Been more than 5 months since my last blog entry, now at last i have completed my long overdue Master grade kit, the unicorn gundam (ova version). As far as gundam series go, Gundam UC is probably the most commercially successful ova series.It has pleased many older hardcore universal century gundam fans, sold model kits like hot cakes, and stopped angry fans from rioting because of the atrocious gundam Age. As such, any self-respecting fan of Gundam UC will have to build at least one unicorn gundam master grade, which at this point of writing includes: 1. ver ka 2. ova ver 3. ova ver with ms cage. 4.titanium coating ver 5. Full armour 6. banshee 7. banshee titanium.
Anyway, i have chosen the ova version since it is advertised as having better articulation than the original ver ka, and i thought it should be more anime accurate. Unfortunately, after building the kit i regretted this decision and i thought perhaps the ver ka is a better representation of the unicorn gundam.
I will split the review into 2 parts. Part 1 will basically focus on the unicorn mode, and part 2 on its destroy mode.
1. Intro:
Model: Mg Unicorn Gundam
Size: Mg 1 100
Pilot: Banagher Links
Big sized Mg box. Same box size as
Mg Rezel, but thicker. First impression i got: wow, epic boxart. Second impression: Oh my gosh what has Bandai done with beam saber color? It is supposed to be pink in the ova.!
Sideshots of the box:
A quick tour around the box shows some snapshots of the ova, the transformation and blue beam sabers....
Manual:
The front, back and the color splash page in the middle.
Price: 5000 yen. Clearly on the higher price spectrum of master grade, which hopefully mean good quality other than just merely more plastic.
2. Parts
Before i start with parts section, i will like to point out something to note for out-of-box builders like myself. The inner frame and the blue parts in this kit leaves very bad nub marks that are not removable via the usual sanding/trimming. They are coated with a nicer and shinier metallic gray and blue respectively. The gray is similar to that of
hguc nu gundam's frame parts. The ver ka kit has the usual gray and blue, which i will have preferred to this metallic version that leaves ugly nub marks.
The psycho-frame runners are gorgeous in clear pink, so no complaints here.
The head in unicorn mode. The kit itself comes with 3 types of V-fin for us to choose. The one on the head is the single piece unicorn horn, in all white. It also has the fixed open v-fin which has no articulation whatsoever. Third will be the split-into-two v-fin, which can close into unicorn mode, and open into destroy mode.This type is definitely not going to work well, since it has no locking mechanism to lock the 2 sides in unicorn mode, and hence the yellow is clearly going to show through in unicorn mode. Golden stickers are given for the 2nd and third type of v-fin. I simply painted them in yellow, on the front side. Stickers for v-fins = Fail.
The head sculpt is very impressively detailed, and the build process is intriguing thanks to the transformation process. Green stickers are used for the front and back cameras.
Torso and backpack. The torso in unicorn mode looks plain and simple, although like the rest of kit, the transformation makes the build more interesting and complicated than usual. Back of the torso has a shocked face.
Ranting time. Here is the part of the kit showing the most of the bad nub marks from the metallic gray and blue parts. As you can see, the blue leaves a black nub mark underneath when cut from the runner. Why Bandai? Why?
The many thrusters in the kit, around 6 (or 8, i cannot remember) suffer from the same nub problem as they come from the metalic gray plates. Thus i painted the outside of the thrusters in my own metalic gray. There is some difference in the tone with the kit's gray but thruster-wise, i say they look pretty awesome.
Arms and shoulder parts. The shoulder decal are dry transfers. For this kit i used some clear stickers for decals. I rarely used clear stickers on my kits, but for this unicorn kit i feel that the red and black stickers can help to make the kit look much more detailed. Not sure if the stickers will hold up in the long run. Oh well, gunpla building is a "try and learn along the way" process anyway.
This picture is the arms of
hguc unicorn gundam (unicorn mode). I guess the master grade has about 5 degrees more bending articulation in the arms. Hurray!
Waist. Front and back. Extremely well hidden psycho frame parts within. I salute the level of engineering and design involved.
Legs. Ankles feel a little finicky, and moves around a little too easily.
This is the hguc unicorn gundam's legs. Exact same level of 90 degree bending. Remember that this mg is the ova version, which supposedly has better articulation than the ver ka. I guess it is still not going to be very posable after all. Not a big issue for me, since i don't put my model kits in extreme poses anyway.
The hyper bazooka, in all grey. Nothing very interesting other than its sheer size. It does have a couple of gimmicks though.
The ammo clip can be removed.This can be somewhat problematic as the ammo clip feels loose when in bazooka mode. The bazooka itself can be collapsed for storage, and attached to the gundam's backpack.
A green sticker for the scope. No clear part given, which is a bummer. I would rather have a clear part as the scope and i can paint it clear green myself. The kit's 4 scopes (2 on head, 1 on bazooka, 1 on beam magnum) do not have clear parts.
The beam magnum brings more colour to the kit, as the ammo clips are in teal. The beam magnum overall gives a very 'boss' look to the gundam, in contrast with most gundam's standard looking beam rifle.
Good playability value, as there are 3 identical ammo clips that are interchangeable. They can also be attached to the back of the gundam's waist.
Scope in sticker green again. Beam magnum held by a stray arm, before assembly.
Left to right: the shield, shield's attachment part , and the gundam's action base attachment part. The shield's attachment part can be used to attach it to the arm of the back of the backpack. It has a surprisingly good range of movement despite its humble appearance. The shield's Anaheim Electronics decal is sadly a clear sticker, not a dry transfer, thus some top coat will be necessary to keep it in place.
Back of the shield reveals some pink psyco- frame, which i am sure is not supposed to be revealed in unicorn mode. However, since i have no better ideas to hide the shield's psyco-frame when in unicorn mode, i suppose this is good enough.
Here is the shield of hguc unicorn gundam. Just for comparison, i am actually quite pleased with the Mg's shield.
And this, is where i cannot comprehend how in the world did Bandai decided that the Unicorn Gundam has blue beam sabers. Coincidentally, my previous gunpla review, the
Mg God Gundam was given green beam sabers instead of pink. But Mg God Gundam's case was more forgivable, given that it is 2500 yen (half the price of Mg Unicorn), and that it is made in 2001. I simply cannot understand this atrocity of wrongly-coloured beam sabers in kits made in 2010, but it is time to move on...
3. Articulation and Details
All assembled, the unicorn gundam looks rather plain and unassuming. I must say Bandai did a marvelous job in hiding the pink psyco-frame. I can only see a tinge of pink on its left shoulder, and that is probably because i did not close up the armour pieces completely. For this kit, i went for lesser panel lines, as i fear that it will look too cluttered in destroy mode. In any case, i am very pleased with the kit in unicorn mode.
Equipped with the beam magnum and shield. Articulation is fine. Theoretically the Mg is supposed to have better articulation and range of motion than its hg brethen. However i find it much harder to pose the Mg, due to falling parts and lower sturdiness, as with the case of transforming Mgs. It is going to get much worse in destroy mode, as everything that can move will move and fall out, leading to frustrating moments and despair.
4. Poses
By this point, i can already feel that this kit is going to just stand there on my shelf. Looking like a boss, and doing nothing else. I tried to do a kneeling bazooka pose but it did not quite work out.
Not much poses, since posing will be similar to the hguc counterpart in unicorn mode.
5. Sturdiness.
The beam magnum's scope keeps falling out. The right wrist holding the beam magnum sometimes feel a little weak from holding the heavy beam magnum. The bazooka's ammo clip feels insecure. Otherwise, the kit in unicorn mode feels like a solid-enough model kit, as compared to other transforming Mgs, such as the
Mg Zeta 2.0.
Will complete Part 2: Destroy mode first before my final thoughts on the kit.
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