Reviewed by Hyperion7
Greetings to all gundam fans and dear V-Fins Workshop friends!! It's been quite long since the last review on gundam model kits by us V-Fins Workshop. First, please allow us to apologize for the dully little activities we have in our blogs lately as we are quite occupied with other chores at hands. Finally, the wait is over, we are back again, safe and strong (haha).
Here is our latest gundam model kits review, this time will go to...*speedy drums beating*
Jhang Jhannnnnggg!!!
Let us present..
Master Grade 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam (Version One Year War 0079 Animation Color)
Yeahhh!! Just another awesome kit you can have!!
The very first Gundam in the entire Gundam history and the very first in the first ever Gundam series timeline and also the oldest, longest running gundam chronology, Universal Century (UC). I can say that this is the great grandfather Gundam to all modern gundams that came after. This is the first Gundam that started everything, all the famous Gundamologies (haha), all the great gundam model kits that we have nowadays and many more.
Piloted by none other than the legendary pilot, Amuro Ray, who used this gundam and helped the E.F.S.F to fight the war against the Principality of Zeon, led by his arch nemesis, the legendary Char Aznable. Harnessing the great power of the Gundam and the super piloting skills himself, Amuro Ray and his comrades are able to turn the table agains the Zeon in the famous One Year War battle, as shown in its anime, Mobile Suit Gundam.
Alright, let's proceed with the review on this great MG kit. Basically, this is the many MG kit of RX-78-2 Gundam you can find in the current market. The full name of this gundam kit can be called MG 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. One Year War Animation Color (man, that's quite a mouthfull). As the name suggests, the most significant attributes which make this kit stand out from its other MG counterparts is that this kit are molded in the color which is closely similar to its TV anime series gundam model; which means its entire color are made to match the exact color as you see it in its anime series.
Being the
oldest gundam in history, its has received countless re-manufacturing
and repackaging throughout the entire gunpla history, as one of the
gundam kit with one of the most numbers of different MG packages you can
tell in these 34 years. This kit came out in year 2007, a year earlier
than the latest MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.2.0 . Although not the ultimate
best MG RX-78-2 Gundam kit in the current MG market, (perhaps the
Ver.2.0 has taken this title this far) it still retains it own uniqueness that makes it the closest rival to its Ver.2.0 counterpart. Most notably is its body color and its body lining details. Another advantage this kit won over Ver.2.0 is that it is much cheaper (3200 yen, MYR 125.00, 40 USD), than Ver.2.0 (4200 yen, MYR 160.00, 50 USD).
Personally the most attractive attributes I found on this kit is the design of its gundam head. I don't know is whether is it only me or others as well who find the head design of this particular MG RX-78-2 Gundam is more, I would say cooler and sleeker, kinda more modern and fresh in style in my own words compared to the Ver.2.0, which in turns retained the more classical, retro looks of this gundam in terms of head design. Yes, personally I prefer this MG's head design over Ver.2.0's head design.
The supposely white body color of this kit spots a slightly greenish white rather than the full milky white as seen on the Ver.2.0 kit. Contrary to Ver.2.0's more simplistic looks on the external armors, this Ver. OYW kit has been given a more detailed design on the overall body parts, noticing the super generous numbers of body lining being crafted onto all around the body, the shoulders, hands, waist, legs as well as the weapons/accessories. Honestly speaking, although it makes the gundam kit looks more realistic and mechanical, it also brought quite some disastrous time upon me as I need to use lots of time to draw up almost all the panel linings on the kit (I ended up only finished drawing about 80% of them =.=''). This OYW kit can be easily defined as 1 of the many MG kits in the current market with the most amount of panel lines out there, try it out if you don't believe it, haha =.=''
Another thing I don't really like about the lines is that some of them are quite shallow on the surface, which means you can actually brush them off quite easily if you are the type of gunpla player who likes to play and pose around with your gundams alot; so be careful on this issue though. Fortunately, the end result was satisfying and this kit does look great with most of the panel lines drawn. On the hand, the Ver2.0 has far lesser panel lines to draw compare with this Ver. OYW kit as its design retains the plain and simple looks of RX-78-2 Gundam.
Ahh, just in case should any of you guys notice that the missing "WB 102" decal markings on this kit, notably on its shoulder and shield; alright alright, let me tell you the truth, I screwed up those 2 decals while trying to apply them on the appropriate locations, stupid me T.T
Talking about the weapons and accessories that comes with it, ths Ver. OYW does shy out from
its Ver.2.0 counterpart, as this kit only comes with the most fundamental gears you can name of: the beam rifle, gundam shield, hyper bazooka, 2 beam sabres and the signature gundam hammer. Unlike the Ver2.0, this kit does not come with the seperate core fighter jet, which can be docked into the gundam's torso as seen in the anime, the beam rifle minus the super napalm launcher parts and plus the beam javelin is another weapon which you gonna miss in this Ver. OYW kit (Bandai: well, this 1 is cheaper, and we did give you many...panel lines, LOL).
When comes to some of the main attributes of typical MG kits, such as the body movement and articulations, well this kit does live up to the modern standards of being a decent, if not awesome MG kit, personally I would still assume that this is a great kit to have. Basically, most of the body structures are well proportion, from the inner frames to the external armors. Credit can be given to this Ver. OYW as the overall body parts are very solid yet flexible enough to twist and turn around quite conveniently when you are playing with it. As what I have noticed so far, no loose parts/sections that are too obvious on the entire kit.
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| Heyyy Zaku noobies, watch here, BANG!!!!! |
Assembling this kit is not really that much of a difficult work as it has lesser parts to build up compare to Ver.2.0 and the building process are mostly 2-3 sub pieces make up a main pieces type of work. I do noticed that some of the inner frame parts actually uses the older version of Ver.1.5 parts and recycled into this kit.
Building the upper body part of this gundam is quite straightforward. You can just simply expect the regular routine tasks required for building a typical MG kit, nothing much worth highlighting about for the upper body part and its hands (not all the fingers are fully articulated, though). I would say that the most time-consuming part of building the kit goes to its 2 legs; especially its inner frames. The reason which I'm complaining is that the legs' inner frame parts, mainly the internal skeletons of the legs that controls most of the leg movement, are molded in 2 runners (each for 1 leg) which every of them consists of excessive numbers of tiny runner gates which require a lot of cutting and trimming before I can finally remove the leg skeletons from the runner, 1 of the more time-consuming part in leg building.
Next you need to do some twitching here and there with the leg skeleton to re-position the hydraulic piston around the leg skeleton to the correct direction so that they will do a proper job to assist in the legs bending and stretching after that (I hope my words are not confusing you guys here, haha). Besides, several screws and nuts are provided for you as you need to insert the screws into certain parts of the leg sections to cover up the internal skeleton with the inner frame plates outside, most probably is to secure them in place I guess. Be patient with this part of building the kit, make sure you do it carefully and after you managed to put everything in place, give yourself a pat on the back as you have completed 1 of the most time-consuming part of the entire kit's building process.
Thanks to the solid and flexible build of the kit, bending and stretching its arms and legs around is not much of a problem. Ahh, before I forget, there is, however, a shortcoming on the legs of this kit, which is the joints that connect the 2 thigh to the groin part uses the normal ball-joint type, which means the joint with a ball head stick out from the side and connects to the thigh equipped with the polycaps. As a result, this OYW kit does not allow splitting its legs wide enough until both its ankles touch the floor surface. For this part this kit loses out to Ver.2.0, which uses a different, more flexible type of joints to connect the legs to the body.
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| Seems like someone here is in need of some nice saber-theraphy, hehe... |
Stretching its hands to the back to reach for the beam sabers as shown in the picture above is made possible as the joints around the arms and the shoulders are just as flexible enough to get the job done nicely.
I don't really like the color of the 2 beam sabers of this kit as it is more like translucently pinkish rather than the more usual red as of other MG kits, because I somehow find this color to be kind of weak in terms of power when looked this way, haha.
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| Beam saber max power!!! (Actually taken from another MG kit XD) |
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| Box art action |
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| Storing its beam rifle at the back of its butt when not in use, the hyper bazooka can be stored in the same place as well. |
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| You can attach the shield to be back of the jetpack as well as storing its weapons on the underside of the shield when not in use. |
Most of its weapons are fairly simple to build, as most of them are 2-3 pieces join up to become 1, too bad the hyper bazooka is molded entirely in grey color only; unlike Ver.2.0, having white color for the bazooka's barrel. Nevertheless, the weapons' design are satisfactory enough and looks just as badass to the enemies.
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| The famous "Final Shot" scene action pose as seen in the anime. |
After drawing up most of the panel lines and applying most of the decals and dry-transfer markings onto this kit, it still looks awesome to me, you'll see the difference and appreciate your own hardwork effort to beautify this kit and the end results will be more than just joyful. I suggest that using grey or black color panel lines for most of the lines will be suitable, but still, be careful not to rub off other panel lines or you gonna take double amount of time just to get all the lines done.
Well, I guess here comes to the end of this review of this MG RX-78-2 Ver. OYW. Despite the incomplete set of weapons and accessories provided and some limitations on the leg part, putting these aside still brings you a great MG kit which is worth another compartment of your gundam kits shelf. The overall body proportions are nicely built and the colors are just unique enough to be attractive. Body joints are solid enough but not overly rigid to obscure body movements. Articulation wise, this kit is up to par with other typical MG kit without compromising any of the fundamental attributes you can expect out of it. If you plan to do more modifications and modelling enhancement on this kit, it is highly recommended. This is another great choice to consider besides the Ver.2.0 if you are a loyal RX-78-2 fan who are looking for a decent model to add into your collections.
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| BB RX-78-2 Gundam Animation Color, exactly same color scheme as the MG kit. |
Alright, here is my final verdict on this great MG kit:
Pros
1. Great overall body design, especially the head.
2. Unique and interesting color scheme.
3. Solid yet sufficiently flexible body joints and movements.
4. Panel lines provide a more realistically mechanical feel on the kit.
5. High potential for modelling enhancements and mods.
6. Most decals and dry-transfer markings are well design and fit in just nice.
7. Affordable price.
Cons
1. Some limitations on the legs in terms of articulations.
2. Excessive and some shallow panel lines can be a tiring task.
3. Only basic weapons/accessories provided.
4. No separate core fighter included.
Final rating for this kit: 4.5 out of 5
This concludes the review on MG RX-78-2 Ver. OYW, thank you for taking your time to read through the review and I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know that if there is anything which can be further improve in our blog and please feel free to post your opinions and comments in our facebook page and blog here. Thanks again for all of your support and we will be back soon with more news and reviews so please stay tuned yo!!
See ya and hope you all to have great days ahead!! :D
