Now that we’re in March, it is time to build the final Iron Blooded Orphans kit in my backlog, which also happens to be the last remaining form of Gundam Astaroth. Let’s build the Astaroth Rinascimento:
About the Mobile Suit
I covered the history of the Astaroth when I built the Astaroth Origin just weeks ago, but to reiterate real quick: the Astaroth originally existed in its Origin form before eventualyl losing its armor.
It was replaced with a slapdash mix of parts from other mobile suits, and this version is how it looked at the start of the Iron Blooded Orphans Gekko manga (from here on I’ll refer to this version as just “Astaroth”).
Over the course of the manga, the protagonists recover some of the Origin armor, but before they can complete the set, they lose possession of the mobile suit, and it is stripped of its armor again.
I’m not sure how this is depicted in the story, but I hope it’s treated as a comedic gag. The idea of it losing its armor twice in one manga is too ridiculous to take seriously (but as a gag I think it would be hilarious).
Anyway, this forces the heroes to try and recover as many of the lost parts as they can, while replacing the rest of it with yet another slapdash mix of salvaged armor. This in turn gives birth to the Astaroth Rinascimento:
According to the Gundam Wiki, the protagonists’ goal with the Rinascimento was to make the Astaroth even more offense-oriented than it already was, to suit the combat style of its pilot. The downside of this approach is that it is even more unstable and unwieldy to control, making it unsuitable for anyone else to take into battle.
Weapons and Stuff
The Rinascimento has all the same weapons as Astaroth, including its machine gun, combat knives, and it’s giant sword, the Demolition Knife. It adds one additional weapon, the Bastard Chopper, which is basically just another giant sword.
Well, maybe not just another sword, as it has a few nifty gimmicks. First, it can combine with the Demolition Knife to create an even bigger sword:
And this isn’t just a case of Rule of Cool. If you’ve ever looked at the Demolition Knife when it’s unfolded, you’ve probably thought to yourself “that thing must be extremely delicate and unstable, especially at the joint in the middle”:
And you’d be right, both in real life and in-universe. Combining it with the Bastard Chopper helps reinforce the sword and give it needed stability.
The Bastard Chopper has one additional feature; a projectile modeled after the Dáinsleif, one of the most powerful weapons in the entire Iron Blooded Orphans universe. While not quite as powerful as a traditional Dáinsleif, it no doubt still packs quite a punch.
That’s it for weapons, but the Rinascimento has a few notable bits of armor. The first is its shield, which is literally a repurposed leg armor from a Garm Rodi:
Lastly, on its right it has a equipped what is known as a “Shield Arm”. It’s basically a secondary shield that can unfold into a third arm, thus allowing it to potentially triple wield its weapons.
When you combine the sheer number of weapons with the ability to wield so many at once, you can easily see what the Wiki means when it says this mobile suit is focused heavily on offense.
An Amalgamation
While it wasn’t intentional on my part, I’m really glad I ended up building this one last. The Rinascimento is very much a fusion of Astaroth and the Astaroth Origin (with a couple of unique bits to call its own), and this is something I didn’t really appreciate until I had those other two Gunpla to use as a point of comparison.
As far as I can tell, here are the things it retains from the Astaroth:
- It has the same left shoulder armor and left arm
- It has the same weapons
- It has the same armor on the heel of its foot
- It has the same color scheme
And here is where it uses parts recovered from the Astaroth Origin:
- The torso (both upper and lower)
- The right shoulder armor
- The front half of the feet (but weirdly not the back heel)
- The back half of the right leg
And finally, here are the bits that are new and original
- The control arm on the right shoulder
- The new shield on the left arm
- The backpack
- The front half of its legs
- The back half of the left leg
- The heel
- The right arm
- The head isn’t quite original, but is something of an asymmetric, reconstructed version of the Astaroth’s head
When you itemize everything up like this, it’s clear that most of its armor is new and original, but to me it doesn’t really feel that way. The bits it keeps from it’s other two forms are so striking and easily identifiable that it’s hard not to notice them. Sometimes I think “that looks a lot like Astaroth”, and other times I think “that looks a lot like Origin”, but never do I think it resembles neither of them.
About the Model Kit
I bought this thing all the way back in 2023. But I quickly got intimidated by all the seamlines and color correction it required, and very quickly put it back on the backlog.
But having just finished the Astaroth Origin, in retrospect I now see that the Rinascimento needs far less work than its sibling. And since it reuses so many of the same parts, I have a feeling that I’ll actually be able to crank this one out in short order.
About the Build
I built Astaroth 9 years ago, and it was one of the first times I began to experiment with color correction, as well as my first attempt at adding a gloss finish to its weapons.
I also remember that the clear coat looked real rough after if finished drying. Suffice to say that the model is now looking a bit worse for wear.
And just last month, when building the Astaroth Origin, I covered all the weapons in gunmetal spray paint, which also ended up not looking all that great.
This is why, for the Rinascimento, I’m going to keep the weapons simple. A little bit of panel lining, some matte topcoat, and maybe a light dusting of weathering compound, and that’s it. Maybe the third time will be the charm.