Good Evening Everyone!
Surprised that another review is up? Well, to keep up with the theme "Throwback Thursday", I decided to post a follow up from my previous review about the Wing Gundam which you can view here:
What we have next is the Gundam who has a lot of stuff packed in its load out. Being Piloted by the silent but calm trow Barton which is the opposite of what his Gundam can do.
I present to you the Heavy Arms Gundam!
Boxart:
Pretty much the format with all the characters in this line. He has a more explosive background though.
Manual:
Standard format of a No grade kit, but this time it only has 3 runners. Like the Wing Gundam, this is a very old kit of mine so it's already built.
I'm only gonna focus on it's design and parts because that's the only difference it has from the Wing Gundam. I'll talk about the articulation a bit as well.
Completion:
So here's the Heavy Arms Gundam with all its explosive red glory. (His color scheme is mostly red.)
Unlike the Wing Gundam that has wings to look elegant and weightless. The Heavy Arms Gundam looks like a peice of war machinery designed to be a huge threat in long ranges.
He looks like a grunt suit with a Gundam head to be honest. That small knife at the forearm really makes him look like a soldier that's prepared for anything.
His iconic machine gun can be stored at his back. Sadly, the missile pods at the back of his shoulders and legs doesn't open since it's only molded detail. I didn't bother painting the shoulder part because it looks like its just molded detail LOL
The choice of colors for this MS is nice, very basic in color schemes unlike the traditional Gundam protagonist with it's usual blue, red, white and yellow body.
Expect a lot of seam lines in kits this old but as I said in my Wing Gundam review, I didn't clean those up because its a good reminder how different Bandai kits back then.
Details:
I hope you're painting tools are ready! This is more tedious to paint than the Wing Gundam but I still enjoy it because the end result is awesome.
They give you stickers but it's only for the eyes, the chin and the orange part in the middle of the torso. The rest are molded details. The kit is mostly red and white, a bit of yellow for the V-fin and the waist skirts, some orange for the missile covers and chest piece and some dark navy blue for the machine gun, knife and backpack.
So here's what I painted:
- Forehead camera and head vulcans
- The yellow and white in the neck area
- The lines and vents in the chest piece
- the interior of the chest vulcans and shoulder missiles
- The shoulder vents
- the gray part at the base of the forearms
- The white and gray in the legs and feet
- The knifes blade and the machine gun barrel
- The machine gun shields interior and handle
It's not much but the most time consuming is the chest vulcans and shoulder missile but it looks awesome after painting them! Aside from that, there's still a lot of panel lines to be filled.
It really gives them the realistic feel when posing.
Articulation:
Best Description, a try hard Mario jump. But i'd choose these kits over those Entry grades and No grades being sold recently. I mean, Bandai could've continued making them like this but I understand that they want to appeal to casual builders and those who just want to try for fun. But come on! How can you enjoy those recent Entry Grades and No grades if it doesnt even have decent articulation.
Those kits should've been advertised as kits for painting practice.
Anyway, for a 90's kit, it has the necessary joints and articulation to pull of basic but awesome poses.
Accessories:
Aside from the bullet loaded vulcans and missile galore, he also comes with a machine gun to add more firepower to his arsenal.
The really emphasize on the "Heavy Arms" aspect.
It's pretty straightforward, it's a handheld machine gun with a lever to maybe lessen the recoil. Sadly, you need to remove the arm to be able to plug it in.
Oh yeah, those closed fists came from my HG 1/144 Wing Zero Custom which you can view more of here:
All these No grade kits only comes with holding hands for their weapons if they have any.
Posing:
Here's the Gundam doing what he does best. Stand and fire away. Just imagine explosion effects.
For a "Heavy Arms" Gundam, Trowa manages to pull off some acrobatic moves in battle which is amazing to be honest. This stand is not included, it's from the SH Figuarts line another Toy line from Bandai. It does the job for dynamic poses :D
The "I'm out of bullets" pose.
I remember Trowa doing this move where just relies on his trusty knife because he's out of bullets. He does this tornado spin with the knife stretched outwards making him a slashing machine. Oh poor OZ suits.
And lastly here's the "I have arrived" pose. Reference to All Might from Boku no Hero Academia haha!
Comparison:
Just like in my Wing Gundam review, the 90's kids are back with Gramps. Wing kits are really small. I don't have the reviews up yet for the 90's kids but I do have a review of the Grand Daddy Gundam which you can view here:
I used to own all of the HG 1/144 Endless Waltz kits but sadly I lost them when we were moving houses.. Up to this day, I still don't know what happened to them.
Since the Master Grade versions are released After how many *cough* years, I might opt for those.
Conclusion:
Details 10/10:
For a No Grade kit, it has a lot of molded details especially the chest and shoulder pieces. I just wish the back shoulder missiles are also functioning but I guess that was the limitation at the time.
Aside from that, the machine gun really looks amazing and molded like the real thing, just add some gun metal paint and you're good to go.
It's nice that the molded details are raised so you can paint them properly and accurately.
Articulation 8/10:
Heavy Arms was a very agile MS in the show despite it's heavy artillery load out. I just wish the legs can be posed more dynamically to have better expressions in posing since he's mostly in the ground.
Aside from that, Heavy Arms usually just stands and fires his armaments until he runs out of bullets. Again, I wish they did something about the back shoulder missiles hahaha!
Parts 8/10:
The molded details are nice and almost everything is molded in color. I dunno why they left the cockpit hatch to stickers instead of molding it in color since you have orange parts in the runners.
Same with the Wing Gundam, due to its assembly, it's prone to a lot of seam lines. Pro builders can handle this no problem but for me, I didn't bother haha! I'm too amazed with my own paint job LOL
This kit would look weird in a straight build because a lot of parts needed to be painted to justify its look and they barely give you any stickers to support that.
Up to now, the joints are still tight in my kit so posing would be a breeze. Although, the missile and chest panels would be loose and prone to breakage if not handled properly.
Accessories 9/10:
This section is kinda tricky because you do have all his necessary weaponry but I wished they could've added a little more. They could've provided an open piece for the leg missiles and back shoulder missiles ( I can't get over it hahaha)
It feels like he's holding back if you can't fully deploy all his armaments. Aside from that, The machine gun and knife does offer nice posing options.
It's a No grade after all so limitations are expected. Maybe in ever a High Grade version comes out they'd be more open to the idea.
Verdict 9/10:
Heavy Arms is my favorite among the 5 because of how simple it is but still delivers a "Heavy" appraoch.
Honestly, I didn't really care much about the other suit when I watched the show, I always hope it's an episode where the Heavy Arms is fighting LOL
Since he's my favorite, I didn't hold back in the painting of this kit although I didn't bother the back shoulder missiles because it doesn't even open.
It's a simple and easy kit to build but just like with other No Grade kits, painting is a must to ensure show accuracy. It's hard to look at if the details are incomplete. It would look like a cheap toy haha!
Again, most Gundam Wing fans would immediately pick this up for nostalgia purposes since most of us born in the 90's are greeted with this series first.
Even if you're not into the show, the Heavy Arms raw power and stature is enough to make you buy it and it to your collection. I really hope Bandai makes HG kits of the suits TV versions.
So that's 2 reviews in one day, don't forget to check my previous review here:
I hope you enjoyed the review! I want to make another one but I'm tired hahaha! Maybe tomorrow.
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