| MG
1/100 RX-78GP03S Gundam "Dendrobium Stamen"
Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100 Title: RX-78GP03S Gundam "Dendrobium Stamen" Release Date: 04/2001 Suggested Price: ¥ 3500 No. of Parts: 14 runners (??? parts) + polycaps + stickers Plastic colors: white, blue, red, yellow, dark gray, light gray, translucent red, clear Gimmicks: beam rifle, folding bazooka, folding shield, beam saber (2), folding claw-arm (2), Core Fighter/Core Block system
Contributor: Richie Ramos Photography: Wilson "Oruma Yar" Lam Date: January 21, 2004 This kit has been the subject of nearly two year's worth of email. People have complained and conjectured on the merits of its production; now, I can truly say that it's worthy of all the hype. I'm talking about the MG GP03S 1/100 scale kit from Bandai, of course. This Baby is actually more famous for what it doesn't have with the kit, which is the mobile armor Dendrobium and I have some stuff about that later on. For now, let's get on with the kit itself.
The head seems to be bit more bulbous than what we see in the anime; the forehead has an almost Kämpfer-ish bulge to it, which looks disconcerting at first, until I realize that I've seen this kind of bulging style before on another kit: the 1/100 HG V2 Gundam. In fact, the whole design of the head seems to be based on the "future" V2 design. Also, it has no head vulcans, which somehow makes it look smoother. The trademark gigantic Katoki bolts are on both ear vents, and the midline seam of the helmet pretty much hides the actual kit seams. The back of the head is very much in the classic Katoki RX-78 vein.
The upper chest is basically a cover armor system based on the GP01/Fb designs. Even the cockpit area is based on it, with the frontispiece and the red cockpit doors able to open separately. ABS plastic is used for the hinges; it's a bit loose, so if you want to pose it with main frontispiece up, you have to use white glue to keep it up; The torso area is directly taken from the GP01/Fb design, including the attachment hardpoints. However, this is also the reason why the linear seat configuration cannot be done. BOO. It's a glaring problem in technical accuracy of he original design, and I am disappointed. The waist is basically a gigantic ball joint, and the waist plates are standard MG style, with the exception of the back frame and ball joints needed for the thruster / waist side-plates. The waist side-plates are much like the original 1/144 version's; the actual waist plates are separate small plates attached to the hips by polycaps, while the back plates are attached to the back of the waist, via large ball joint / polycap affairs. The back thruster / waist plates also have two smaller flaps that can move, just like in the 1/144 version.
The shoulder plates follow classic MG style, with the shoulder plates connected by an ABS plastic plate to the shoulder rods. The shoulders themselves seem to be similar to the MG Gundam Mk-II, but after that, the upper arms are more in line with newer MG's, with a core skeleton covered by a one-piece armor sheath. The elbows are standard double-joints in the style of the MG GP02A. The forearms, however, are FANTASTIC. They actually do open up and unfold the technical arms; while I find the foldout arms to be kinda useless, I do appreciate the skill and engineering involved in its construction, since it has an internal skeleton and external cover plates as well! Incredible, I tell you. The wrist joints are canted inward, and are not movable, which seems to be the limitation of the forearm design due to the foldout mechanics. I'm not complaining too much about it, but it does make it look gorilla-ish at times. As usual, the wrist-plates are free-floating, held only in place by the hands themselves. The hands of the GP03S are something new: ABS plastic, and there are three sets. The first are spread-eagle hands, with incredible detail. And they are in flexed positions, not relaxed ones, making them good for action poses. One has to use these hands if one will use the foldout technical arms. The second set are fist-grip hands, which have ball-jointed thumbs and just enough hinging to close on sabers or to form a fist, and for use with gun grips which are thin. Very nice, but not much detail at the fingers. The last are gun-grip hands, again with ball joint thumbs and with a gun-grip position to the fingers, but otherwise, it's the same as the second set.
The legs are standard fare for MG's as well, with internal skeletons and exoskeletal plates. Nothing new here, except for the new polycap designs for the knee joints which make it hidden from view. A definite improvement. The complicated part is the ankle array, a multiple joint system that incorporates two ball joints to make it VERY poseable. Hurray! The ankle plates are loosely connected to the sides of the ankle itself, and are actually very mobile; it allows for more movement, even though it does look restrictive. The feet are single piece types, not like the GP01/Fb and the GP02A, which I approve of, since it makes the design more stable, in my opinion, though it is less realistic, admittedly. The ankles are also the only joints that have screw-joints, which makes for a very stable platform.
Aside from the pair of sabers, it has a beam rifle that is essentially the same as the GP01/Fb's, and it has the folding bazooka that we see it pick out from one of the MA Dendrobium's storage areas. Unfortunately, the kit only come with one, so the uber-cool idea of using two bazookas is out of the picture. The barrel locks into place with the rest of the weapon by virtue of a small ABS piece. Very nice. The shield folds into two halves, just like in the 1/144 version. It attaches to the arm by virtue of a small rod that attaches to part of the inner mechanics of the arm, and also by having one of the handles clamped by the technical arm's gripper, which at rest is near the elbow. The underside of the shield also has four extra E-clips for the rifle attached to it, in pairs at both ends. This guy won't run out of ammo anytime soon. Core Block/Backpack (Classic mode)- This is the original Core Block, and as I said before, it does not have the linear seat, so we can forget about continuity accuracy. The backpack thrusters / MA docking pods are in three pieces each: the upper pods, which can swing forward and have opening doors for the beam sabers, the main rectangular block which has the thruster, and the movable thruster fins. The two thruster / docking arrays are attached to the central back spar by ball joints, which makes for a rather complicated poseability problem, since aligning the arrays with the body can be a pain in the butt. However, the way that the three parts of each array moves suggests that it could be attached to something larger like the MA Dendrobium. I hope it isn't a pipe dream, but there it is. The design allows for actual docking with the hypothetical (as of now) MA Dendrobium Orchis. The undersides of the upper pods, which are normally hidden from view, have little stubs that seem to allow for a locking procedure. Yes, I have to admit, the MA Dendrobium Orchis system might be already on some sort of drawing board. Though I'm not holding my breath, the design allows for it.
Core Block/Backpack (Core Fighter mode)- Okay, this is the most controversial part of the kit, the heretofore unseen Core Fighter. It folds up pretty much in the same way as the GP01/Fb's Core Fighter, and it shares the same nose / cockpit parts as the GP01/Fb's counterpart. The back part has swing-wings which swing inward at transformation, and then the two halves turn upwards and then swivel to become something like the original backpack's look. If you use this Core Block, however, you can't use the sabers, since what takes the place of the upper pods are actually the roots of the wings. Strangely enough, I find no detail on the Core Fighter, which would be considered a weapons system it doesn't look like it has any, so I guess this is an unarmed Core spacecraft, rather than a Core Fighter. Unless it has nose guns, which I don't see any.
Just like the series it came from, this version of the GP03S is a continuity buster, what with its lack of a linear seat and the inclusion of a never-before-heard-of Core Fighter. But it is proportioned well, and is a classic Katoki design if I ever saw one, and it seems that the old 1/144 kit (which Katoki also designed) was the "test run" of this beautiful kit. Continuity problems aside, this kit is a must-get. And to be honest, I fell in love with the Core Fighter. Just get the kit; I promise that it's worth
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