So the Real Grade Crossbone Gundam ended up being a bust, in part due to the fact that I chose to use the included stickers instead of waterslide decals.
What’s ironic about this is that I have three other Real Grades in the backlog - two of which I acquired last year - and I have a sheet of replacement, aftermarket waterslides for each of them.
In other words, I already decided a while ago that I wanted to switch to using waterslides with Real Grade kits. And yet I went ahead and used the stickers on the Crossbone anyway.
Now I want a shot at redemption. It’s time to build one of those Real Grades from the backlog, and this time I’m going to do the job right:
It’s the Build Strike Gundam, the star of one of my favorite shows in the series.
About Sei and Reiji
The Build Strike is the Main Protagonist Mobile Suit from Gundam Build Fighters1.
It is a model built by co-protagonist Sei Iori, a thirteen year old Gundam fanatic who is also something of a prodigy when it comes to building custom Gunpla.
His purpose in building it was to create something powerful enough to win the Gunpla Battle World Championship (remember that Build Fighters is a tournament anime in which competitors build kits that come to life to fight each other).
The only trouble is that, while he’s a fantastic builder, he’s a terrible fighter. Any damage your Gunpla takes during battle is real, and Sei is so afraid of seeing his work get destroyed that he becomes paralyzed into inaction.
That’s where Reiji comes into play:
Reiji is a weird dude from another galaxy (no, I’m not making that up) who somehow shows up on Earth. After befriending Sei, he immediately shows a knack for Gunpla Battle, and the two decide to enter the world tournament together as partners.
The friendship between Sei and Reiji is the emotional core of Build Fighters, as they help each other learn, grow, and win.
(I know this has nothing to do really with the mobile suit. I just really love Build Fighters, and I love these two characters, and this gives me an excuse to write about them)
About the Mobile Suit
Here is what the Gundam Wiki has to say about the Build Strike:
The Build Strike Gundam is a Gunpla built by Sei Iori with his own personal modifications. It is based upon the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam that appears in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.
Sei's modifications mainly revolve around improving the suit's mobility and an example of this is the inclusion of thruster units within the new shoulder armor, which resulted in enhanced side to side movement capabilities and allows the suit to better evade enemy's attacks. Thus, Build Strike has superior mobility and excels at rapid attacks.
Compared to the Strike Gundam, the Build Strike's close combat abilities are improved with four vulcan guns and two beam sabers. While it is assembled with high technique, its weapons are still incomplete, leaving room for further development. It is later combined with the Build Booster support craft and given addition weapons to form the GAT-X105B/FP Build Strike Gundam Full Package.
And here is what it says about the Full Package:
The GAT-X105B/FP Build Strike Gundam Full Package is a Gunpla built by Sei Iori, and is a combination of the basic GAT-X105B Build Strike Gundam with the Build Booster and new weapons. As indicated by the name, it can be considered as the Build Strike with its complete weapons and equipment.
The Build Booster is a support craft that when attached to the Build Strike adds a pair of Large Beam Cannons to the unit's standard armaments of four head-mounted Vulcan Guns and two Beam Sabers, and also improves its output.
The Full Package also gives the Build Strike a Chobham Shield and a Beam Gun that can transform into a Beam Rifle, and later into the Enhanced Beam Rifle.
Inspriation for the Build Booster
The wiki also tells us that the Build Booster is specifically based on the Strike Rogue's Ootori Strike Pack. Since I don't know much about Gundam SEED, that means absolutely nothing to me, but maybe it matters to you!Weapons and Stuff
At a high level, the Build Strike’s arsenal is pretty standard, but zoom in and you’ll see that it has a ton of tricks up its sleeve.
First, it’s Beam Rifle has three different modes. In its base form it is a small, compact Beam Pistol. Now, I can’t actually remember if it’s used like this in the show, and if so, in what episode.
Nevertheless, it’s a cool idea. If your Beam Rifle gets cut in half, you still have the Pistol Mode to fall back on. It might even be handy to revert it to Pistol Mode for shorter range encounters.
Its next form is as a standard Beam Rifle:
That’s a bit of a misnomer, as it is only “standard” in regards to its visual design. In terms of its output, characters in the show explicitly claim that its standard output outclasses Mega Particle Cannons equipped on other Gunpla:
Its final form is the Enhanced Beam Rifle, which can wipe out multiple targets in a single go:
As for the shield, it is specifically called out as being a Chobham shield, and is said to be made out of multiple layers of plastic to help it better absorb attacks. I don’t think that’s how real life Chobham Armor works; my guess is this is simply a callback to the Gundam Alex.
Lastly we have the Build Booster. Like the Wiki says, it’s a support craft, and it gives mobile suit a lot of extra power and flexibility. In addition to making it faster and giving it access to two additional beam cannons, the Build Booster can separate and fly around on its own. That means that if you destroy the Build Strike itself, the battle still isn’t over - not until you take out the Build Booster as well.
About the Visual Design
I don’t like the original Strike Gundam. Never have. But I’ve loved the Build Strike ever since I first saw it. This despite the fact that they aren’t that different from each other:
The biggest difference between the two is their color schemes. Not only is the Build Strike much more colorful, but it also uses much brighter hues. The problem with the OG Strike is that it’s too dark and understated, while the Build Strike feels more in line with the bright, heroic looking Gundams of the past.
Now, one could argue that these changes make the Build Strike look much more toylike, but that’s not really a ding against it considering it is literally a toy built by a thirteen year old. It actually works in its favor.
Colors aside, there are a few other tweaks to consider. The head is less angular, the V-Fin is monochrome instead of being two-toned (which I like better), and the shoulder armor is much nicer, reminiscent of the the Wing Gundam, or maybe even the Freedom or Strike Freedom. Not only do they make the Build Strike look more stylish, but also faster.
Appearance in Media
WARNING!! Minor spoilers for Build Fighters are found in this section.
Like most Main Protagonist Mobile Suits, the Build Strike is eventually replaced by the Midesason Upgrade. Now, if Build Fighters was a typical Gundam show, it’d have been 50’ish episodes, and we would have had 25’ish episodes to get to know the Build Strike before it was phased out.
But Build Fighters is only 25 episodes total. So we we’re not going to get that much time with it.
Now you might be thinking “Okay, so it’ll probably appear for 12 or 13 episodes. That’s not too bad”.
But sadly you would be wrong. In Episode 7 the Build Strike engages in an (admittedly) epic battle in which it is totaled.
That’s right. It’s out of commission in just seven episodes …
Now to be fair, it manages to battle in almost every one of those episodes, and some of those battles are very good. Also, it’s not quite fair to say that it is gone after Episode 7. We’ll get into more detail about this another day, but suffice to say that the Star Build Strike is just the Build Strike with a different backpack and gear: the base design is exactly the same.
Still, that gear - including the Beam Rifle and Build Booster - are really cool, and if there’s one thing I can knock the show for, it is taking them away from us so soon.
About the Model Kit
I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but let’s reiterate it just in case. Originally, Real Grade kits came with a prebuilt inner frame. It was - and still is - a technical marvel, but the problem is that these frames had a tendency to get loose and floppy over time. And since each of the frame is very intricate (and isn’t meant to be taken apart), there’s not much you can do to tighten those joints up if they do happen to get loose.
Eventually - I believe it was when they released the Real Grade Unicorn Gundam - Bandai got rid of the prebuilt frame. From then on, inner frames on Real Grades were built just like a Master Grade, piece by piece. It made for a better build experience, and seems to lead to sturdier models.
I bring this all up because the Build Strike is one of those older kits with the prebuilt frame. I’m not too worried about it getting floppy, at least not right away, but I thought I should mention it in case you’re interested in trying out the kit for yourself.
About the Build
This is going to break the record for the single most waterslides I’ve ever applied to a single kit. I’ll admit that I’ve been intimidated at the prospect for a while now, which is why this kit’s been lingering on the shelf for a few months. But I got some good practice working on those Dilanzas I just built, so I feel like I’m ready for it.
On a related note, before we get into the build, I’m going to take a little detour, with a post expanding on aftermarket/replacement waterslides and what they’re like.
- I feel like I need to make a page on this site that acts as a glossary for all my jargon, like “Main Protagonist Mobile Suit”, and “poseagenic”. [return]