Hey Guys! Long time no post.
I just got back from malaysia from my internship. Can't believe that it's finally over :(
I need to look for a job now so I can have more funds to support this awesome hobby haha!
Check out what I got from my training:
Awesome right?
Anyway.......
I've been dying to build gunpla :)) I have 2 pending kits now that this one is done.. What's the other one besides the overdue MG Freedom you say? well, it's a secret hahaha!
So yeah, from my previous post, this kit was given to me as a bday present from a good friend of mine :) She knows how much I miss gunpla and being surrounded by cheap gunpla's in malaysia kills me because I can't buy them D:
I was really surprised that she bought one for me.
I don't know the story of this guy the name "Guo Jia" is familiiar... I think he's one of the strategist of Wei before Sima Yi appeared... You can research that yourself haha
What I do know is that it's modeled after the Gundam Virsago from After War: Gundam X.
So let's start with the review :D
Box art:
This is the updated version. If you look for the old BB sangokuden boxes, they look like one of those calligraphy paintings and the comics are in japanese D:
Side of the box, shows the some of the gimmicks, trust me, there's a whole lot to it than the images you see here.
Unboxing:
Just 3 plastic runners, one for polycaps and a huge sticker sheet. The only problem with sangokuden kits is that most of the time you get a dull gold color. Unless you're buying a special pack wherein it will have plated coatings and stuff like one of the Lu Bu kits..
But yeah you're stuck with this dull gold unless you paint it like I did with a gold plated gundam marker. The metal plated gundam markers are more decent than the common markers so I suggest using them :D
I also used my silver marker but it didn't really made much of a difference so I just colored some since the default silver is pretty much acceptable.
Manual:
Since this is the updated version, the texts are in english :D and I like the illustrations here more because they're more vibrant and HD-ish.
The comics are in english too :D so read away :3
You're checklist of parts, make sure everything is there ;D
Here's the assembly layout. Pretty straightforward and easy to understand :D
BUILDING TIME!!!
Sangokuden kits are pretty easy to build since you only have a few parts to work with unless it has a lot of gimmicks like this guy :D
Main body:
Pretty much self explanatory. It has two faces so you can use to eye expressions :D I wish they did this with all the kits so we didn't have to choose only one :/
Arms/Legs:
Complete main body:
Pretty simple eh? all the gold you see are done with my gold gundam marker, looks good right?
you just need to be patient in painting them :D plated markers are more difficult to clean than regular markers though so have a bottle of thinner at your disposal :3 Didn't do much lining since most of it will be covered anyway haha!
You get a normal face and a "I'LL KILL YOU" face :3
ARMOR TIME!!!
Here's the awesome part about sangokuden kits, they have a ton of armor pieces (depends on the character) to make them more warrior-ish and fierce :D
Head armor:
The headpiece has a tiny piece so don't lose that :D I used the sticker on the V-fin since I don't have that color... And there's Guo Jia wearing the headpiece :D Did a bit of lining on the head piece, pretty much the only lining I did and the feet... other than that nothing much.
Cape:
More painting, it's quite easy, you just need a steady hand haha!! but the effect is worth it :D He's like a red Batman XD
POSING TIME!!!
For now, you can only simple poses... since those things only rotate and don't pivot, you're pretty much out of luck... He also get's a a war fan like all strategist do.. I still don't get why they have huge fans XD
MORE ARMOR TIME!!!
Looks like something you'll see from a revoltech or Robot Damashii box haha!! But yeah that's whole lot of add-ons \m/ You'll get an additional 2 swords :D something more useful than the fan :3
ARMOR UP!!!
If you ask me, he's one of the most bad ass looking sangokuden characters I've seen...
He beat's Ma Chao :D Seriously, look at all that spikes XD he looks really menacing but the draw back is he's kinda hard to move around since everything gets in the way of each other but once you find a perfect pose, stick with it :D
It looks more like the Virsago now :3 dunno about the weapon but hey, it looks awesome :D
POSING TIME PART 2!!!
Since the cape is moved at the back, you can have slightly more range of movement.. With the dual swords and fan there's no problem in moving around but if its the combo sword fan thing, it kinda bumps the shoulder and hard to angle at times but just work with it and you'll be fine :D
GIMMICKS!!!
So... you can do another combo with his armor, just switch a few parts and you can have his long arms like the Virsago does... This is to replicate the "chest break" mode of the Virsago, so I guess they did a really good job :D the problem is that the attachments will be connected at the back side of the arms so moving them forward can be hard since he has huge shoulders and all but you can move it in certain angles :D
Be careful when moving the long arms, I broke one side because I forcefully tried to move it I thought it was just because of the plastic but yeah... A loud crack was heard XD Luckily, I have some mighty bond left and was able to remedy the problem :3 Works like nothing happened :D But seriously, always be careful with plated parts... they're more brittle :D
Lastly.. you can make this uhhh.... "Bug" thing... I don't really know if it's in the show since I haven't watched it but it's in the manual... Bandai always maximize the capabilities of SD kits and this one of the weirdest combos I've seen... next to the SD Sinanju gimmicks.. the "duck" mode is still the weirdest for me :))
COMPARISONS!!!
First picture: Beside my BB Sangokuden Zhuge Liang, pretty much the same height if you don't include the helmet heights..
Second picture: Beside my HGUC 1/144 Char's Zaku II, I just noticed how big he is and how bulked up he is @_@
Third picture: Beisde my MG 1/100 Gundam F91, one of the smaller suits in the UC era... Guo Jia does stand tall for an SD
I chose this comparisons because they're nearest things I can get my hands on :)) I haven't displayed all my gundams back since I'm getting a new room and once that's finish I'll unload them all there :D So now, I just have a few gundams out in my desk just for something to admire :D hahaha!
Now that we've covered everything, Let's do the verdict if it's worth buying...
Verdict:
Detail: 10/10 - Let's say you didn't paint the parts and you used the stickers.. It will still look good because SD kits goes well with metallic foil stickers... But if you do decided to do the detailing, it would look even better, you just need a gold gundam marker and you'll bring out it's potential. The armor pieces are very detailed. I just used the eye stickers and the green stickers so I don't have that color.
Articulation: 8/10 - What do you expect from an SD kit.. it's pretty decent and bearable and the long arms has nice movement.. It just suffers from the kits small arms but set that aside, you can still manage to do a few cool poses thanks to the armor pieces being maneuverable.
Accessories: 8/10 - I got more than what I asked for, the armor pieces itself made the kit look awesome and the weapon combinations are good and all but can't be fully utilized due to the lack of movement of the SD kit. But hey, be thankful they're included :D
Parts: 8/10 - The parts are very solid, and there's no gaps when you connect the pieces, they become really flushed.. Just be careful when doing the combinations, the constant removing of armors can stress the parts and make them loose or the pegs might break... Also the silver parts are a bit brittle so be careful with the kit in general. Some parts are loose though, I dropped him while lifting by the arm a couple of times but I caught him all the time mid-air haha!
Conclusion: 8.5/10 - It's a pretty decent kit, not much to work with other than the gold linings.. I suggest picking a pose and stick with that so you'll avoid stressing the parts. I picked this up because it looks awesome and I like the Virsago in general :D Kinda breaks my "I'll only buy characters from Shu army" hahaha Right now I'm thinking of getting Cao Cao, Lu Bu and Sun Quan and maybe Sun Ce..
Oh no... Another lot added to my ongoing list :))
I hope you enjoyed the review :D Stay tuned for my next one :D
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