Thursday, February 21, 2013

Gundam Review: HG 1/144 Rx-93 Nu Gundam with Heavy weapon system

Hey guys!

Here's another re-review post. If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here: http://gunmod88.blogspot.com/2013/02/heres-thought.html

 I present to you my  HG 1/144 Rx-93 Nu Gundam with Heavy weapon system. My dad bought it for me while he was in Hong Kong. He said that the store he was checking out had a huge sale event and I immediately asked him to look for certain model kits.. The prices were really tempting, but I couldn't asked my dad to by them all XD It's too much and the airport fees might be unreasonable XD 

So yeah, he got this and another kit.. But let's talk about that next time haha!!

Nu gundam, Amuro Ray's final gundam unless you read the manga and consider the Hi-Nu as his final suit. Anyway, Nu gundam is one of the icons in Gundam History. 

He has a simple design be still delivers as one of the most memorable suits in history. I use him a lot in the PS1 game Char's Counterattack hahaha!! Fin Funnel spam :3

This comes with the Heavy Weapon System, so technically you can assemble him in 2 ways, ain't that a treat :D 

Anyway, let's get on with the review.

Box art:

A big box is expected from a huge mobile suit, same size as Sazabi's box. Awesome Artwork, showing how badass the Nu Gundam is with his extra stuff. 


Since it's a big box, more space for pictures XD

 

 Side of the box with the price XD My dad got it for HK$18... That's soooooooo cheap, I almost didn't believe my dad and already thinking that it's fake :)) but it's not :3 I just realized that this is #93 in the HG universal century line, same number as the Nu Gundam, RX-93. What a coincidence or maybe it was really planned :))

The box is a bit damaged because my dad had to compress his stuff, luckily nothing was damaged, the box is kinda sturdy :D

Manual:


Standard manual design from the UC era. It's simple but it really gives the feeling that your holding blueprints to a giant mech :D It even has specs on the upper left side (click the picture to zoom in :D)

Same stuff you see on the side of the box. Since this comes with the HWS, they'll mostly show the gundam wearing it. Also, you get the color guide as usual, for painters out there :D

It even has a colored page in the assembly, this is mostly the last segments of the gundam but yeah, has nice colored panels :D

The manual is really big, this shows how to assemble the suit in HWS mode but you can still assemble it in it's normal form without much difficulty. The parts you need to change are pretty obvious XD 



The Page with the part's count, make sure you have them all :D You even get the original parts for the normal Nu Gundam, that's a huge plus for me ;D you can have him as regular Nu Gundam on Mon-Wed-Fri-Sun and Nu Gundam with HWS on Tue-Thur-Sat. LOL!

 *Note: Since this is a kit prior to this blog, I can't show the assembly so we'll go straight to the completed MS :D

Complete assembly:


See? you can assemble him in his normal form without difficulty :D He looks really slim but proportionate :D Standing alone makes him look badass XD



 Back side of the gundam, nothing much.

Closer look:




The Nu Gundam looks amazing even if you did a straight build and just added panel lining. I just realized that I still need to paint some of his parts but you barely notice them since you get an awesome MS after building. I mostly did panel lining throughout his body.

For this guy, they only molded the ones that stand out like the V-fin, chest vents and the midsection of the funnels. The rest you need to paint. I still wish they can mold the "v" on the crotch in color... I think the newer RX-78-2 kits have those molded in color already.

Also, the bazooka is lacking color on its tip. I didn't paint mine because you can easily overlook it. I do have plans on completing this guys details but I'm running out of paint now so I'll do that when I'm able to buy new stocks of paint :D But still, those things can be overlooked easily because as I said, this kit looks amazing for a straight build and not all kits can give that effect.

For the stickers, it's the eyes, forehead and back of the head camera, the little "v" on the crotch, the green scanner(?) on his chest, the yellow thing's on the funnels and clear stickers for the Nu Gundam's signature logo's which are a must because that's the Nu Gundam's insignia's.

If you're just getting into gunpla, you don't need to buy paint right away. You just need a good modeling knife a few liners and you're good to go. Painting is pretty much for experienced builders and the default colors of the kits doesn't satisfy them.


Another awesome thing is that the hands have pegs meaning the weapons can held with utmost security. Not much HG kits have this, the only kits I know that has this aside from the Nu Gundam is the ZZ Gundam, Sazabi and Unicorn gundam. I haven't checked the newer HGUC kits.

 Articulation:




 I think Amuro's drunk. LOL! kidding aside, he has a lot of nice articulation. The head has double joints meaning he can look up with ease. The arms can bend a good 90 degrees and can move in and out away from the body no problem. The arms can also rotate no problem.

The shoulders are a separate piece like the MG scale. The waist can rotate some but not fully 360 degrees. The legs can bend forward a lot and the knees can bend a little more than 90 degrees.

The legs cannot move back that much because the back skirts are stationary. Front skirts are molded separately while the side skirts swivel and move in and out a little.

The side skirts are small so it doesn't interfere much with the legs but the legs cannot do a wide stance because the legs are ball joints so they can only go to a certain level.

 Let's move on with the accessories.

Accessories:


Expect to get a lot since you're getting the one with the HWS.

Let's take a closer look of each :D

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You get one weapon holding hand, one trigger finger hand, one dynamic hand and 2 closed fists which are attached to the Nu Gundam. (check the photo above :D)

It's kinda sad that you only get one weapon holding hand.. No dual wielding for Nu gundam D: 

His signature beam rifle and bazooka. The thing I like about these two is that they're not just two pieces of plastic slapped together. 

Especially the bazaooka, it has more parts than the usual HG bazooka. The missiles are even molded separately. I wish they also made a separate piece for the tip and a sticker at least for the scope but then again it still looks awesome as is :D The handle also moves so you can angle this easily on the Gundam's shoulder.

The beam rifle is pretty decent even if it's just 2 pieces of white with a black part to hold them together. You just need to do some lining and you're all set.

The shield look decent, the missiles are also molded in red (you'll see in the pose-ability section). They give you a clear sticker for the logo which is a must and it will be a shame if bandai skipped in that. They will also give you a connector where you can put the shield on the side of the back of the Gundam's forearm. The connector just clips into the Gundams arm and you'll know it connected because it makes click sound. The shield can also rotate on this connector no problem so you can maneuver it around when posing.


You get two beam sabers. One stored at his back and can easily be seen and one that's semi hidden in his left forearm. For the one on his back, you get two effect parts, one large serrated blade and one small one. I'm not sure if that's used for attacking as well. The other beam saber is quite small but you'll get a regular sized effect part.

The Fin funnels, the Nu Gundam's signature weapon. You build them individually then plug them in its usual configuration. Bandai will also give you another connector for the funnels meaning you can have 3 on each side.. It would be cool if you have more funnels XD I know you can buy an add on but I'm pretty contented with my 6 funnels :D

They do fold like they are suppose to, I just wish you have a way of displaying them rather than just leaving them on his back... The funnels is what makes the Gundam back heavy and it makes him lean to the left because of how it's placed. They're not that solid as well because they droop forward when the Gundam is leaning forward.

Also, the yellow parts on the midsection are stickers.. kinda sucks but if you can paint it, paint away :D

Here we have the Heavy armor. It's not much but it's definitely bulky making some poses hard to do unlike the regular version.

The HWS comes with a BFG (Big F*cking Gun) or Hyper Mega Rifle if you want to be specific :D I did some panel lining to it and painted the silver parts. 

The front has red stickers for the openings of the rifle. On the tip of the gun, you can fold those parts to make a stand for this guy but I forgot to take a picture but here's a picture from the net:

I haven't found any use for this gimmick but maybe it can act as a support for the gundam when he's just standing but based on my experience, the Gundam stand fine even without using this feature.

When they mean Heavy they mean it. His shield even gets a big upgrade. It's called the High mega shield (based on the manual). I'm not sure if the one in the middle is a bazooka XD but hey, it looks really menacing XD The logo, 01 and the black stripes are stickers. I was really surprised how big this is XD

Comparison:

The Nu Gundam is one of the larger suits in the UC era and probably the last because after CCA the suits started to scale down. Starting with V Gundam, they look really small XD

You can view the reviews of the kits in this picture here:

For the SD RX-78-2:


For the MG 1/100 Freedom Gundam:


For the HG 1/144 RX-78-2 click here:


Let's move on to the pose-ability:

Pose-ability Nu Gundam:

Let's start with the normal version:

*click the pictures to zoom in*

here a basic pose, that dynamic hand really makes it dynamic XD

The extra beam saber can swing out just like the other scales.

I find that extra beam saber cute because of how small it is.

Bazooka's are one of my favorite weapons in a Gundam. Not all Bazookas have a swinging mechanism so the Nu Gundam is lucky :D It's kinda pointless to have a bazooka if the kit can't put it in its shoulder properly. *like the HG 1/144 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. G30th*

The arms can swing in and out no problem. Here you can see the missiles of the shield :D

Even if his in a standby pose he still looks amazing XD

I think this is how he looks like in the box art of the regular Nu Gundam. Also, you can store his bazooka on his back. That in mind, you can have all of his weapons on his body. Yay! no extra parts! haha!!

Let's hulkify him now :D

Attaching the armor pieces:

For the upper body, you just need to remove the vents before attaching the chest piece.

Most of the modification you will do will be on the lower body. The only difficult part is removing those red pieces on the back skirt because they are so flushed with the piece so careful when removing them :D other than that, just a few replacements and you'll be done.

Armored up:

It's like a Gundam with steroids. Eveything is huge. If only you get something different for the Fin Funnels XD

Pose-ability Nu Gundam with HWS:

It really helps if you remove the shield XD One of the best poses you do, simple but eye catching. With the dynamic hand you can support the gun although there's no weight issues, it just adds more effect to the pose.

See? no problems holding the BFG hahaha!! Since the shield is just clipped onto the previous shield, you can rotate it free as well. 

In this shot, I removed the fin funnels because it's obviously going to be in the way. I captured this at the right moment because the shield is heavy and it's dragging the arm if positioned in a high angle.

Another simple pose yet bad ass. He's like a Heavy Knight. Need a bodyguard? Hire this guy XD

On to the verdict... What's that? No fighting montage with Sazabi?? 


if you wanna see him brawl it out with Sazabi XD Read Sazabi's review while you're at it :D

I'll assume you clicked the link.. So let's go do the verdict ;D

Verdict:

Detail: 10/10 - One of the few exceptional HG kits. Detail is just superb, at the time people are choosing this over the MG because it's more proportionate. But since the Nu Gundam Ver ka. is release people are going crazy over that XD

This kit is so detailed the armor pieces have details on the underside for lining. Most parts have a lot of molded detail that just requires painting. With a bit of patience you can really make this guy look freakin' amazing. 

In my case, I have yet to paint all the details but set that aside this kit looks amazing in a straight build, not all HG kits can give you that effect.

Articulation: 10/10 - Articulation is another reason why this guy is awesome. The only thing missing is the individually articulated fingers a slight increase in the limbs movement but other than that this guy is just filled with awesomeness. It's pretty flawless. 

Accessories: 9/10 - Even if you're only getting the regular Nu Gundam, it's still worth purchasing, you get everything you need for this guy to amaze you. The oen and only downside is that you can't do much with the Fin Funnels other than make him back heavy. 

I wish bandai included something to make them of use.. Then again that would add more plastic and that means the price while increase as well.

If you've seen the Robot Damashii version, you can replicate his barrier combo with the funnels but what can you do. The kit is awesome itself, if you can learn to overlook that then you don't have any problems because this guy is flawless.

Parts: 10/10 - Parts are sturdy and most parts are modled in color except for the trims and tiny parts, you need to paint those yourselves but as I've said a million times, this kit looks awesome for a straight build that you'll barely notice its shortcomings. Another plus is the fact the trigger fnger hand has a peg making the guns secured tightly in the hand.

Conlusion: 9.75/10 but I'll round-off so it's 10/10 - I'm running out of words here hahaha!! Long story short, this kit is a must have for a Gunpla collector. If you really love the Nu Gundam and you can't afford the MG scale or the Robot Damashii and if you don't wanan buy bootlegs get this guy. I don't know how else I can describe how amazing this kit is. 

I got him because Nu Gundam is one of the mechas that have a special place in my heart :D

I'll talk about that in another entry haha!!

I'd recommend this kit anyday.. If you want a decent HG kit, get this :D

When I first saw the Nu Gundam in his HWS the first thing I thought of is this:


Seriously, maybe because of the colors and his body shape XD 

So there you have it, I hoped you guys enjoyed the review :D If you read carefully, I mentioned the next kit I'll re-review :D

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