Continuing my UC protagonist MS reviews, we'll time skip a bit near the end of the Universal Century. UC 0153 to be exact, it directly follows the events of F91 Gundam.
It follows around the adventure of Uso Ewin, the youngest protagonist in the Gundamverse, as member of the League Militaire, the AEUG like team fighting against the forces of the Zanscare Empire.
I haven't watched the actual show but I've seen clips of the MS in action as well as its upgrades and successors.
All I know is that this MS is mass produced and the frames are rather small, even smaller than the already tiny Wing kits. Also the show is infamous for being casualty heavy show meaning a lot of characters die... Think of Game of Thrones in space haha!
Anyway, let's get on with the review!
Box art:
I really love this box art, a small box for a small kit. From the pics alone you know that transformation is out of the question but it's still one awesome kit.
Manual:
Same with majority of UC kits, the simplicity is good and details are all there like a blueprint :D
It shows its gimmicks and weapons on the left and on the right they show the current kits available for the HG 1/144 line. This is the "All-Gundam" project they initiated when Gunpla Build Fighters season 1 started to promote the other lead MS suits.
In the show, Sei Iori is shown owning all the lead MS in HG 1/144 scale, he even has a 1/144 Musha Gundam. I'm waiting Bandai. They started pumping out all the missing lead MS kits in HG 1/144. Some are already released but they have an older mold so in the recent 35th anniversary, Bandai restarted this event but this time it's called the "Revive" line where they pretty much update some of the old HGUC kits.
Still waiting on some kits to happen though to materialize though because they mainly focused on the Original Gundam series and Zeta Gundam.. From there, the line kinda went uhhh...
I told you, this is one small MS, if you bum rush it, it won't take longer than an hour but this is a model kit so do it justice. Spend time to make it awesome!
Again with the gimmicks and action poses. A very basic color guide as well.
OOTB Complete assembly:
This is also an old kit of mine prior to this blog so those who follow me in instagram, I call the recent kit reviews "Deconstruction in Progress" because I disassemble the kit and fix my mistakes to the best of my ability and weather them if I'm not lazy LOL!
Check out my instagram for more of my toy photos and BTS:
Most of the parts are molded in color though which is good and looks amazing OOTB.
Minimal painting is required for those small trims but lining them also has a nice effect.
This is him OOTB, the only stickers are the eyes, head cameras and black sections for the vents. I mainly used the black stickers because they blend well and stickers on a flat surface sticks well and last longer.
From the assembly alone you can literally tell that they omitted the transformation gimmick which didn't surprise me because it really is hard to pull it off in a kit this small. I guess it's possible but imagine the tiny parts. I mean the MG 1/100 Ver. Ka did it but that's a shit storm to transform.
Core Fighter:
Lo and behold, my old self didn't bother building the core fighter. I have a assembly segment it this review now. Yay!
The core fighter is pretty simple and easy to build, lots of lining and minimal painting is require. It's mostly for the nose con because it's solid gray.
Aside from that, it's nice they included this but it's mostly for displaying purposes since the kit doesn't transform.
Weathering:
As usual, I mainly did dry brushing and I think I went too overboard with the back thrusters but hey, I like it LOL!
German Gray for the white parts and chrome silver for the colored pieces. Weathering is still a learning process for me but the more I do it, the more I actually enjoy it. I tried to due it subtlety and tried to make explosion/soot stains on some areas. Still working on that but it looks ok for the most part.
Details:
Some close-ups of the kit, some angles looks awesome but some look meh.. but I enjoyed doing this so that matters most XD
I just want him too look like he's been through battle but not heavily damaged, more on smoke and explosions to stain the armor.
Articulation:
For the most part, the articulation is awesome! Reminds me of how Exia doesn't have much armor restrictions especially the legs. The feet however are so cramped in a tiny space because the ankle armor is just placed literally in the middle of the feet and leg connector so it's basically floating.
The skirts can get in the way at times but that kneeling pose makes you overlook it. The knees have nice bend to them and he it's not a hassle to pose him in the ground if you get around the feet conundrum.
I don't know why but every time I return the left leg into normal position from the kneeling bend, it tends to pop off. Maybe I'm just pulling it to fast haha!
The arms despite being ball joints also have nice movement to them thanks to the small shoulder armor and the polycap design where it can go out of the torso to give a little bit more reach.
Accessories:
Pretty basic stuff, A gun, a beam saber and some effects. The gun is a pretty standard 2 pieces slapped together with a green scope sticker. Yup, I used that too because I don't have paint for that shade and it blends well because it looks metallic.
2 beam sabers which is perfect for dual wielding poses. Comes with 2 beam effects and 1 beam fan. Up to now, I still can't find a clip on how this beam fan actually works. I used to think it was a spatula of something.
But maybe it's for hitting wider areas like a fly swatter. These beams aren't the usual soft rubbery plastic we usually get because this effects are a bit harder and pointy so be careful! It's kinda sad you can't store the sabers anywhere so keep them well!
Same goes for the shield, it's a bit harder and pointy with the shields edges. The sculpting in the beam effects are also cool because at the base they have this wavy texture to them simulating a rough beam output.
Posing:
Oh boy... I had a lot of fun posing this guy because of its articulation. So bare with me since it'll be quite a lot.
Watch me Whip.
Shoryuken!
All-might pose.
Running man.
The "I got big guns" pose
V Kick! *cough* Kamen Rider fan *cough*
Dual wielding is always badass. Eat that kneeling pose Ground Gundam!
Attack on titan?
Seriously, as long as I haven't seen this thing in action, I'll always thing of this as a spatula.
Pulp Fiction.
The infamous shield because it's connected at the back of the elbow. You can connect it in either side, you just have to remove the cover and plug it back in. Solid connection :D
Yup, that shield looks awesome.
Some mandatory aerial poses.
So here he is in stand-by mode. Well, call this pose whatever you want haha!
Size comparisons:
Just to emphasize how small this guy is compared to the HGUC 1/144 Psycho Gundam. Damn, can this guy even last in a fight with her? Yes, a her because the Psycho Gundam is piloted by a girl!
Check out more details of the HGUC 1/144 Psycho Gundam here:
Here he is next to another small guy, the self-destructing YOLO Wing Gundam.
Click here for his review:
And to emphasize even further how small he is in the galaxy, here's all of my HGUC kits :D He looks like a small kid lost in a grown up world.
All of those kits reviews are available in my blog except for the HGUC 1/144 Unicorn Gundam HGUC 1/144 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. G30th and HGUC 1/144 Chars Zaku II. Just search them in blog :D I want to include the links here but that would take a lot of space XD Forgive me T_T
Finally, an SD kit size comparison. Just to make him feel big.
Check out more details of the small but awesome SD RX-78-2 Gundam here:
Conclusion:
Details 10/10:
As I said, this kit is so awesome for a small guy. It closely resembles the original animation model and despite it's small frame, they manage to include the subtle armor lining designs the kit is known for. Most notably in the elbows, side skirts and legs. When you see these designs you'll immediately know it's from the V Gundam era.
It's a simple MS and they delivered it well in translating it into kit form. I just wished they tried incorporating the transformation gimmick. At least you get a core fighter haha! It's a mass produced MS in the show so it would've been cool to see at least a fixed transformed section to re-enact some scenes.
Articulation 10/10:
Need I say more? Based on my pics, this guy can pretty much posed in a variety of ways, it's so articulate it feels like a Mobile Fighter from G-Gundam. All that's left are fighting hands or dynamic hands.
Despite the feet being t0o cramped, this kit deserves to be in the air anyway since that's where it shines the most. Knee and elbow bends are just right to perform dynamic pose to a certain degree.
I guess they focused in this area more than giving it a transformation gimmick.
Accessories 7/10:
It's pretty basic and you get pretty everything it uses aside from the booster packs which is sold separately with along with another V-Gundam.. I should've gotten that D: They could've release it with the kit the first time but they had to sell it separately..
Why Bandai?... Why? D: Oh right, money. LOL.
Then again, this guy still got my attention because of its simplicity. Beam effects are harder than usual so they might break if mishandled but the textured design on the effects look awesome.
Lastly, if they can't fully integrate the transformation via parts forming or what not, they could at least give us a fixed posed core top and core base just to simulate some scenes. You already got a core fighter but it feels so incomplete. In the show, they usually have a lot of spare parts since it's a mass produced MS and they just send those parts flying whenever the MS got severely damaged.
Other than that, I wished they gave us two shields haha! I'm asking too much LOL!
I know the concept of these HG kits is to translate the MS in kit forms but the transformation gimmick is such an important characteristic of the MS so it's kinda weird they left it out.
Parts 10/10:
Majority of the parts are molded in color but I'm surprised that they left out some parts of the core fighter. It's not much but can' they maximize the runners? The color separation in the main MS is pretty nice visually. It's an MS that doesn't have much loud colors but it's still eye catching.
It's a pretty small kit so space wouldn't have been an issue. Oh right, costing. I'll stop complaining now.
Parts are solid and there are no visible seam lines! Well, the lines in the inner legs are mostly disguised as panel lines but it looks good! But yeah, parts are connected well to hide obvious seam lines or to eliminate visual flaws.
There's minimal painting required, it's not necessary because you can just line them but the effect is still different if you complete the subtle details.
Verdict 8/10:
It's an overall good kit if you can get over the fact that it can't turn into its mobile armor mode. Setting that aside, this kit is very solid and stable for the most part.
Just get an action base to eliminate that feet problem. He belong in the air anyways so make him fly! Accessories are ok but I'm really distracted by the fact that they can't integrate a transformation gimmick of some sort.
I understand if the they can't make it for the HGUC 1/144 S and EX-S Gundam because of their sheer size and complex assembly. Then again the HGUC 1/144 ZZ Gundam pulled it off... Maybe because he has a simple transformation... LOL!
Anyway, some of his accessories are sold separately with another Victory Gundam. Basically, you need to buy and build the exact same kit with added thrusters. If you have the time, get them both haha!
As usual this kit is must buy for me because of my love for the UC era and I collect mainly Lead MS, so this kit is pretty much a no brainer. This kit is also good for beginners because the assembly is very simple and looks amazing OOTB.
A kit like this is a good way of introducing someone to the hobby without feeling overwhelmed because some people shove MG 1/100 or complex builds right away to the poor noob.
So... If you love the show, get it. I you collect Lead MS, get it. If you wanna get into to the hobby but you don't know what kit to begin with, get this.
Well, that was quicker than I thought. I hope you enjoyed the review!
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Noticed that some parts were not of the right color though, the arm joints for example
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, very perceptive of you!
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