Gundam

Gunpla Build - High Grade Gundam Aerial (Build) 2024-09-15

By my eye, this kit looks like it has slightly fewer parts than Lfrith (look here if you want to compare for yourself), despite the two mobile suits being so similar:

But I don’t really think this tells us anything about Aerial’s complexity (or lack thereof) in comparison. Lfrith has a much bigger backpack, and despite being less visually complex, its shield is made out of more parts. These two things seem to account for most Lfrith’s extra plastic.

Now let’s dive right into the build …

Gunpla Build - High Grade Gundam Aerial 2024-09-14

F#%k it - it’s time to build my final Witch from Mercury kit. Ironically, it just so happens to be the Witch from Mercury kit, the one everyone knows and loves (and seemingly owns):

Yes, I’m building Aerial last, which is kind of funny considering is appears at the start of the show. But that’s just the way things played out.

Spoiler Preface!!!

This post contains CRAZY MEGA spoilers for Witch from Mercury. You may want to skip it if you haven’t watched the show.

Gunpla Build - High Grade Saturnix Gundam (Photos) 2024-09-11

Let’s take a look at how the Saturn Armor turned out. Right off the bad, we run into an issue. I’ll let Vizzini here explain:

For reasons I don’t understand, the plastics Bandai tend to use for orange mobile suits almost never look as bright and punchy as that same armor looks on screen. The result is that a lot of these kinds of models end up looking like a big hunk of cheese. Sadly the Saturn Armor is no different.

Gunpla Build - High Grade Uraven Gundam (Build) 2024-09-08

We’ve got a new Core Gundam and a new type of armor. Is there any chance this will lead to a different build experience than than all the ones before?

The Core Defenser is the only thing that’s truly new in here. Technically there are also some differences in the way the Support Mecha is constructed, and how the individual armor parts assemble, but it’s not really a different experience. It’s more like a variation on a theme.

Gunpla Build - High Grade Uraven Gundam 2024-09-07

In the first three months of 2024, I built the Core Gundam and three consecutive Planet Armors. My plan was to keep going and build the rest of the Armors in the backlog. But that didn’t pan out.

This is going to sound colossally stupid, but for some reason I expected the build processes to be more varied than they actually are. The truth is that, aside from the weapons, every Planet Armor is built the same way. Again. And again. And again.

In retrospect, this should have been painfully obvious, but no one ever said I was smart. What matters is that I got bored after a while, which is why I put the other Planet Armors on ice.

But it’s been six months since then, and I’d really like to clear some of these Planet Armor boxes out from underneath my workbench, so let’s get back to them, starting with the Uranus Armor and the Core Gundam II: