It’s time to build another Gundam Wing Master Grade. You’d think that after the success I just had with Master Grade Sandrock that I’d be pretty excited, but I come to this kit with at least a little bit of trepidation.
Most of the Gundam Wing Master Grades - including Sandrock - were released between 2010 and 2013. That’s not exactly new by any stretch, but in my (admittedly limited) experience, most kits from 2010 and onward have a certain baseline level of quality that you can rely on.
But today’s kit is the oddball of the bunch. According to my research, it was the first Gundam Wing Master Grade ever released, all the way back in 2004:
And that’s the cause of my trepidation. I can’t tell if the Wing Gundam Ver. Ka here is going to feel different (read: older) than its brethren, or if it somehow laid the groundwork six years ahead of them.
About the Mobile Suit
Just like Master Grade Sandrock was based on the Endless Waltz redesign, the Wing Gundam Ver. Ka is based on the Endless Waltz redesign of the original Wing Gundam:
On a certain level, this redesign is lazy. Here is a side by side comparison I made showing EW Wing Gundam and EW Wing Zero Custom without their wings:
They have different paint jobs, but otherwise they’re exactly the same!
But you know what? - I actually glad that it’s lazy. I’ve always liked the body of Wing Zero Custom - I just hated the stupid angel wings. But with its more robotic-looking wings, EW Wing Gundam gives me that great design in a form I can stomach.
(I know a lot of people love those angel wings, so I’m sorry to call them stupid. I just can’t get into them. Never have, and probably never will)
Ver. Ka History
Fun fact - this was actually just the Second Ver. Ka kit ever released (the first being, you guessed it, the Grandaddy Gundam).I wonder how that came to be. Of all of the potential mobile suits to give the Ver. Ka treatment, why did they choose an alternate universe redesign that, at the time, had never actually shown up on film, on TV, or even on the page of any manga. Is it because it is one of Katoki's original designs? Did he have a say? I'm infinitely curious about this kind of stuff.
The OTHER Master Grade
So the Ver. Ka kit came out in 2004, but what about this EW Wing Gundam that came out in 2010 alongside all the other Wing Master Grades?
After doing some research, I’m 99.99999999999999999% this is just a repackaged version of the Ver. Ka kit. It looks like it comes with a modern Action Base Adapter and some different decals - and maybe they used slightly different colors - but the parts are all the same.
Is it Going to Feel Old?
I just don’t know. Not yet at least.
As a kit from all the way back in 2004, there’s a good chance it’s going to feel older and more archaic than its Master Grades siblings that were released later.
But on the other hand, the fact that they reissued this model alongside those kits in 2010 makes me think Bandai must have been confident that it could stand alongside them.
I mean, I’m going to find out one way or another, but I’m nervous is all. I’ve been nervous. This guy’s been on the backlog since April in large part because I’m afraid of being disappointed.
But now is not the time to be afraid. After all, we’ve got a 30th anniversary to celebrate.
Decals
Modern Ver. Ka kits come with a full sheet of waterslide decals, but not the older ones (including this model). Instead, like other MG’s, it comes with a large sheet of regular stickers, and a smaller sheet of dry transfers.
I tried looking for some 3rd party waterslides, but I only found one store that actually sold them, and they were sold out. I was THIS close to just ordering waterslides for the Wing Zero Custom, but instead I’m just going to stick with the dry transfers, ignore the stickers, and call it a day. The model has so much color and surface detail that I don’t think it’s really going to need much in the way of markings.