Gunpla Build - High Grade Moon Gundam (Build)

I suppose that after three posts worth of chatter, I should probably get around to actually building a model kit or something.

We’ve heard from the Collective Internet about how Super Special Awesome this build is, but now it’s time to take a look ourselves and put it to the test.

But first - I forgot to snap a photo of the runners. Thankfully someone else did, and I’m going to borrow their photo:

A couple of observations:

• This photo shows all the runners for the mobile suit itself, but not the Action Base 5. I’d say that’s a pretty healthy spread for a High Grade.
• There’s a single green part which is for the eyes and the head camera. Right below it is an alternate clear version of the same part, which I guess is there in case you want to paint them in instead (though there’s nothing stopping you from painting the green one)

Let’s get started.

Weapons

The Beam Shotgun assembles as usual, but somehow they managed to make almost all the seamlines invisible. There’s one running along the top front half of the gun, but that’s really it.

As you can see, I did a bit of extra detailing. I used to go nuts with adding color and chrome plating to my weapons, and in recent months I’ve dialed back and kept things simpler. This time I tried to find a happy middle ground, and I’m happy with how it came out.

As for the Beam Tomahawk, the handle itself is made out of both grey and white plastic, and there’s quite a lot of surface detail. However, I found that that detail doesn’t panel line very well; it makes the whole thing look a bit too messy.

In my opinion, it’s best to keep it light and simple, and let that massive beam effect part do all the talking.

Head

It didn’t take very long to come across a part of this build that’s less than stellar. Here is how the head looks straight out of the box:

I’ve seen worse, but I’ve also definitely seen better. It’s clear that it’s missing a whole bunch of color, even if you were to panel line it.

Now here is how it is supposed to look:

As you can see, it’s supposed to have green lines running along its cranium, grey vulcan cannons, and grey face vents. And if you really want it to look correct, it’s supposed to have little red stripes running along its rear V-Fin.

(side note - there’s no groove or panel line or anything for these red stripes. You just have to grab your smallest brush and paint a thin line as best you can)

Credit where it’s due - it uses no stickers for the eyes or camera, and there almost no panel lines. The engineering is pretty good. But in regards to color, it’s missing quite a lot, and with no stickers to speak of, it’s up to you to add it.

Upper Torso

The red plastic on the torso is very clearly glossier than any of the other plastic in the box; clearly this was intentional. So I decided I wouldn’t clear coat it, hoping that the contrast between matte and gloss plastic might look nice.

Survey says - it’s not a bad look, but I also don’t think it’s a huge difference maker either.

Let’s flip it around and look at the backpack:

It’s a pretty simple design - in fact, it’s highly reminiscent of the Grandaddy Gundam - but it’s also surprisingly large.

As you can (hopefully) see, I used some weathering compound on the backpack, to mostly good effect.

Lower Torso

This actually has pretty solid color separation out of the box, though with even just a single panel lining marker you can make it that much better:

Looking around back, the rear skirt is made of two parts layered on top of one another, and looks very much like the Sazabi’s:

Legs

When people online gush about the Moon Gundam, they’re probably thinking mostly about the legs. They really are as impressive as I was led to believe:

We have a really, truly full inner frame, complete with a sliding knee joint, pipes and cabling, and even hidden vents. The only thing that’s kind of weird about it is that the feet are permanently connected to the leg frame, rather than using a classic ball joint. Still, overall the interior gets top marks.

As does the exterior. As you can see, the outer armor had incredible parts separation:

You’ve got white plastic, grey plastic, hidden thrusters in the sides and the back. And aside from that little red stripe on the ankle, you could theoretically color the entire thing in with a single panel lining marker.

So yes, if nothing else, I can confirm that the legs at least are essentially Real Grade quality.

(notice that I said legs, not feet. The feet are a disappointment, seeing as they have no toe bend whatsoever)

Arms

Lots to say here.

• The model doesn’t really have an actual shoulder onto which the shoulder armor attaches. Rather, the arm attaches directly to the shoulder armor, which in turn plugs into the body. This is a typical occurrence in High Grades, but it’s not what I expected from the so called “King of High Grades”
• At least the arms themselves have inner framing, some of which manages to peak through the armor
• There’s a big open space in the forearm - it’s a compartment for storing the Butterfly Edge weapon. I think it looks bit weird just being exposed like it is, though I suppose that’s the only way the weapon could work
• The shoulder armor has some nice parts separation that helps hide all the seamlines
  • The shoulders also need a bit of additional color correction
• We get lots of extra hands. Rejoice!!

All in all, these look great, but the engineering is not exactly mind blowing. It’s all fairly typical stuff.

(Side note - the shoulders are visually reminiscent of Sazabi’s. Not identical mind you, just similar)

Psychoplates

These are simple in construction, but there’s a lot of detailing work to be done:

I don’t know why there are all these yellow bits on tips of each plate, but you’ll have to paint them in if you want them color accurate.

Flip it around to the other side, and there are also a lot of panel lines on the front of each plate:

As for assembly, it’s similar to the fin funnels on the Real Grade Nu Gundam. Each plate has a J-Hook that locks into a notch in its neighboring plate.

One consequence of this design is that the plates aren’t interchangeable. They each have a very specific order in the chain, which makes taking them apart and putting them back together a bit of a pain.

Extras

The kit comes with all sorts of adapters. Most of them are used for mounting the Psychoplates in different ways, with a few others being used with the Butterfly Edge.

Conclusion

So - is this the King of the High Grades?

If you asked me before I started the build, I would have told you “yes” without question, because I had already bought into all the hype surrounding this model. That was a mistake on my part (though in a way it’s weirdly refreshing to remember that I’m just as capable of falling for hype and groupthink as any other human being).

But now that I’ve finished it, my mind is recalibrated, and I am reminded of the fact that the Collective Internet’s obsessions with superlatives and ranking are both harmful and misleading.

I’m not actually sure if this is the best High Grade ever made, and quite frankly I think that’s the wrong question to be asking. Instead, I think it’s more interesting and relevant to ask things like:

• Was it good for its time?
• How well does this now-seven-year-old model hold up compared to more modern kits?

There are some things that the HG Moon Gundam does that modern High Grades still haven’t replicated, most notably the Real Grade-level of quality in its legs.

There are other things that it does that have indeed been replicated by newer kits, such the construction of the eyes without the need of any stickers. But when you realize that this model was doing that seven years ago, you start to realize just how impressive that was for its time.

And then there are some things that it does that are impressive, but aren’t necessarily unique. Here are two other HG kits that came out the same year as the Moon Gundam:

Both of these kits remain two of my favorite HGs, in large part because I’m still stunned at their level of quality. Like the Moon Gundam, they both do a phenomenal job at hiding seamlines, and the Dijeh in particular does a great job of using panel lines to fake a higher degree of parts separation than it actually has (something the Moon Gundam does as well, particularly in the shoulders).

I think there’s an argument to be made that Bandai’s engineers were simply firing on all cylinders when these kits were all being designed. That’s not to take away anything from this particular model, just that it isn’t alone in being a quality kit from 2018.

Lastly, there are a few ways in which this kit fails to impress. I’m thinking of things like the poor overall color accuracy of the head, the fact that it has no toe bend, and the whole situation with the shoulder armor.

None of these things are worse than they are on your average HG, but again, I expect something that’s labeled “King of High Grades” to do better than just being “as good” as other HGs.

So to answer my initial questions - yes, I can easily see why people were blown away by this build back in 2018. It may not be true that the entire thing is near-Real grade in quality (and the fact that so many people make such a claim is unfortunately misleading), but it’s still amazing to see what they were able to pull off.

And yes, it still holds up compared to modern kits. I do that some of the Witch From Mercury kits manage to replicate this level of quality, while also being simpler, and in some cases cheaper. But not all of them do. Some of them still struggle mightily with seamlines and color accuracy.

The fact that a now-8 year old kit remains competitive speaks to its quality (or maybe it says something about how Bandai’s desire to reign in costs has caused HG kit quality to stagnate, or in some cases even regress).

Overall, this is a fantastic build, but please set your expectations accordingly. It’s not perfect, it’s not going to change your life, or ruin other HG’s for you, or do anything so dramatic.