We’ve been through this so many times that there’s not too much to say about this build, but here are the runners anyway:
This is neither here nor there, but this spread is a bit different than the other two Dilanzas. They each had two “special” runners containing all their unique parts, while Guel’s Dilanza only has one. However, that’s because some of its unique parts are attached to the A runner instead.
I don’t know exactly how Bandai’s process works, but my guess is that they can block off certain parts of a mold. When making the other two kits, they blocked off the sections of the A runner containing the special parts, and reuses the rest that contained common parts.
But even if that theory is true, it still doesn’t make sense to me. Why not just put Guel’s exclusive parts onto two runners like on the other two kits? This accomplishes the same goal with extra steps.
Markings (and not the good kind)
The purple plastic on this kit marks very easily. Even using Godhand nippers for cleanup, it feels like I couldn’t do anything without leaving a mark.
Even worse is the fact that the color guide suggests that you recreate this particular magenta tone using four different paints, including “wine red”, and something called “clear blue” and “clear red”.
Instead, I used a much simpler approach - a magenta Sharpie:
It’s not a perfect match; indeed, if you look closely at some of the photos of the finished model, you’ll see little dark splotches where I used the marker. But it still looks a hell of a lot better than if I did nothing at all.
Goopy Top Coat
I used the last of a can of top coat on this model, and it did some damage. In some cases it came out really goopy, collecting on the bottom of a part in a thick crust. In other cases it stripped the panel lining marker off of the plastic and caused it to slide away and out of place.
I did the best I could to strip off the goopy paint, and cover up some of the mistakes with weathering compound. I’m sure eagle eyed viewers will notice, but if you take in the model as a whole you won’t be able to tell. This was by far the best case scenario for such an incident.
With all that said, let’s quickly look at some of the unique bits of this build.
Beam Partisan
This is such a simple weapon, but I love it:
The handle is huge, the beams are huge. It may not be effective or practical, but the aesthetics are on point.
Head
For some reason, the face visor on this one is a little different compared to its siblings.
On the other two Dilanzas, there is a single decal that covers the entire visor. Here though, there are two small stickers that run along the bottom, leaving bare yellow plastic in the center and along the top. I have no idea why it’s like this. I will say that it’s important to line them up, otherwise the “face” of the model is going to end up looking funky.
Now that I think about it, maybe that’s the reason. That is, perhaps they switched to using a single decal after realizing that it would be easier to apply. But who really knows …
The other notable thing about the head is the plume of feathers on top of the crest. Numerous people on the Internet have pointed out that it looks a bit like a scrotum - and once you’ve seen that, you can’t unsee it. But I thought I might be able to make it look better with a bit of white weathering compound.
… I’m not sure I actually did. For some reason this white Tamiya compound really struggles to cling to plastic, so I’m honestly not sure how much of it is on there.
Backpack
Guel’s Dilanza has big old insect wings on its backpack. Just like the missile launcher attachment on the Dilanza Sol, or the fin on Lauda’s unit, it just slides right along the top rail.
Shoulder Shields
These might be my favorite of the shoulder shields, at least from an aesthetic standpoint:
They’re so intricate, with so much nice surface detail. The only thing that might make them better would be to add some extra spikes somewhere.
Finished
And that’s it folks. Everything else about this build is the same as before, so let’s move on and look at some photos.