Let’s get right to it.
First off, I decided to use the black backdrop again. My rudimentary understanding of photography lighting told me that a kit as bright and shiny as this one would look overly bright near the top, and overly covered in shadow on the bottom, which is not necessarily what you’d want. But in this case, that’s exactly what I was going for. I feel like this is the way mobile suits are often drawn when in outer space - and since the Gerbera Tetra fights exclusively in space, I thought it might be a neat visual effect.
Second, I think this model kit is a High Grade masterpiece:
There is so much detail, so much color separation, and so many different components. I won’t go as far as to say that it looks like a mini Master Grade, but unlike certain other High Grades, nothing about this feels compromised in any way. And the painting and detailing work wasn’t as hard as usual. The pieces are so big and chunky that it always feels like you have a lot of room to work within.
Now having said all these nice things, we have to face the facts on one particular, largely unavoidable flaw: the articulation on this kit is not the best. This is entirely due to the Gerbera Tetra’s bulk. For example, the wings/fins/whatevers that come down off its shoulders get in the way of the arms, and the way the head flares out means it is always brushing up against the torso.
Again, there’s not much you can do about it when it’s shaped like this.
In terms of other flaws, I found that all but one of the holding hands fits loosely into the body, as do the elbow and hip joints. I may go back and try to tighten them up a bit, because I kept having to fit them back on.
I also learned that (again) due to the bulkiness of the armor, you have to be very careful and deliberate when positioning the limbs for a pose. Simple, basic poses are doable, but you have think it through ahead of time.
Finally, I think the covers that go over the hands are a little too big. They make it hard to see the hands from some angles, which makes it difficult for the model to talk with its hands. For example, consider these two photos:
I think the first photo has a better angle and better lighting, but only in the second photo is it obvious that it’s trying to fire it’s arm cannons (and even then, only barely).
This is better still:
Or maybe this one:
The lesson here being that you have work around the covers by shooting straight ahead, so you can get a glimpse of the hands.
(Actually, the real lesson here is that I never considered before how much expressiveness comes from a model’s hands, but whatever).
Posing with the beam saber was a bit tricky, as it’s hard to get the arm into something resembling a good swinging motion.
Beam Saber Poses
In fact, I've come to realize just how few beam saber poses I do nowadays. I find that they work better for some models than others; these days I'm happy if I can get just one pose that works.
I love when a mobile suit’s form follows its function. In the case of the Gerbera Tetra, it’s many (many) thrusters make all of its poses look fast, as if it is ready to strike in the blink of an eye.
Perhaps it goes without saying, what with that beautiful Beam Machine Gun, but gun poses were almost universally excellent:
I attribute this partly to the fact that the trigger finger hand is at an angle, which allows the gun to rest perfectly straight. It always looks natural in the hand:
And finally, wrapping things up, I took a few shots with the Sturm Booster equipped:
I’ll say this - somehow it looks bigger on it’s own than when it’s attached. I was 100% certain it wouldn’t fit in the lightbox, but it turned out not to be a problem.
Conclusion
Setting aside some typical issues with limbs popping off, this experience was a dream. It was fun to build, fun to pose, and just plain fun to look at. A home run from top to bottom. I already decided to preemptively place it in my top 3 for 2022; we’ll see if anything else manages to knock it off.