The God of Death is finished and ready to help you meet your maker:
Even without its gear, Deathscythe looks poised. Those shoulders really do look like bat wings, don’t they? It’s yet another one of those features that I always knew was there, but which it stands out that much more in model kit form.
This is one of the only clear shots you are going to see with this deactivated scythe strapped to the back. It fits so tightly that I broke off the bottom tip when I tried to take it off. I actually had to use pliers in order to apply enough pressure to force it out. When I finally got it, the tip broke off and flew across the room.
Like I said in Part 1, this was a superfluous accessory, so it’s no real loss now that it’s broken. In fact, I kind of don’t like how far it sticks out to the right.
Let’s test the articulation. The arm bend is actually better than I thought it was Part 3
This knee bend is merely okay:
But if we pop open the knee and pull the leg out, it gets much better:
The torso can nicely rotate:
And it has a very strong forward bend:
The head articulation is the worst of the bunch. It can move side to side, but it is a tight fit, as the chin likes to brush up against the vulcans:
More problematic is the fact that for some reason, Deathscythe’s head doesn’t have much upward movement. This is particularly weird considering that Sandrock has so very much of it. At least you can still move the head down (though it still doesn’t have all that much downward range).
Overall, the articulation is strong enough to pull off fun poses even without weapons:
Seriously - not every model can pull off that kind of kick.
Let’s get it geared up to fight:
A few notes on the scythe. I think the size is perfect. It is massive, but not unwieldy. It also fits perfectly within the hand. There is just enough friction to keep it from sliding around, but not so much to make it difficult to move around.
One thing that’s less perfect are the ball joints on the holding hands. They don’t fit nearly as snugly, and in some poses the weight of the scythe will drag down the hand and ruin your pose. You can fix by slathering the ball joint in a light coating of super glue and letting it fully dry (the dry glue creates an extra layer of friction). However, I wish this wasn’t necessary.
The Buster Shield works great with the Action Base 5, but I clearly need more practice staging shots like these:
It is nice that the shield can be suspended like this, but it doesn’t look like much just sitting still. I’m thinking you have to pose the mobile suit just so in order to convey a sense of motion, and I haven’t quite figured that out yet.
I love how you can adjust the scythe into a spear. It turns it into a completely different weapon, with different posing possibilities.
And of course you can come up with cool transitions between the two:
This may be the most natural and easiest jumping attack pose I’ve ever pulled off:
Posing Deathscythe was a lot of fun. It’s such a sturdy and articulate build that it’s typically happy to do whatever you ask of it. You might cause an arm pop off here and there, but that’s easy to fix.
I wanted this build to be a palette cleanser, and it managed to be exactly that. Now it’s time to excise some demons:
This is for being such a crappy mobile suit
And for being such a boring build
Conclusion
I’m not going to say this is the best of these new Gundam Wing models. They’re all very good, and each one has certain high points that the others lack. There’s nothing close to an objective measure upon which to compare them.
That being said, this is probably my personal favorite, simply because of my nostalgia for it. This High Grade Deathscythe takes an already good design and makes it look (and feel) that much better. Of all the models I’ve built in 2021, this was probably the most enjoyable, and is tied with the Gundam Alex as being the best looking. What a blast.
Other Thoughts
The gang is almost complete. All we need is Shenlong:
I may also eventually suck it up and get some version of Wing Gundam to replace Wing Zero in the lineup. How convenient that there is a new Real Grade coming out soon.