MG RX-78-4 G04 Gundam Review

Sorry for the long, long delay! At least it’s finally up ;P

Twice the amount of pics to make up for the delay!

Pictures:

Summary:

Pros:

• Alternate Rx-78 Colour scheme
• Interesting Mega-beam Launcher
• Very detailed armour
• Cheaper than most MGs
• More than enough dry-transfer included
• Many Stickers Included
• Folding Shield

Cons

• Few panel lines
• No innerframe
• Hands do not fit weapons really well
• Shield can only mount to the one side of the arms

Build Quality

This kit feels rock solid and its weight has an assuring feel to the hand. So far, everything seems perfect. A rather rare case eh? However, the weapon grips are a little too big for the hands to hand though.

Head

You have the usual gundam head design, save for blue replacing red and the exhaust vents are molded in yellow. There is no seperate neck joint unfortunately. The head just simply mounts onto the body with a ball socket type polycap. The joint is a little too loose for my liking even though there are no problems yet.

Body

The body has a very interesting way of building. The inner-most layer has the chest vents detailed as striped layers. Then you will attach the outerpiece of  the chest on top, followed by a blue chest vent cover. No, it doesn’t end there! You have to fit another yellow piece into the blue cover. A bit of an overkill isn’t it? The cockpit hatch can be easily opened. However, it does not pop open on its own at all. The degree of movement is rather small though. The waist occasionally moves up. Not really a problem, just shove it back down! The backpack is rather complicated in itself. There is a rack on each side of the backpack. The power generator for the mega beam launcher docks onto the left rack, and the red cable slots into a folding rack that swings out from the backskirt and attaches onto the mega beam launcher. The mega beam launcher can also dock onto the right side of the backpack. There are tail binders that sticks out from the bottom of the backpack (Wait, are these tail binders?) The armour for the backpack can indeed be removed.

Arms

The arms are extremely bendy. The shoulder is triple jointed, allowing the arms to extend out by unfolding the joints. The elbow is also triple jointed. Altogether, there are 7 joints, including the wrist! The good thing about having so many joints is the insane posability! However, it was a little tough posing the arms as the joints all moved at the same time! Similar to another RX-78 model, the NT-1 Alex, the g04 Gundam features two vulcans on its forearms. The armour on the shoulder slides on top of the shoulder itself and is locked into place by two flaps. This is very unique, since most kits only feature double joints at most. The fingers do not wrap around the guns really well, so adjustments may be needed from time to time.

Legs

The leg joints are tight, but not too tight like in the case of the GP03. Posing is rather easy, as the ankle seem to be able to bend more than the other MGs I have. A semi-complete inner frame is available for the thigh and top of the forelegs. Other than that, the design of the legs is so-so.

Weapons

This gundam comes with the mega beam launcher, a standard-issued beam cannon rifle and two beam sabers. The mega beam launcher is rather unwieldy as the red rubber cord sorts of nudges the launcher out of the hands. There is a peg on the left side of the launcher, right in front of the secondary grip for it to be docked onto the backpack. For the beam rifle, the handle can only be folded to the left, unlike what most other beam rifles can do. However, the sight can be rotated left and right. The shield is very interesting; yes, it slides! Basically, there are two pegs on the underside of the shield to secure it at the two standard lengths. I think that the mechanism is rather steady, as the shield can rotate about while you fold it in order to prevent breakage. Oh, I like how the beam saber hilts are blue ;D

Final Verdict

This is one great MG kit! The colour scheme is catchy and doesn’t bore you no matter how long you look at it, the mega beam launcher is awesome, the price point is perfect, details are way better than other MGs so far. To make it short, it’s probably one of the best MG variations of the RX-78!

Gouf Ignited Review (Heine Westenfluss Custom)

There you go! We have the orange Heine Westenfluss Custom for review!

Here’s the story behind how I acquire this Gouf Ignited:

Brazen Folly is really attracted to orange  & Gundam SEED suits. However after he built and painted it, he decided that it was spooking him looked weird and I decided to get another monoeye suit after the Zudah. So it was sold, and I spent a few hours correcting Brazen Folly’s slightly sloppy nipping working on it removing the nipmarks and moldlines, sanded down the insanely shiny, horrible looking plastic and gave it a coat of clear flat. As you can see in the pics, this kit needs lots of painting. Take heed!

Pictures:

Summary:

Pros:

1. Unconventional weapon set
2. Good posability
3. Durable
4. Comes with a stand
5. Great head posability

Cons:

1. Needs tons of painting
2. Heat rod cannot be mounted onto left hand
3. Gattling gun falls off occasionally when shield is mounted on it.
4. Badly placed runner sprues

HG Enact Guest Review

Here’s another guest review by Brazen Folly. Enjoy:

Pictures:

Summary:

Pros:

1. Better Durability than the Overflag
2. Minute details that count
3. Nice tiny details
4. Stickers given so little painting required
5. Commander and normal head given

Cons:

1. Bad balance due to height of the kit
2. Blade weapon unpainted
3. Joints wear out quickly due to lack of polycaps

HG Zudah Review

Sorry for the much delayed review! Was held up with lots of stuff ^_^”

Pictures:

Summary:

Pros:

1. Great Posability
2. Many weapons
3. Huge rifle that puts the Grand Slam to shame!
4. Decals Galore!
5. Movable mono-eye

Cons:

1. Needs some painting (No chrome parts at all!)

Ok, so I finally decided to get my third Zeon suit! The amazing Zudah that just lacked a speed limiter!

HG 1/144 Gundam Virtue

Pictures:

Summary:

Pros:

1. GN Bazooka very posable
2. GN Field generators can open up
3. Comes with beams
4. Chest flap can open up

Cons:

1. Limited leg posability
2. GN Bazooka is a little too heavy
3. Chest flap pops off easily

Due to recent feedback of my reviews being too long, I will focus on the special features of the kits only.

HG 1/144 Gundam Kyrios Review

Pictures:

Summary:

Pros:

1. Transformation
2. Complex Weapons

Cons:

1. Bad balance
2. Legs have bad posability
3. Transformation requires parts swapping
4. Loose parts
5. Requires Lots of Painting

SD GP03D Dendrobium Review

Pictures:

Summary:

Pros:

1. A cheap way to get the Orchis unit
2. Impressive Panel lines
3. Good weapon set
4. Most parts have the right colours

Cons:

1. Flawed Molding
2. Body won’t lock properly
3. Clumsy Docking
4. No legs, just feet

1/100 Exia Review

Pictures:

Brief Summary:

Pros:

1. Very Detailed
2. Very Good Posability
3. Many weapons

Cons:

1. Arms cannot hold the GN blade properly for some poses
2. V fin snaps easily
3. Bad balance
4. Loose parts
5. Shoulder beam sabers connectors are fragile

This 1/100 scale Exia has a different design from the 1/144 and 1/60 as they are based on two different versions of the design.

Guest Review II

Here’s the second in a series of guest reviews by Brazen Folly:

105 Dagger

there. Another grunt unit. This time, from the Earth Alliance, a 1/144 HG MSV 105 Dagger with its Gunbarrel Striker pack. This GM-based unit is originally intended for mass production near the end of the first bloody valentine war. Tight circumstances force the OMNI leadership to produce the cheaper Strike Daggers instead. This unit boasts laminated armour, EMP shielding and hardpoints for Strikers Packs- something lacking in the Strike daggers. In additions to vulcans in its face, it also has anti personnel machineguns mounted in niches in its feet. We see them being put to use in a massacre in Stargazer.

Design

The design of this Dagger is derived from the prototype of the GAT-x105 Strike Gundam, with a shift in its colour scheme from the USA flag white, blue and red, to a more subdued blue and grey colour scheme. The hardpoints for the striker packs are recreated, albeit in a more scaled down fashion, giving the unit a more boxy appearance. The two eyes are replaced by a single sensor reminiscent of the UC era GMs.

SD Stargazer Review

Ok, so here’s our last review of 2008! A shiny mobile suit to go with the fireworks!

Pictures:

Brief Summary:

Pros:

1. Many gold stickers for the shiny look
2. Parts are mostly molded in right colours
3. Voiture Lumiere can act as its own stand!
4. Special effect parts given

Cons:

1. Legs feel like a surfboard(Does this apply to all SD kits?)
2. Hands do not hold the rifle well
3. Special effect parts connectors may be loose