HG RX-78-2 GUNDAM REVIEW
by Captain Luthor James Hellskrem   2004-06-20 19:05:32.0

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
See Also Related Reviews: .|. MG RX-78-2 Gundam by Derringer .|. MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. 2.0 by Fignuts .|. MG RGM-79 GM by Derringer .|. MG RX-93 v Gundam by Nima .|. HG RGM-79 GM by VITO

Click to enlarge

The year is 0079 of the Universal Century. Nine months ago the cluster of colonies furthest from the Earth, called Side 3, declared itself the Principality of Zeon and launch a war of independance against the Earth Federation. During the initial fighting, both sides lost nearly half their respective populations. Mankind was horrified by the attrocities commited in the name of independance.

Just then... in an abandoned city, two Zaku's wonder around looking for the enemy. The Zaku's can find no sign of an enemy Mobile Suit until a barage of bullets comes blazing forth. Out of the darkness a Gundam appears between two towers as one of the Zakus takes the bullets to the main camera and falls to the ground. Who will survive? The Ace pilot in the Zaku II or the rookie pilot Amuro Rei with his emerging New Type abilities?

You can decide with this wonderful 1/144 scale HGUC model. The RX-78-2 Gundam is a classic design from a classic anime, truely a work of art.

The Head unit for this kit is nearly perfect. The detail is true to the "new standard" for the original line art. I found it easy to detial and paint (please do not ruin a model as beatuful as this with the eye stickers). The only problem I had was that the V-fin is molded "kid-safe" meaning it's not pointy and sharp, it's rounded and has... almost like a block attached to the back of the ends. Simple enough just to grind it down with some sand paper, but I'm a bit of a lazy modeler, lol. The eyes are easy to paint. A simple first layer of black, then with a fine brush, the red border on the bottom and the yellow eyes. The chin is a seperate peice, so it's already red. Just paint the mohawk cameras, front and back. Then, with a micron pen or a wash, fill in the panel lines. I actually did both, a wash, then a few little touch ups with the pen, truely looks wonderful.

Well, the body unit.... is a body unit. No real painting required here. Easy enough to do a wash on the panel lines, sanding was easy and quick. The one neat thing about this is the shoulders. There is a joint in the sides where the arms attach to the pegs that swings forward. Since this kit was made it's become the standard in HGUC kits, but still, this was the first to have it..... I think, I'm pretty sure anyways. Pretty basic, other than that.

I'll go ahead and toss the hip unit in here too. Painting should be easy, all you need is a fine brush for the little "v" on the crotch. Wash or ink the lines and you're good to go. One thing I learned is that the front skirt armor can be cut into two peices in the middle of the bar that works as a hinge, this way only one side of the armor goes up at a time. Just cut it in the middle of the bar where the flaps of plastic are molded on, sand just a bit so there's no friction between the two halves and it works like a charm!

NICE POSABILITY! Standard for a HGUC, but still I think it's impressive. Construction is simple and there's really only the seams on the forearm that need sanding, that and the mold on seam line on the shoulder armor (they are one peice each). Now, a lot of people always complain about the hands being too big on a lot of the HGUC kits, this one included. Other than the Gouf HGUC kit, I think they are all pretty good, this kit included. What people are mis-understanding, I think, is that the hands are not ment to look like they are all balled up in a fist, small, compact, and ready to swing. They are ment to look like they are holding the weapons in hand! So they naturally should look like they are filled with the handle of a tool that is designed to obliterate an enemy. The problem I had with this kit is that there is only one "gun-hand" and there are two guns, the beam rifle and the bazooka. Now, obviously, the HGUC GM was sort of a test bed for the parts for this kit, as many of the parts are shared between the two. So, why they couldn't include that AWESOME open left hand of the GM's with this kit is beyond me. But still, this arm unit is nearly perfect. Again, a simple wash or inking will be fine for the panel lines.

Legs are pretty basic, with the excpetion of the ankles. This kit really set a lot of standards for HGUC kits to come. Legs were simple in construction, no painting required for these babies and sanding is a snap. The ankles are a seperate part from the leg and the foot, a ball joint at the foot, plus a swinging hinge at the bottom of the leg, truely adds a lot of movement and posability!

BEAM RIFLES, SABERS, and BAZOOKAS! OH MY! The Bazooka isn't too special, easy construction, sanding and what not. The rifle has a moving forehandle and sight. The beam sabers are sweet! The handle and the transparent pink blades are two different peices, sadly that is one standard that needed to catch on, but didn't. The Shield is also a nice peice of work. A handle to hold, or a peg to pulg in, this system really help when posing with the shield. The peg is this little peice that has the rod and a ball on the opposite ends of a rectangle. The Ball attaches to the block on the back of the sheild that has the handle attached to it. This set up allows the peg to swivel which allows the shield to be at varying levels on the arm, nice touch. The shield can also be attached the backpack. The backpack is neat but I wish they had made poly caps for the beam sabers, they sometimes have a hard time staying in, but if you put them in and give them a bit of a twist until they feel snug, they stay in okay. I ended up painting the backpack white with the exception of the little rectangle inlet with the two cirlces in it and the rocket nozzels, I left those gray. The core fighter is a really nice addition! Lots of painting though, not a big deal for the average modeler, I find painting one of the best parts of modeling.... unless I'm painting a flesh tone, I can never mix the right colors to get the right shade.... grrr. Over all, great accessories and gimmics!

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
See Also Related Reviews: .|. MG RX-78-2 Gundam by Derringer .|. MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. 2.0 by Fignuts .|. MG RGM-79 GM by Derringer .|. MG RX-93 v Gundam by Nima .|. HG RGM-79 GM by VITO

OVERALL

SCORE

Edit Review

Upload Images