The S-Gundam is big for a 1/144 HG model, I mean, really big. Standing a full inch and a half taller than my other models, the S-Gundam coms from the Gundam Universal Century timeline. this Mobile Suit (MS) model is also both colorful and very detailed. lots of intricate panel designs requires a lot of marker detailing, but the end result is well worth the time spent putting it together. As most builders know the S in the name stands for ‘Superior’ and in what ways you ask? Superior design, Superior construction, Superior display piece! :)

The Superior isn't just bigger, it came with better accessories. the huge beam smart gun, along with the smart gun stabilizer trigger arm together makes quite a statement. the 1/100 version of the S-Gundam can also be split into two, and both parts can transform into psudo-planes. but if you've seen my previous posts, you'll know how much i hate transforming models. so in this case i rather have the 1/144 version where you can't transform it at all.

Unlike most 144 HGs where 160 pieces is the norm, the S-Gundam came in more than 250 pieces, so build time is also quite a bit longer. Even though the 144 version doesn't transform, it has all the details the transformable 100 version has, namely the extendable wings, the rotating engin blocks, and the many vents on the legs. total build time is around 5 hours, with atleast another hr for detailing.

The end result is unfortunatly top heavy. the S-gundam has huge shoulders that houses many, many joints. and this, along with that huge beam smart gun, and the complex backpack, means the model is nowhere near as poseable as the Astray Red Frame. but the sheer amount of detail on the S makes up for this poseablilty deficiency, and is still one of my favorites. over all a 9 out of 10.

Ahh, the Astray Red. This Mobile Suit (MS) started in Gundam Seed as Orb Faction's M1 defense MS; and in Gundam Seed Destiny it got stolen, lost the jet-pack, gained that huge katana, and became the current configuration.

As far as my 144 HG goes, this model is my favorite. its got a compact design, with numerous articulation points, all with inner rubber sockets. especially noteworthy is the inclusion of shoulder swivel joints that made many many cool poses possible.

The torso of the Astray Red is a basic block design with three layers of different colored armor plating. simple to build but looks pretty nice. the backpack is fancy but kept at a resonable size. the legs of the astry is especially well designed - it consists of many sections and was pretty complex to build. but as the result, the Astray Red is actually bottom heavy - great for those dynamic poses since it will never tip over. check out the last two images below, you can't achieve those kind of poses with any other 144 HG gundam models.

Accessory wise, the shield and gun is pretty standard fare. Astray Red also comes with two generic beam sabers behind his back, hidden beneath the backpack. however the real draw is its huge katana, the ‘Gerbera Straight.’ it comes with a working scabbard, and the sheer size of the thing is pretty amazing, heh.

Since it doesn't transform whatsoever, the Astray Red is also the model with the most poseability. Even though it came in quite a few pieces (around 160, about the norm for a HG model), everything comes together beautifully. Both sturdy and compact, it's one of the few gundam models that can really take some abuse and be like a toy. total build time is about 3 hr, detailing took another hr. over all 9 out of 10, i'm now thinking of building its 1/100 version. :)

Another model from the Seed Destiny line of 144 HG's, the 105 Dagger and Gunbarrel is different from the rest of my collection because it's actually two models. the jetpack on the back of the robot is a transformable fighter plane, with four further detatchable gunpods.

The 105 Dagger refers to the deep blue MS. it's got decent articulations and good coloring. as far as a gundam model goes, the 105 doesn't have a lot of perks, and has a simple construction. totally about 120 pieces, this section of the model is pretty easy. it does take a little bit of marker detailing to finish up the legs, but even with out that, it still looks pretty respectable since a lot of tiny decals/stickers are provided.

Gunbarrel is a detatchable, transformable fighter plane that folds up into the 105's backpack. this plane is actually the more difficult section of the model - it comes in about 60 pieces, and since its size is smaller, its also harder to put together. on top of that, the detailing is not quite as good as the 105, so a lot of markering is needed to outline all the panels.

the end result is quite good tho. the model kit also provides a stand, which doubles as a storage rack for all the unused optional equiment that came with the model (support racks, missile bay covers, etc). total constuction time is about 5 hr+, but time well spent, hehe. over all a 8 out of 10, if only the 105 had more interesting features... :P

Chaos Gundam is from the anime series Gundam Seed Destiny. another one of those transformable gundams, this one shares the weakness of that style of models - namly the lack of stability while in MS mode, clumsy transformation, and end result not looking very cool.

But the transformation for the Chaos is relatively simple, so it wasn't as clumsy as the Aegis Gundam model. however, the end result of the transformation is just not all that diffrent from the untransformed state, which works against it.

The construction of the Chaos is pretty detailed, heads and shoulders above those from the Gundam Wings line. all the joints have rubber sockets, and articulation is very good for the legs (they have to be, considering most of the transformation happens around the legs.) totalling about 180 pieces, this model takes a while to finish. some marker detailing is needed for the back of the model (oddly), but the front looks pretty decent with the decals.

the coloring for the Chaos is a bit odd, i didn't really like the light olive / green body, but heck, it's bettern than the pink Aegis... anyway, it comes together pretty well, and while in MS mode, while not as posable as say, the Astray Red, it's still pretty stable and capable of getting into decent action poses.

over all, probably a 7 out of 10 for this guy. :)

Out of all the Gundam Wings HG fighting action 144's, the gundam nataku is by far my favorite. even though it does cheat again with the coloring (as all the gundam wings 144 models do), the novelty of the pair of claws (called 'dragon fangs') more than made up for it. :)

Nataku is a nick name given to the Mobile Suit (MS) by its pilot in the anime. it's real name was the Altron Gundam, a word play of Er-Tou-Long, which means twin headed dragon in Chinese. Based on the older Shenlong (divine dragon) Gundam, the Nataku Gundam has a "dragon fang" installed in both arms, instead of just the right one; each of these claws is twice the size of the original version, and their reach is also much longer.

the construction of the main body is what you would expect from a Wings 144 HG, there are rubber sockets for the major connections, but the total number of joints is far less than the later Gundam Seed / Destiney models. as the result, the Nataku's legs and arms are just not very posable. it's head, stuck in a oversized helmet, couldn't be turned to either direction for more than 20 degrees. also, because the claws are so big (and heavy), the arms couldn't hould the claws outward (especially in the extended form) without bending.

but the negative aspect of the model is overshadowed by it's coolness factor. the claws comes with multi-section extenders, and could be connected and form into many cool poses.

total build time is around 4hr+, the white parts of the Nataku (mainly the legs) lacks detail and had to be marker'ed. also the claw extensions are casted simply in red, and had to be detailed. still, i love how it looks when completed, this one's a keeper. 8 out of 10 :)

Like the Sandrock Custom, I bought the H-ARMS because it was cheap (10 bucks), but at least this one turned out a little better than the Sandrock.

Bandai cheated on the H-ARMS again with the coloring. this time there are some very odd shapes that needed to be wrapped in stickers, and the glues just aren't sticky enough >.< on the H-ARM's shouder there are two oddly shaped hooks that are supposedly gold, and so the sticker was an awefully complicated piece that wraps around the whole thing. cept the sticker itself was too thick, it doesn't bend neatly, and the glue won't stick to the plastic firm enough for the detail to look decent.

Another problem is all the hidden weapons (missiles/gun barrels) are not made with separate pieces and different colors, and so they are very difficult to distinguish from the main body itself. this can only be fixed with some CAREFUL painting, something i'm not prepared to do for something this cheap.

the high point of this model IMO is the pair of Gatling guns in its hands. the Guns has a nice look, are the right sizes, and have a rubber inner connector to lock it firmly into the hands. however, the coloring again leaves someting to be desired - its just a solid piece of dark teal...

Total build time for the H-Arms Custom is about 2hr, because the model comes in a dark color, marker detailing wasn't really needed for most part of the body. there are quite a bit of stickers that came with the model, and some of these stickers are very difficult to apply. over all a 5 of 10, because i kinda like how the gundam looks, hehe. 

a side note: the Gundam Wings HG series are also called the HG Fighting Action series, they were made around 1999 to 2000, and are very difficult to find these days. however they are pretty cheap, and are a decent way to start learning how to use ultra fine marker lines to add details to an otherwise plain model. :)

calling the 144 Sandrock Custom a HG (High Grade) is kind of a joke - it really isn't. I bought this because I needed one more model to fill out my display case, and well... it was really cheap - 9 bucks.

as soon as i opened the box i knew why this was so cheap - it had so few parts. totalling around 80-90 pieces, and it shows. there are few joints, and very little details on the panels. marker detailing is pretty much manditory - since with out it, this thing looks terrible.

For coloring, the Gundam Wing series of HGs seems to all cheat - instead of making parts in different colors, some times they just give you stickers to cover up large areas of the plastic. the arm for the Sandrock Custom came in white, and they gave me a huge piece of black sticker to wrap around the forearm area. problem was the area to be covered wasn't a flat surface to begin with, so the sticker was not a good fit, and comes off easily >.>

the weapons for the Sandrock Custom is supposedly the big draw... and they _are_ big. but the swords are so heavy there's no way the model can hold it up! this limits the poseablilty a whole lot, as the swords have to stay on the floor, or be held up vertically. by replacing the swords' handles they could be snapped into the back of the model, forming a pair of wing like structure. but again, it's so heavy, that it tends to tip the model backwards.

total build time is about an hour, marker detailing took another hr, but over all i can't give this model anything more than a 4 out of 10. need to replace this with something better soon... :)

There's no way around it... the Aegis Gundam... is pink. >.<  

This Mobile Suit (MS) comes from the anime Gundam Seeds, was one of the original prototype stolen by ZAFT early in the show. Piloted by Aslan Zara, its one of the more powerful suits in the first half of the anime.

Aegis Gundam severs as my introduction to the 'transformable' gundam models, and it's a safe bet that i won't be building any more of these. the transformation process is awkward, and the end result doesn't really look like anything remotely cool (as oppose to say, macross's veritech fighters). worse, because the model has to transform, a lot of stability in the robot form is sacraficed - this thing doesn't stand up well, has a lot of shaky joints, and is just not very posable.

the fighter form, with the 4 claws and the center beam cannon, is actually pretty close to how it looked like in the anime. but nothing snaps into place and the whole thing is shaky - u can't really play with it with out messing up the positions of all the pieces.

As a HG model, the Aegis Gundam comes in about 200 pieces, and since it's just pink, you do need to use some marker to detail the panels. build time is around 4 hr +. over all i'll give this a 5 out of 10. tho i have to say i was surprised the 1:144 size model could transform at all - I had assumed that only the 1:100 version of Aegis will do that.

Recently I bought a Gundam model kit as a b-day gift for one of my cousin, than got hooked on building them myself, and ended up buying and building a bunch over the last month (check out my List)... d'oh! like the hobby shop owner said to me a few days ago, "too bad for you, but great for me!"

The CGUE Deep Arms is a Mobile Suit (MS) from the anime Gundam Seeds Destiny, which is currently airing in Japan. what attracted me to this model was its coloring - the blue and gold, well, more like yellow... reminds me of UCLA i guess, haha.

the model itself is a bit less than what i expected. the joints are fairly flexible with the usual inner rubber sockets. the thing is Deep Arms has some balance problem - it's feet are not articulate enough nor heavy enough to support it's top-heavy body, and the twin cannons on its shoulders doesn't help, either. also, the backpack design, while fancy,really doesn't do anything, it just comes out to a big solid chunk of grey plastic. the biggiest peeve i had with the Deep Arms however is its face... all of the CGUE's has this pig face design that's just REALLY ugly. 

accessory wise, this model is a bit weird. the standard equipment is just the beam bastard sword, but it also comes with a bunch of things the menu tells you not to build - which includes a beam rifle and a chain gun that attanches to the forearm. the sword's design isn't bad, but man the coloring is terrible... a bright sky blue hand guard? what the heck were they smoking when they put that together? it's almost as bad as the M.E.T.O.R's light purple missiles...

over all, i'll give the Deep Arms a 7 out of 10. i like the coloring, and it could achieve some cool poses, however limited. the head could use some more details, and while you don't really need to use Gundam markers to detail the panels(black on dark blue is just not very notecible, you do need to paint quite a bit of it (especially the backpack) to make it look good.

Total Build Time: 3 hr+, being a High Grade (HG) model, it comes in about 160 pieces, but it's not hard to build. if i didn't bother with markiing the panel details it could probably be done in less than 2 hr.