Soooooooooooooo ….
I broke this guy’s foot.
While taking some photos, I tried detaching one of the feet. I don’t remember why I did, but I’m sure I had my reasons.
Anyway, as usual, I used way too much force and ripped it clean off.
Thankfully I managed to glue it back on. It took way longer than I thought it would, but it worked, and I even think it has most of its range still. That being said, I don’t want to push my luck and break it again, so sadly I had to limit the amount of action poses I took.
About the Articulation
On paper, the joints on this kit are pretty solid, as evidenced by the fact that it can do a perfect split:
But in practice, the bulkiness of the armor gets in the way and limits the effective range of most of the joints. This is your typical “bulky mobile suit that mainly does simple standing and firing poses”.
About the Visual Design
I really came around on this one. When I was in the middle of building it, I was afraid that it wasn’t going to look good. There’s color everywhere, and I was starting to think it was going to look way too ugly and busy.
But once I put it all together I changed my mind. There isn’t nearly as much red as I thought there was, so it’s not quite as busy as I thought it might get.
I also like how much yellow there is. Of all the colors that make up the standard Gundam color scheme, yellow is the one that gets the least love. But this proves that you can make it work if you really try.
The other thing I immediately noticed is the sheer amount of surface detail. Granted, it required a ton of painting and panel lining, but I was reminded of why this kit caught my eye in the first place. It really does punch above its weight class, provided you are willing to put in the work.
Action Poses
If you wanted more proof that this kit’s articulation is, on paper, really good, consider the fact that not only can it hold its gun in two hands, but that it can aim it straight. I can count on two hands the number of models I’ve built that can do that, so it’s a big deal here.
This is one of those kits where it behooves us to take some photos from the back. There’s just so much detail that you’d miss otherwise:
One thing I will ding this model for is the shoulder cannon. It’s impressive in its sheer size, but I think it’s more of a liability than an asset. You can’t really do much with it beyond this:
Meanwhile, it’s so big that it throws off the weight and balance of the model, and makes it really hard to frame the the entire thing in a shot.
Now for a beam saber pose. Remember that this kit doesn’t come with its own beam effect parts, so I had to borrow one:
Conclusion
There’s not much more to say about this one. Initially I thought it looked great, then I started to worry, and then I came around again. This kit may require a lot of work, but in this case it is more than worth it. This is probably one of my favorite looking kits so far of 2024.