The Gundam Alex is complete, and I’m ready to show it off in all its glory - but only after I show it in its Chobam Armor. That way I can get it out of the way:
Okay, I’ll admit it - the armor doesn’t look terrible. With all the dark shading and other minor detailing, it has some nice depth and texture to it. Plus, it doesn’t cover the body quite as much as I remember. You can still see a lot of nice detail from the Alex’s main body.
That being said, there isn’t much the model can do in this form. The arms, which means the guns can’t deploy. It could hold its beam rifle, but I don’t think it can hold onto its shield.
That’s the big problem with the armor - whether or not it looks cool, all you’re really going to get out of it is a standing pose. Imagine if it tried to fight with it on. What would it even do?
Let’s take the armor off now, the only way I know how - by recreating the Alex’s first fight scene.
But first, we need to bring in its costar:
Okay Kampfer, do your thing:
If you’ve been reading along with this build, then you know I’m a fan of the Gundam Alex. But I can’t stress enough just how impressed I am by the look of this model kit.
For a High Grade - and an older High Grade at that - to capture so much detail and color separation, with so few color-correcting decals, is very impressive. Granted, I haven’t forgotten about all the painting I had to do, but even if I hadn’t done that, I still think the model would look very good.
Unfortunately, the good looks are tempered some but the Alex’s poor articulation. This 90 degree bend truly is the best you can get out of the arms:
Meanwhile, this is as far as the knee will bend, and as far as the leg will lift:
This photo also gives us a nice glimpse at the side panel of the shoulder armor. Not only is it quite long, but it also doesn’t move. That means that it restricts how high the arm can move up.
I hate to say it, but there is nothing redeeming about this kit’s articulation.
Old High Grades
Ever since first got into this hobby back in 2012, I've never understood the hatred that some people had for High Grades. Now I think I finally understand it. Kinda
Between the GM Cold Districts, GM Command, Zaku I Sniper, and now the Gundam Alex, almost all of my recent builds have been older High Grades from the early 2000's. While some of these models have been better than others, generally speaking none of them have what I would consider great articulation.
Of course, modern High Grades use newer tech that gives them a phenomenal amount of bend and range, but this new tech has only been around for the last decade or so (and only commonplace for the last 5 - 7 years). Prior to that, the state of the art for High Grade articulation was likely closer to what I've been seeing in these recent builds.
If I had gotten into this hobby earlier in my life, and this was the best I could expect from High Grade kits, I don't think I would grow to hate them, but I could see myself looking into Master Grades for certain models, just to be sure I pose them in whatever way I wanted. LIke I said, I finally understand. Kinda
Let’s take a look at the accessories. The shield is great, as expected:
However, it does not like to stay put. The shield is secured to the arm via a flimsy clip that snaps onto the top of the blue arm cover.
It’s the kind of “solution” that doesn’t actually look like a solution, but more like a happy accident. And that’s exactly how well it works - any movement of the arm will cause the clip to slide off, at which point the shield can and will drop out of the Alex’s hand.
I know I just gave the Alex’s Beam Rifle to the GM Command, but let’s temporarily give it back to the Alex so we can take some pictures:
This is a great looking gun, so naturally it looks great here, just as it did on the GM Command. Too bad that even simple shooting poses are limited by the arm’s lack of range.
This is one of those models that just isn’t that great at action poses.
Thankfully, it excels at “standing around looking cool” poses.
But if you insist on doing some action poses, your best bet is to just let the Alex flex its guns.
Errrr actually I meant arms.
Errr no actually I meant arm guns:
Conclusion
This model is saved by the fact that we don’t get to see the Alex do all that much fighting in the War in the Pocket OVA. If we had seen it flying around cutting down foes, I might have been more inclined to try out more action poses, in which case this kit’s crummy articulation would have crushed my dreams.
But we don’t see it pulling off high-flying tricks, and so I tend to picture it in simple stationary poses. Thankfully, this is something the Alex pulls off with style to spare.
Putting it on the shelf next to some fellow Gundams only further highlights just how cool and unique this design is. The colors, color placement, the proportions - the Alex really does stand out on its own. This one is a GD classic in my book.