Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100
Title: MS-18E Kampfer
Release Date: 01/2001
Suggested Price: ¥ 4000
No. of Parts: ??? + polycaps + paper stickers + soft vinyl tubing
Plastic colors: blue, gray, dark gray, yellow
Gimmicks: bazookas (2), sturm fausts (2), sturm faust ammo,
shotguns with detachable stock (2), chain mine and beam sabers (2)

Introduction

Contributor: Elliott "Hiddenpower" Solomon
Date: October 20, 2003

I have been waiting for this kit ever since I started collecting gunpla because it is one of my favorite designs. Let us launch into the review without further ado.

Head

This model's head is made around a skull like most other MGs. The mono-eye is attached to the skull via a polycap as opposed to the gear mechanism of the MG Zaku II and is adjusted by removing the front
portion of the head and moving the eye that way. The jaw plates have
vents that should be yellow but are molded in the same colors as the rest of the outer armor, and considering I had to attach them separately it would have been nice if they were molded in the correct color.

Torso

The torso of this kit is pretty average and is fine to build, but for me it felt a little hollow. The nylon tubing for the conductive cables is pretty annoying as it will not stay in the sockets for them on the backpack. The backpack also sports two polycap holes that accommodate brackets to hold onto the bazookas allowing you to pose them individually. The lower torso of the model is completely devoid of skirt armor like the lineart. On the back the lower torso also has a polycap to hold the shotgun on a bracket.

Arms

The arms are nice with screws inside the shoulder and elbow to help stability, and it works very nicely. The shoulder armor is attached to the arm by a polycap and a ball joint that is allowed to move left and right. The actual shoulder armor left something to be desired though as they felt a little flimsy. The hands on this guy are pretty basic like those with the MG Zaku II with a poseable thumb and an individually poseable index/trigger finger.

Legs

The legs have two thrusters attached to the thigh of each, one of which can move in and out of the socket. The knees are double jointed as with almost all MGs and in the left and right sides of each respective leg there is a polycap to fit a bracket that holds the sturm fausts. The feet are deceptive in most pictures as they appear to be two part feet when in fact they are one solid foot. The foot mobility is not that good on this kit either as the leg armor above the foot restricts sideways motion meaning that the kit cannot stand flat footed.

Weapons and Accessories

This kit is loaded with weapons, all of which add to the cool factor of the Kampfer. When mounted directly on the kit, the shotguns are nicely made, and both come with a stock. The bazookas have caps that go on either end to make it look like there is a hollow barrel but they're too short, which means you can see inside and tell that it's not hollow. The sturm fausts are simple construction with two half pieces and a stick. The beam sabers come in 3 parts: the top and bottom parts of the handle and the blade, which is molded in yellow transparent plastic. The top part of the
handle is separate so that it can be taken apart and put inside the
legs for storage (which is a bit stupid if you ask me). The crowning
glory of this kit is the chain mine, which is really long (it can wrap
around the kit 2 or 3 times) and it looks impressive when the Kampfer
is posed with it in a full swing action pose.

Conclusion

Overall, this kit is merely average and the coloring of the armor means quite a bit of painting for the purists among you as it's a horrible teal blue as opposed to the brilliant blue of the actual suit from the show. The thrusters are also molded in an orangey yellow. The weapons make the kit a little more bearable as they take attention away from the poor coloring.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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