Buckle up, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover with this one.
So yeah, unfortunately this model definitely shows its age in more ways than one. I’m going to start by going over the list of “problems”. I put that word in air quotes because some of them aren’t actually problems, perse: they’re more like nuisances or quibbles or things I could workaround. But I guess they technically live in the category of Flaws if you really want to get petty about it, so “problems” it is.
“Problem” 1 - Action Base Support
This is one that’s not really a problem, but more of a head’s up. There are plenty of old kits that were made before the advent of Action Bases, and so have no way to fit onto an Action Base peg (nor do they come with an AB adapter of course).
But Bandai thought of this and planned accordingly; all Action Base 1’s come with a collection of these things:
This is a “universal adapter” of sorts. It’s designed to fit in between the legs of most (normally shaped, normally sized) Master Grades. It’s not nearly as snug of a fit as a dedicated peg or adapter, but it works well enough.
They’re made so the prongs are extra long, allowing you can trim or file them down as needed to get the perfect fit for your given model (that might also explain why each AB1 comes with multiple of these adapters, so you can reuse one AB on multiple models)
Problem 2 - Balance
You’ll notice that in all of these photos - even the ones that are basic standing poses - I’m using the Action Base:
That is because it is not very well balanced. Thanks to those massive wings, it loves to fall backwards.
If I had to guess, I’d bet you that it can stand up straight when you equip its weapons; the Buster Rifle alone would likely act as a nice counterbalance to the wings. However, I never had the Rifle equipped without the Action Base, so I don’t actually know for sure. This is all speculation on my part.
To be fair, these balance issues may not have anything to do with its age, but I feel like I’ve had similar problems with other old kits. I’m entirely willing to be proven wrong though.
Problem 3 - Mounting the Shield
Good news - there actually is a shallow little notch on the arm that the shield mount clips into:
Bad news - it’s a shallow little notch, which means it only does so much to keep the shield in place. Thankfully it didn’t fall off too much for me, but that might have more to do with the fact that I didn’t do a whole lot of poses.
Problem 4 - The Wings
This is actually two issues in one.
The first is that the blue plastic on the wings actually helps keep it attached to the backpack, and it really likes to pop open:
That means the wings are liable to fall off. I guess you could treat it like a seamline and try to seal it up, but I kind of wonder if it would just force itself open again (and I definitely would’nt put glue in there, or you might glue the whole wing in place).
The second problem is that the wings (well, really the backpack) moves up and down as part of the transformation gimmick, and it doesn’t always stay in place. So sometimes you’ll get the perfect pose, only for the wings to droop down and screw it all up.
Problem 5 - Holding the Beam Rifle
Folks, it’s bad. Real bad. Like, “brings up multiple search results” bad:
The problem is simple - since there is no mechanism for securing the rifle in the hand, gravity kicks in and tries to pull the rifle down. And in these kinds of situations, gravity tends to win.
I tried using modeling putty, and I tried using super glue to permanently lock it into place, but they only lasted for so long before the gun once again broke free.
I also tried drilling some holes with a pin vice and using a piece of a paperclip to lock it into place, but that didn’t work either.
After all this trial and error, I finally figured out how to equip it without using any sort of adhesive or trick (though as you will see in the photos below, there hand is now caked leftover glue and cement. I like to think it gives it character).
The first thing you need to do is make sure you put the thumb in the right position:
To borrow some math terms, this is necessary, but not sufficient. It helps keep the rifle from sliding out of position.
The next you need to do is wedge the blue arm guard up against the upper arm like this:
This works as a counterbalance against gravity, and should (under most conditions) keep it in place. You can even move it up and down or to the sides, so you’re not just stuck in a straight firing position.
Complaint 1 - The Wings
This is my one and only real complaint about this model. I was really hoping the wings were going to open up and unfurl like they do on the Real Grade Wing Gundam. Like this:
Sadly, that is not the case. Each wing is just one rigid piece.
No Some Poses
It’s great that all these problems big and small can be resolved, but they still felt like death by a thousand cuts. Together they sapped me of a lot of my motivation, and so I didn’t wind up with a whole ton of poses for this model.
I’m not too upset about it though. The Buster Rifle in particular isn’t really suited to dynamic action poses; this is very much one of those Gunpla that works best in a few basic poses where it can just sit there and look majestic.
And it does look quite majestic:
Even when it’s dabbing:
Or just walking:
The wings have a lot to do with it. Even if they’re rigid, their size and shape adds such a huge sense of presence to the mobile suit.
But I also love how colorful it is. I said it before, and I’ll say it again - it’s a bit over the top for most Gundam shows, but not for Gundam Wing.
Difference in Colors
But that got me thinking. I know I’ve slagged the TV versions of Wing Gundam and Wing Zero for their color schemes, so me saying that the Ver Ka is good for being colorful sounds hypocritical. So what gives? What’s the difference?
Here’s my explanation. A lot of it comes down to the differences in the color palettes. TV Wing Gundam/Zero use very dark, dull, tones. They feel boring, if not oppressive.
Meanwhile, the Ver Ka uses a bright, crisp blue and a candy apple red. They’re so much more fun and vibrant compared to the TV show colors.
On top of that, the rest of the body is orange and cream and brown, and not only do these colors pair well together, but they’re all very warm. This gives the whole model a more vibrant, “passionate” feel, which I think works better than the cold and clinical TV colors.
I also think the Ver Ka does a better job of color placement. On many parts of the body you’ll see that red, blue, and orange are all clustered together, which makes the color placement feel more uniform and less arbitrary or random.
There’s also some nice through lines, at least from certain angles. Look at how orange flows from the wings and into the body:
The colors have such a nice ebb and flow and balance, moreso than I think you get with the original TV designs.
More Beam Saber Poses
Here are the rest:
It’s really quite amazing how the wings alone generate such a sense of speed:
Bird Mode
(Side Note - this thing is huge in Bird Mode, so big in fact that it didn’t sit comfortably in the lightbox. Apologies for having to zoom out so far to capture it)
Believe it or not, this transformation is even simpler (and arguably lazier) than normal.
You still have to tuck the shoulder armor in:
And you still have to tuck the legs in by bending back the knees:
And you still have to combine the two weapons:
But in the original transformation, you have to rotate the lower torso and the head 180 degrees. Not so with this one. The body, from head to toe, remains in place and just lays flat. It’s not really noticeable from above:
But from below it arguably looks even more ridiculous and comical than it originally did:
Let’s be honest with ourselves: Wing Gundam’s Bird Mode has never really looked great in any form (Except for maybe the Real Grade version, since you can actually make it look like a bird):
So from that perspective, I’d say this Bird Mode isn’t particularly better or worse than any of the others. It gets the job done:
Buster Rifle
We’ll wrap things up with some Buster Rifle shots:
Like I said earlier, I’m pretty sure the model would stay upright and balanced in this pose, without the need of an Action Base. But it’s probably the only pose where that would be the case.
This is my best attempt at recreating this pose that shows up in a lot of Katoki’s promotional artwork:
And now to finally fire:
Conclusion
Judging purely on visuals, this is on par with Sandrock and all the other Wing Master Grades from the 2010’s. But in terms of engineering, those newer are sturdier, better balanced, and easier to pose.
If you like this particular interpretation of Wing Gundam then you won’t go wrong, but you should know what you’re getting into before you build it. Like it or not it’s going to show its age, and you’ll have to figure out how to work around that.