Let’s see what the Jupitive Gundam can do, starting with the Support Mecha:
A few observations:
- With the Multi Container Bits spread out like that, they look a little bit like helicopter blades
- With the gun strapped to the bottom, it reminds me a bit of the ship from Einhänder
- Like with the Merucone, the big backpack and gun gives the Support Mecha a nice, “heavy” feel
My biggest complaint with this one is that I hate that I have to choose between it and the Jupitive Gundam. They both look so good that I wish I didn’t have to.
Core Gundam Comparison
The Veetwo and Marsfour model kits come with canonical color variants of the Core Gundam. It even says so on the box:
Technically speaking the Jupitive also comes with a (slight) color variant of the Core Gundam, but it’s not canonical. At least I don’t think it is. Instead, what I think it’s supposed to be is the standard Core Gundam, except its colors look slightly different when it’s out in space.
As you can see, it features a lighter, pinkish red, a neon green chest gem, and neon yellow. It reminds me of the M-Tron and Blacktron Lego sets I grew up with.
Goodsmile Simple Stand
Back in January, I got some of these Goodsmile Simple Stands as a gift:
Youtube Gunpla reviewer Mecha Gaikotsu swears by these things, despite the fact that they’re built for use with figurines rather than Gunpla. But he said they’re compatible, and if they work as well as he claims, then I can see the appeal. They’re clear, so they should blend into the background. And their simplicity should, in theory, make it easier to readjust and reposition the model, without having to mess with all the fiddly gears and joints of an Action Base
As you can see, they really are quite simple:
But exactly how well do they work? The first thing you should know is that the Simple Stand has a peg shaped connector, meaning only Gunpla with a peg shaped hole are going to work with it. Thankfully, that covers most modern kits, but every so often you might run into a curveball, in which case you’ll have to bust out an Action Base.
The second thing to know is that the peg connector is a just a little too big for 1⁄144 scale Gunpla. It will fit, but it’s extremely tight. Not in a “this feels nice and secure and won’t fall off” kind of way, but more of a “I’m afraid to push this in all the way because I’m afraid something is going to break”.
Finally, all of the joints in the stand are held together by screws, and sometimes you’re going to need to tighten them. If you don’t, the joint(s) may very well give under the weight of the model.
I know it sounds like I’ve described more positives than negatives, but once the screws are tight and the figure is secure, it is much easier to deal with than an Action Base. It certainly felt like I spent more time tweaking my poses to get them just right, and less time putting together the Action Base after it fell apart. Whether it will remain a better experience in the long run remains to be seen.
Jupitive Gundam
And now we get to the grand finale.
Core Change - Mercury to Jupiter:
Jupitive Gundam ready to launch:
Oh wait. No. It’s not actually ready to launch. Sorry folks, but I’ve got a lot of things left to say, and I think it would be best left to another post. See you then. `