HG cherudim review

Cherudim gundam, one of the gundam i did not really liked in the beginning of 00 S2 but came to like it more and more as the series progressed. Lyle dylandy unlike his brother Neil is not so much of a sniper and hence the cherudim seems rather useless without a niche role at the beginning. Things change when the shield bits appear and the cherudim actually played the pivotal role of destroying memento mori. Cherudim then went on and outshine arios in screentime, which only became badass in the last ep when Hallelujah awakens and literally rip one of the innovade's suit to pieces.

1. Intro
Model: Cherudim (regular)
Size: HG 1/144
Pilot: Lockon Stratos (Lyle)

Boxart:

There is something about 00 kits' boxarts that seems one step up the rest...

Sideshot:

On the very right there is a unpainted straight out-of-the-box pic. Seems like some painting is needed.

Price: 1200
Same price as the HG 0 gundam, so i guess do not have very high expectations for this kit. The 0 gundam was a fantastic kit, but it came with almost nil accessories. This hg cherudim came with more accessories and weapons so i wonder what will be left out? The box itself is as small as HG 0 gundam's.

2. Parts

Turns out that color was left out. i had to paint alot for this kit for its details. From the sideshot of the box i can only see that the visor is clear.

Head:

Pardon my camera skills. I painted the blue circle part and the clear red for the jewel. That is 2 paint jobs for just the head. To be fair, Bandai did include stickers for these 2 parts. But the clear part looks bad with the sticker and i had painted the same clear red for my NG arios and Hg seravee gnhw/b so i had to continue the tradition. The sticker for the round part is silver but the box shows it blue so i painted it as well.
The head looks good after painting and the side v fins is unique compared to regular ones.

Torso:

i painted the clear part in the middle green instead of using stickers. There are yellow vents underneath. Not stickers but actual plastic parts so i am happy very that.

But the back of the torso is the winner here. the yellow parts are not stickers and the backpack can actually move a bit to the sides.

Arms:

The clear part is painted again. Articulation is very good for a HG as expected from the 00 line. The left arm has an extra attachment piece to slap on the shield bits.

Waist

The front skirts are not independent.

Kudos to Celestial being for putting the Gn drive at the buttocks. Shield bits can be attached to the drive to protect cherudim's most important part.

Legs:

Painted the clear part green again. Good articulation. The pointy part behind the feet can be moved vertically as well. The knee guards are shield bits which can be removed.

Weapons and accessories.

Yes this is what i was waiting for. 1200 yen kit that comes with a clear stand? Awesome.
The stand can be adjusted in many different ways to deploy the shield bits. Big plus point for the kit.

However not all is rosy about the shield bits. When cutting them off the runners there are 3 giant nubmarks on each shield bit. Which translates into 7x3=21 cycles of sanding, cleaning to get rid of them. Big minus for the kit.

Weapon wise the cherudim comes with 1 beam rifle which can be folded up as shown. I painted the clear part blue like my ng arios' beam rifle. It also comes with 2 beam pistols that can double as axes. The handle is movable. They are in axe mode now. Biggest disappointment is that the pistol/axes come in all white. This means that they are as plain as 0gundam beam pistol which is my plainest gundam weapon to date. Thus started my last paint job of the day and i painted the top part grey which looks fine from far.

                                          Hallelujah double-axe killing spree.

3. Details and Articulation

All assembled, my initial impression is that cherudim lost its neck. Actually it has very good neck articulation for a HG and is better than Mg exia's epic head single articulation point. Cherudim can move its head forward and backwards and can look around freely for Anew.
Details wise i must say that this is the most number of paint jobs i have done for any kit. All the clear parts came clear and require painting.

All weapons on, it can reach back for its axe. Awesome articulation.

The clear visor on. It is attached to the backpack which has 2 parts that can swing forward to hold the visor securely in place.

                               Should have diluted that clear blue paint abit more.....

4. Poseability

                                            It came with one extra open palm for the left hand.

                                       Other than looking cool, that open palm is used to hold the rifle.

                                          It can do a kneeling pose!

The shield bits fully attached, at the back the bits look like a tail protecting the Gn drive.

                                          Looking at this pic, i cannot believe this kit is 1200 yen.

Also 1200 yen. Stand not included.

I recommend using the 1/144 clear green stand for 00 Hgs.

Folded up, the beam rifle is actually pretty good as well.

Strike noir style.

Butcher style.

5. Sturdiness. 

The pistols/axes stay attached at the backpack very well though they do fall off if u hit them slightly.

The rifle has a flip-out attachment that fix on the right shoulder extremely securely.

The shield bits stay on the gundam and the clear stand almost perfectly, only place they may fall off is the knee.

6. Conclusion

The Awesomes:

1. Awesome articulation. 

2. Ridiculously fantastic poses that you can pull off.

3. The clear stand for shield bits.

4. Only 1200 yen.

The not-so-awesome:

1. Big and ugly nubmarks on the green parts especially the shield bits must be cleaned.

2. Painting is needed to make kit look good.

Details: 6/10 gotta fill in the missing colors

Articulation: 9/10 very good for a HG

Sturdiness: 9/10 nothing wants to fall off

Poseability: 10/10 this kit can do everything for a 1200 yen HG kit

For 1200 yen what more can you ask for? However i must say that this kit is not beginner friendly. I will have raged if i build this kit unpainted and saw its numerous nubmarks and lack of colors. There is a upgraded version of cherudim which comes with rifle bits. But i am happy enough with this one. 

                                 Yes the clear visor is upside-down. It is official.