Gunpla Build - High Grade Uraven Gundam (Photos)

Let’s start out with the Core Gundam II:

It’s … fine?? I guess??

I appreciate that the shoulder armor is more pronounced now, and that the torso is a bit slimmer:

But I don’t like the fact that there is now extra white in the chest and around the feet. It’s just too much, and throws off the overall color balance.

Furthermore, I don’t think the extra clear parts in the chest are necessary. It feels a little too extra, as if the designer had no choice but to add them just to make it look different.

Ultimately, when I stack it up next to the OG Core Gundam, I prefer the latter:

But looks aside, I have other issues. One is that the Core Defenser doesn’t look good as a shield. This may have something to do with the fact that it’s actually taller than the Core Gundam itself:

Which means that when it tries to hold it up as a shield, well …

And as you might imagine, things don’t get better when it’s attached:

Not only is it too big, but it just sticks out so far. And from the rear it really does look like someone cut off the front of a spaceship and stapled it on.

For whatever reason, I think it looks better in midair poses:

Even then, finding the right angle is key. You don’t want to see too much of the Core Defenser, lest you be overwhelmed by its bulk:

Or you could just take it off and not worry about it:

Except for the fact that, well, that’s one of the big new gimmicks for Core Gundam II. Take it away, and all you’re left with is a Core Gundam, albeit one that is uglier than before. That’s a damming indictment; this is supposed to be an upgrade, but with or without the Core Defenser it feels more like a downgrade.

Core Flyer

Now let’s see how it looks in Core Flyer mode. The transformation is easy - rotate the head, fold in the arms, and twist a the legs around a bit. And voila!

It looks fantastic from above, and okay from the rear:

But from the side and from below, it very clearly looks like a folded up mecha:

To be fair, this is common with these kinds of transformations, so I’m not going to hold it against it.

And that’s all there is to say about the Core Gundam II. Now let’s move onto the Uranus Armor, and then ultimately the Uraven Gundam.

Support Mecha

I said before that the fuselage looks like a flying weapons rack. Is that still the case once the armor is attached? It depends on the angle.

From the front, it absolutely does:

From other angles, it either looks better, or looks like some other, equally ugly thing.

For example, I think this here looks pretty good:

But From this angle it looks like an uglier, chunkier version of the ship from Einhander:

Granted, I forgot to shorten the length of the Beam Rifle in that last pic, but even when you fix that it still looks the same:

Still, at least it kind of looks like a ship.

But when you look at from this angle:

Or this one:

It looks like a flying weapons rack again. Or maybe a helicopter. Whatever the case, it just doesn’t look like a spaceship. It’s too tall, and too spread out.

This problem becomes even more pronounced when you compare it against the Earth Armor:

It’s just so much sleeker and more compact, despite having the exact same number of body parts.

How about next to the Mercury Armor?

This is a more interesting comparison, as the Mercury Armor’s backpack makes it much wider and bulkier than the Earth Armor. One might even argue that it looks closer to the Uranus Armor. But it still looks better, on account of the fact that it is still more compact overall. Case in point - on the Mercury Armor, there’s no gaps:

But on the Uranus Armor? HUGE gap:

Normally I try and explain or otherwise justify these kinds of changes, to try and understand the artistic decisions that may have went into them. But I can’t do that here; this just feels like a design flaw.

I’m not sure what’s worse - the fact that the Support Mecha looks so bad, or the fact that I know that its fundamental shape means that the Saturn and Neptune Armors aren’t going to look any better.

Uraven Gundam

Now we finally get to the Uraven Gundam. I’m not even going to call for a Core Change this time. I just want to get it over with:

Instead of having a special backpack, these new armor designs instead have plugs in the shoulder armor for attaching accessories. Which isn’t to say they have no backpack, just that they all have the same one - the Core Defenser:

Which, when you think about it, means that they all look less unique than any of the previous armors, all of which had their own unique backpacks that suited their specific purpose. Instead, these new armors look for more samey and generic.

Personally, I think it looks goofy with the Sensor Bits strapped to the shoulders. And while the Core Defenser looks better here than on the Core Gundam II, it still doesn’t look great. All of which is to say that, like with the Core Gundam II, I prefer it without all this new junk strapped to it. I mean, I still took a few shots with all of it on:

But eventually I ditched it

I had all sorts of grand plans for posing this thing, but they did not come to be. This was largely due to the fact that I was feeling extremely disillusioned by this point in the process, but then I had problems with parts falling off, particularly the arms and the hands. At that point I was ready to call it quits:

Conclusion

I’m just going to say it - the Core Gundam II and its new armors are a let down. I haven’t even finished the other two, and I can already tell I’m going to feel the same way. They just don’t look as good, and they aren’t as fun to pose and otherwise play with.

Which brings us to the million dollar question - why didn’t I notice this beforehand? Surely they must have looked just as bad in the show, right?

Well, no, they didn’t. And I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that when they’re drawn and animated, the artists can get away with certain liberties. They can change the proportions a little, or make it move in ways it can’t easily do in real life.

The other problem is that we don’t actually get to see these new armors all that much. The Uraven, Saturnix, and Nepteight all get a single showcase episode, and even then, they’re only in a fraction of those single episodes before Hiroto changes to another armor. In other words, we don’t get to see all that much of them, which makes it harder to notice the fact that they look more boring without special backpacks, or that the Support Mechas look uglier.

I’m not going to say that I was duped, but let this be a lesson. Before you build a model, make sure to get as close a look at the animated version of the mobile suit as you can, from as many angles as possible. And look at the model in question, and see how well it does or doesn’t translate. You may find that what you once thought was a great looking design in fact suffers from some flaws.

And don’t buy a bunch of kits just for the sake of completionism either.

Having said all of this, I do intend to finish the other two armors, even if I know they’re going to let me down. Just don’t expect long or detailed posts about them, certainly not as long as these last few have been.