Here it is, all put together.
Whatever mecha designer thought that it would be a good idea for an immediate ancestor of the RX78-2 to look even more like a product of the 1970’s deserves a medal. I love the look of this kit. The color scheme, the visor, the ribbing - the only way this could look more 70’s is if it had a porno mustache.
Here is something odd - the backpack contains not two, but five thrusters. Their positioning is weird, the count is excessive, and it feels like exactly the kind of thing you expect from an early prototype built by engineers who haven’t figured out what the heck they are trying to do. I think it is appropriate, but also quite goofy.
One thing I do not like about this model is that even with all its tweaks, it cannot escape a flaw inherent in most RX78 variants - namely, sometimes it looks too stiff and robotic. The easy fix is to give it a wide stance; legs apart, arms not quite at its sides.
The alternative is … well, let me straighten out the limbs:
Booooooooooooooring.
The only solution to this would be to make some minor tweaks to the shape of the arms, or the proportions in the torso (but only minor tweaks, otherwise you do not really have an RX78). I guess they did not want to go that route on account of this being an older prototype, not a later one.
In regards to articulation, I find it to be a mixed bag. On one hand, the arms are double jointed, which is pretty cool. You can get some serious bicep curls going on with this model.
On the other hand, that big honking shoulder mounted cannon eliminates the left shoulder’s range of motion.
Or does it? While the instruction manual doesn’t make this clear, it turns out that the shoulder joint can extend outward quite a bit, like so:
In this position, the shoulder is now clear of the cannon, and full range of motion is possible. I really wish Bandai was more clear about this; I only figured it out after reading some promotional text on a hobby site that said something vague about how certain joints can be extended.
Outside of these local concerns, the general articulation of this kit is limited. Splits are impossible:
This kneeling pose caused so much strain it caused both legs to disconnect, and it still cannot point straight ahead.
On a related note, the balance of this model is also poor. This is the best one-footed pose I could muster, and it took me a few tries to get it from toppling over.
It looks like a dad half-heartedly doing a dance move when his family puts him on the spot.
Keep in mind that I got the Gundam F91 to do this (it’s leg is extended far more forward, and the upper body is at an angle)
Meanwhile the Zaku II can run like an anime schoolgirl with a piece of toast in her mouth:
No excuses for Dad Gundam up there.
Accessories and Gimmicks
I don’t think the Gundam Local Type is bringing the A game in this department.
Let’s start with the machine gun. It … exists.
Sorry, but I don’t find it terribly interesting. It has a fold-out stock:
And a grip for the left hand:
But it looks far too large to be a short range gun, and far too stubby to be a long range rifle. This is the same situation as the Bugu: the designer wanted to portray the notion that this was an early mobile suit made by folks who didn’t really know what they were doing yet, so it gets a gun that excels at nothing.
I’m weirdly fine with this decision in regards to the Bugu, since Zeon mobile suits are defined more by their look than by their armaments. Gundams, however, are all about the cool, special weapons. Without a beam rifle, or a Hyper Bazooka, the Gundam Local Type feels a bit lacking with this weird little pea shooter.
But wait, what about that cool shoulder cannon? Set aside the fact that it kind of gets in the way - surely that makes up for things, right?
Well, it doesn’t do very much but swing forward. It cannot be pivoted to the left or right. It may look cool, but it is in no way dynamic, and as we saw before, it actively gets in the way.
Side note - this is the best place to complain about the lack of hand options in this kit. You get two fists, and one trigger finger right hand, and that’s it. You do not get an open palm hand for the left side, which is a huge oversight, since this is (in my opinion) one of the most obvious and natural action poses for this model.
Well, maybe not quite this pose, but one in which it rests its hand atop the cannon. It was a bit hard to nail considering I was using a hand from a different kit that did not even fit in the joint socket. But you get the idea.
Moving on, we have the shield. Visually, I’ve already encountered this exact design in the HG Ez-8, and while it looks plenty cool, it feels out of place here. This kind of shield works really well on the Ez-8 and Gundam Ground Types, which take advantage of some of its particular quirks and features. Here, it feels more like a recycled part thrown into the mix for the heck of it.
For example, take the bipod feature that allows the shield to stand upright. You can’t really use it for cover:
And you can’t use it to aim the machine gun at all. Trust me, I tried.
If you try to use it to aim the shoulder cannon, you get the sleepiest Gundam ever:
At this point there is only one promising gimmick up this kit’s sleeve: you can strap the beam sabers to the bottom of the shield to create a wristsaber. Remember talking about that earlier? Remember how it looked?
It has to be cool. Right. RIGHT?!!?!?
No … no it doesn’t.
The beams are too long, and too close together. It doesn’t look very menacing, and action poses are difficult when the beams keep getting in the way (or simply forces you to capture a much wider photo to get it all in the shot). It doesn’t work at all in my opinion.
Let’s fall back to a simpler pose, with just a single beam saber in hand. It looks fine enough.
For the last of the gimmicks, the Local Type can strap both its shield and its gun to its back.
Conclusion
This feels like the first time in which the promotional photos/box art sold me a better, more interesting kit than what I actually got. I expected a black and grey paint job, and interesting, lethal looking accessories. I expected a kit that would naturally and easily lead to cool action poses.
All of these expectations were dashed.
I will state once again that I am okay with the actual color of the kit. It is at least as good, and maybe even better than what I expected. That still leaves us with two major strikes.
This might be the least fun I have ever had while taking photos of a new kit. Every time I had an idea for an action pose, something went wrong. Maybe the accessories could not accommodate it, or the pose just looked awkward instead of cool. Sometimes it lost its balance. I finally decided that the model looks best standing straight, with its hands free. At least then you can admire the colors and the detailing. From a purely visual standpoint, this kit looks great, and nothing can take that away.
In that sense, I will not say it is a complete failure, but here is the question I can’t shake - if a model kit looks good standing, with minimal use of accessories and articulation, what exactly is the point of making it a model kit? I can find detailed drawings of mobile suits standing in place, from the front and the back! The whole point of making a model is so that someone can inject some life and personality and character into it, and to give the builder the freedom to recreate a favorite scene, and then change it into something else whenever they feel like it. When a kit does not excel at this, it feels like it is missing something important.
Perhaps the problem is that Bandai performed what I will refer to as a “Reverse Bandai”. Normally, you may find that a certain mobile suit in a certain Gundam show is designed in a way that feels overly silly/impractical/etc because it makes for a better toy. In this case, it appears as if someone designed a mobile suit with deliberate shortcomings and oddities for the purposes of worldbuilding and storytelling, and for some reason Bandai was afraid to mess with that design when it came time for the model (AKA a “Reverse Bandai”). This serves to emphasize a point I’ve made before - the only reason some of these Gundam: The Origin kits even exist is because Bandai needed to have something out to coincide with the show. In reality, some of the kits in this line probably never should have seen the light of day.
This is a great looking mobile suit, but a poor model kit, if that makes any sense. You can look, but don’t touch, not unless you want to be let down.
If you want to see all the photos I took for this kit, the gallery is here:
Leftover Thoughts
- I think I screwed up the light levels on my camera. The ones that are dark were taken with a Micro Four-Thirds digital, while the brighter ones were taken with an iPhone. I was not expecting the phone photos to look better, so I must be doing something wrong.