PG GUNDAM SEED STRIKE GUNDAM REVIEW
by Viet-phi Vo (PG_Viet-phi)   2008-08-09 20:03:21.0

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See Also Related Reviews: .|. MG ZGMF-X56S/B Sword Impulse Gundam by rusinstein .|. HG RGM-79 GM by VITO .|. Non Graded SD Strike Gundam Striker Weapon System by RedRacer .|. MG GAT-X105E Strike Noir by Kyle1281989 .|. MG MS-06S Zaku II (Char) by Talon Aveon Yagami

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The Perfect Grade Strike Gundam is the latest model kit of its series, and it is a kit well worth the money. Bandai has put forth all of their latest technologies and has implemented the highest quality standards ever seen in a model kit. The PG Strike has also marked a turning point in injection-molding processes, with the extreme amount of detail expected from a Perfect Grade, and the many types of joints bring the PG Strike ever closer to the form of a real human being.

The head of the PG Strike is a work of art, and has very impressive detailing, despite it being formed from injection-molding. The CIWS cannons are seperate from the rest of the frame and must be handled with care when assembling. The mouthvents and sides of the head, which would require inking in on MG Strikes and below, now use the inner ABS frame of the head to "fill" in such spots, and subsequently are molded ino the kit itself. The V-fin is of normal configuration, yellow inner antennae, followed by the white outer antennae, and held in place by the red crest "clip". There are also clear blue pieces that go into the front and rear head sensors. The eyes themselves are molded as one piece, with the clear eyeparts surrounded by a black framing. It is optional to install a CR1220 watch-type battery into a casing that is then inserted, resulting in brightly lit-up eyes and sensors.

The PG Strike's torso is a very complex part, with the main cockpit and neck joints assembled first, followed by assemblies of the torso's sides, which slide and lock downwards into place. There are multiple working hydraulic pistons, all chrome plated. One point to note is the inclusion of clear "chest vents", which could imply that Bandai was planning to insert yet another LED light into the chest. The cockpit opens up exactly the same way as the Master Grade version: red part comes forward, blue part slides down and turns upwards. However, the cockpit is designed so that when the blue part slides downwards, the control screen flips up and the pilot's seat moves forward. When the blue part is slid back into place, the control screen remains up, but is smoothly pushed back into position when the red part goes back up.
The heavily detailed armor pieces clip nicely into place, and the chrome-plated pistons are stil visible after replacement of the armor. The back of the torso has a covered slot, in which the AQM/E-X01 Aile Striker is installed via hardpoints.

Strike's arms are also incredibly detailed, externally and internally. The shoulders have the traditional 90-degree up and down movement, as well as the new technology of moving forwards and back approximately 40 degrees, allowing for easy two-handed rifle and sword grips. There are multiple hatches within Strike's shoulders, with the end sliding out, and the two hatches swinging out towards the end, displaying the amazing internal details of the shoulder frames. The upper arms have tricep/bicep joints, similar to human muscles, and move whenever the elbow is bent. The lower arm is split into 2 parts with a wrist section, which has chrome-plated pistons connected to the second part of the lower arm. The hands themselves are part of the reason this is called a Perfect Grade. Each finger is fully articulated, with 3 joints on each. There are ball joints at the knuckles, allowing for any finger poses you desire; PG hands are almost capable of replicating human hand movements. The Strike's hands are molded as one piece, using what I call "Freeze-molding", which means that all joints are molded as one, and all you do is gently "snap" the joints into motion. They also have tabs in the middle of the palm, to facilitate the gripping of the various weapons (not including the Armor Schnieders). The hands are molded out of some kind of "resin-ish" material (I do not know what it is called), along with the Strike's signature "Armor Schnieders", 2 assault knives, which the pilot, Kira Yamato, used against a ZGMF-1017 GINN in the anime. The eyeparts are also molded on this runner. The hands have, in total, 30 gates that need to be trimmed and sanded. The Armor Schnieders, being molded out of a single blackish color, need to be sanded and painted silver.

The Strike's legs are the most complex mechanisms out of any model kit I have ever seen, and since there are 2 of them, you will be snapping and snapping for hours on end. The upper leg consists of a central frame, covered by a quadricep/hamstring joint and more framing over that. There are metal pieces that are inserted into the knee structures, adding stability and weight to the entire suit. The lower legs are assembled and placed onto the knee structures via a large peg. The ankle guards connect to 2 sliding mechanisms on the lower leg, the two large black stripes that run along the sides. These slide around when the foot is tilted side to side, and help the posability. There are four chrome-plated pistons surrounding the internal structures of the ankles, which slide inside the four equal static pistons on the feet. The feet are split in two at the arches, and allow for some very flexible crouching/kneeling/dashing/running poses.

The Strike's waist assembly is one of the simpler ones on the kit, but still extremely detailed and articulate. Each skirt armor is ball jointed, with the front two using a "double polycap" to increase flexibility (the front of the forward skirts can touch the front of the chest). The two side skirts, which house the Armor Schnieders, are connected to the waist assembly by using two C-shaped clips, and one end of those clips has a ball joint, resulting in superb articulation. Due to the nature of the side skirts, PG Strike is able to do the splits. The rear skirt armors are single ball-jointed, but still have a large range of movement. The most prominent feature of the waist, if not the whole suit, is the inclusion of a tabbed mechanism, which moves the metal leg pegs back and forth. As a result, the Strike is able to, very effectively and convincingly, crouch and kneel. Behind each side skirt are ABS "frames", extremely high in detail and help with the overall complexity of the kit. At the rear of the waist, there are hardpoints to connect the beam rifle to, along with what seems to be a connection port for the Archangel's charging cable.

The basic set of weapons is included with the Perfect Grade Strike, such as the 2 Armor Schnieders, the beam rifle, X100 series-style shield, and the masterpiece of the whole set, the Grand Slam sword, measuring in at over 12 inches in length. Even with such a limited arsenal, the PG Strike is well worth the price.
The beam rifle is constucted out of 2 halves (internal frame), followed by two covering pieces that go over the inner frame of the rifle, effectively hiding the seamlines. This weapon is so detailed, they even included a piece for the trigger!
The shield has an extreme amount of detailing, both on the exterior and interior. There are many panel lines present, along with a sliding cover for the "viewport" and a sliding mechanism intergrated into the handle, allowing the grip to move vertically along the shield. The method of attaching the shield to the arm of the Perfect Grade Strike is one that I have never seen in another kit. There are two "claws" on the back of Strike's arm, in which the hardpoints for the shield are connected. The two "claws" are then closed over top of the hardpoint, resulting in a very firm connection that is sure to hold under any circumstances. Also noticeable is the size of the entire shield, as it is built out of the largest pieces present in the whole kit.
The two Armor Schnieders are made out of the same material as the hand units, some kind of softer plastic (again, I do not know what it is called). The blades and grips are molded as one, and again utilize the method of "freeze-molding". The blades will need to be painted silver, as they are originally black in color. As in the anime, they can both be folded and stored in Strike's side skirt armors.
The crown jewel of the entire kit is the Grand Slam sword. The blade itself comes on the chrome-plated runner 'O', and is easily the longest piece of the whole model. The hilt/handle are made of Polystyrene plastic, and the most interesting part of this weapon is its ability to be folded (although there is no apparent reduction in size). The hilt is a round piece, with slots along its length for Strike's palm to adhere to. It is also able to slide up and down the handguard, thereby enabling the folding of the sword. Fully built and unfolded, the Grand Slam towers over Strike, at over 30cm in length.

Conclusion

Bandai calls this line the Perfect Grade for a reason. As far as I can tell, there are absolutely no flaws in this kit, from the smallest piece to the largest weapon, this kit does deserve to be titled Perfect Grade. It will go into just about any pose you can think of, sometimes even poses you yourself can do in real life! All 26 runners are certainly an intimidating sight when laid out on the ground, and the addition of a fully plated 'O' runner adds to the appeal of the kit. The main mobile suit from the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED series is easily one of the most popular Gundams out there today, and when combined with the AQM/E-X01 Aile Striker (sold seperately), it makes for a very awe-inspiring sight. In addition, Bandai may finally decide to create the remaining two striker packs, the AQM/E-X02 Sword Striker and the AQM/E-X03 Launcher Striker. I would highly recommend this Perfect Grade GAT-X105 Strike Gundam to any modeler with enough experience, time, and money, and I would not hesitate to purchase another one of these amazing kits.

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See Also Related Reviews: .|. MG ZGMF-X56S/B Sword Impulse Gundam by rusinstein .|. HG RGM-79 GM by VITO .|. Non Graded SD Strike Gundam Striker Weapon System by RedRacer .|. MG GAT-X105E Strike Noir by Kyle1281989 .|. MG MS-06S Zaku II (Char) by Talon Aveon Yagami

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