don’t get in the way, nor are they particularly fragile. On the other hand, they don’t move around all that much, as they are surprisingly not on ball joints. You can move them up a bit, or down a bit, and that’s about it.
On Clear Coating
If you have read any of my older entries, you might recognize that the majority of my screwups with past kits had something to do with clear coating. I would paint them outside in poor conditions, and it would ruin the finish or consistency of the paint. What I didn’t realize until very recently, however, is that there is one other factor that can be just as much trouble as temperature and moisture. I’m talking about wind.
I came to this realization after doing something in my recent builds that I have never done before - spray paint indoors. I know it is not the best or safest strategy, but there is no arguing with the difference in quality. There is no cloudiness or goopiness to the finish, and I noticed that a couple of quick sprays were usually all that was needed to coat most pieces.
This is in stark contrast to when I spray paint outside, in which I often have to use up to four coats on each piece to get an even finish, and sometimes get sloppy by putting the spray nozzle too close to the piece, thereby drenching it in too much paint. That was when I made the connection. Yes, my outdoor paint jobs were largely ruined by cold and moisture, but how much of it was also due to the fact that there was probably some barely noticeable wind stream that was nevertheless blowing away all my paint, and causing me to get reckless?
This leaves me in a bind. I know I cannot spray paint inside all of the time, but if I have to wait for a warm, dry, completely windless day to clear coat model kits, that leaves me with only a few potential weeks in the entire calendar year. I need to figure out some other solution, because when you have a family to raise, you don’t really get to choose when your free time shows up.
On the Build
This is the closest I have ever come to a “perfect build”, in the sense that I made no mistakes, lost no decals, and suffered no mishaps. Everything I wanted to do worked out the way I wanted, and there are no visual blemishes that I have to hand wave away.
This leads to two thoughts. First, this is a huge confidence booster for me. Until this build, the last time I tried to build a Gundam model kit was back in 2017, when I completely trashed a HG Zaku I and almost ruined a HG Bugu. I was this close to swearing off the hobby. After five years of fairly regular practice building kits, it felt like my skillset was starting to get worse rather than better.
This is why it means so much to me to get this one right. I put the Dijeh together in two marathon nights while the family was out of town. Despite working quickly, and despite working while being tired enough to retire to bed, I still managed to avoid any mistakes. This proved to me that my skills are in fact getting better, to the point where I can bang out a High Grade kit - complete with minor customization and extra detailing - without breaking a sweat.
That being said, there was another voice in my head that tried to provide a counter argument. Namely, I reminded myself that this was a very straightforward build. Perhaps my success had less to do with my skills and more to do with the fact that there was not much to screw up in the first place.
This is entirely possible, but as I basked in the glory of my success, I remembered something else - I was actually doing really well when I was building the Zaku I and the Bugu. I was doing custom detailing even back then, and I lost no stickers or parts. The only thing I screwed up with those builds was the clear coating. If not for that one bout of stupidity, I would have had two other perfect kits, both of which were much more complicated than the Dijeh. This is why I have to tell myself that I really am improving. The evidence is there, and gives me the confidence to keep at this hobby for a little while longer.
On the kit
Everything about this kit should make me want to hate it. The color scheme, the size, the weird and sloppy fusion of Zeon and Federation visual cues. None of it should work.
And yet I can’t help but love it. I don’t know why or how, but when I see it in person it looks ten times better than on the box. In person the colors look better (especially the green), the proportions are less severe, and the size feels like an asset rather than a liability. It feels big and hulking and powerful, as well as a little weird and off putting. I cannot help but admire it all. I think I need more designs like the Dijeh in my life.
Articulation and Poses
The arms have enough range that I was able to get it to hold its gun like this. I have wanted to pull off this pose for years, and now I can make it so.
The rest of the kit is more limited. The sheer size of the legs, coupled with the lack of give in the skirt armor, means you aren’t going to get a ton of range below the waist. This is one of the most extreme poses I could manage, and it is hardly what I would call extreme.
At least the legs offer a good sense of balance.
The pieces are all very well secured onto the body. I was able to do all of these shots without worrying about anything falling off.
Features and Gimmicks
Not much going on in this regard. You get two pairs of hands - one pair of closed fists, and one pair where the right hand is in a trigger finger position, and the left hand has is open (so as to rest the end of a rifle on). I like this open left hand a lot, as it lets me post the Dijeh as if it is waving hello.
The weapon rack on the left shoulder was underwhelming. Only the Clay Bazooka can attach to it, and the gun doesn’t actually connect to the two prongs coming off the shoulder, but rather between them. You can also attach it to two similar points on the backpack, which seems unnecessary.
You can also strap the clay bazooka on either side of the backpack. Seems a bit unnecessary, but I guess it works.
The handle of the beam naginata plugs into the back of the model, which is usually where you attach bazookas and other big guns. Still, I like when a kit can carry all of its gear, so this is a welcome feature.
Overall
It may lack the fine grained details found in the fancier model kits grades, but the Dijeh has a pure, “straight from the anime” look that has its own kind of appeal. The build is easy, the kit is sturdy, and it offers some nice opportunities to improve your painting/detailing/customization skills. Unless you are appalled by its appearance, this is an extremely easy kit to recommend to all skill ranges.
PS - I have an album available containing photos of both this kit, and the other two kits I recently built. Find it here