Series: High Grade (HG) 1/144
Title: 1/144 XXXG-01D2 Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom
Release Date: 06/2000
Suggested Price: ¥ 1000
No. of Parts: 3 runners + 1 runner polycaps
Plastic colors: gray, black, red, white, yellow
Gimmicks: beam scythe, foldable wings, optional torso

Introduction

Contributor: Chris "KokopelliChindi" Knudston
Date: August 28, 2005

Deathscythe was a big black Gundam with a scythe (awesome), then it got wings and a double scythe (double awesome); now it drops all the gimmicks and come straight with bat-wings and a single scythe (wow…just wow). Yep, this is a good guy suit despite the fact it looks like a demon with Death’s trademark farm implement. Like the other EW HG kits the DHC focuses on trying to re-create the poses seen in the animation with the ‘Fighting Action’ engineering and optional parts.

Head

Two halves with the faceplate in the middle. The V-fin plugs into the head. The raised vents on the head are easy to paint. The head sits high on the neck joint so it has a large range of movement. Stickers come for the chin and eyes, but don’t look too impressive.

Torso

Both the upper and lower torsos are made of two halves the enclose polycaps. The hips have a fixed back plate, individual side armors, and a single forward skirt armor. While looking nice, the torso seems rather small and the hips rather wide, but this means it’s easy to rotate the waist. The wings attach through a small backpack that plugs into the torso through a polycap and a peg. The wings are five parts, three attach directly to the backpack and the other two connect to the wings with little plugs. I really don’t like the connectors since they break the flow of the wings. There are indentations on the wings that I think are suppose to be thrusters. The wings can shift around slightly, but this again breaks the flow of the wings. By removing the connectors, plugging the wings in on different pegs, and folding the red spikes in, the wings can wrap around the DHC. This can be a challenge to do in anything but a static pose. The wings can be changed to semi-open too, allowing for various poses. Stickers come for the collar, chest vents, and forward skirt armor but not the rear armor or the grey parts near the head.

Arms

The arms build on the basic design for the EW line: both upper and lower arms have two halves enclosing polycaps and having about 90o of movement at the elbow. A slot on the forearm allows for the spiked armor to attach. Its hollow on the inside and it shows on the ends. A sticker comes for the white part of the guard. The 2-part shoulder armor slides over the upper arm and has a white piece that snaps into place. These parts fold down when the wings wrap around the DHC. Unfortunately, the shoulder armor can come into contact with the wings, limiting dramatic poses. The armor can fold down to make room, but this doesn’t look very good. The standard gripping, fist, and open hands come. The forearm guard doesn’t get in the way of the hands very much.

Legs

The thighs are standard 2 part assemblies and the lower leg halves enclose a white spike at the knee. There are some gaps where the knee armor is enclosed and it can rattle around if not secured. The feet are two halves and have a large spike at the toe. The feet seem to have a problem snapping together tightly, so some glue or putty would be a good idea. The toe spike allows for the DHC to balance with one leg back and the other flat on the ground as if it was running (excellent for slashing poses).

Weapons and Accessories

Beam scythe- The handle is one long piece that the blade inserts into, then a cover piece goes over the blade. The blade is molded nice, but unfortunately is all yellow. You can put the scythe together without the blade if you want an unlit one. The hands slide onto the far end and move up to position. The thin end allows the hand to rotate so it can hold in any position, but the one in the thick end will stay put.

Optional torso- Built exactly like the other torso. The lower half of the torso is twisted and the arm pegs are offset. There’s a small gap between the cockpit and the lower torso that’s not very noticeable. Allows for the shoulders to be angled up and to simulate a slashing pose.

Conclusion

The HG 1/144 Deathscythe Hell Custom is a nice representation of the suit, but like the other EW kits the focus on re-creating poses makes it feel like a toy at times. The wings are the big attraction of the kit, but they have a habit of falling off the model or getting in the way of the shoulder armor. Sacrificing the folding gimmick to remove the connector plugs would have improved the look of the wings. A lot of the parts are made to fold to go into the wings-closed mode, which makes it a little floppy. However there is no doubt that this kit can produce a DHC ready to slice through its enemies in its all its dark, spiky glory.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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