Series: High Grade (HG) 1/144
Title: XXXG-01SR2 Sandrock Custom
Release Date: 06/2000
Suggested Price: ¥ 800
No. of Parts: 5 runners + 1 runner polycaps
Plastic colors: blue, black, white, gray, yellow
Gimmicks: heat shotel (2), shield, optional torso

Introduction

Contributor: Chris "KokopelliChindi" Knudston
Date: April 16, 2005

The Sandrock Custom only shows up to do some damage in the last battle of the OVA. Quatre’s Gundam got a Katoki facelift with most of the major features changed and a new color scheme. Most of the weapons were also dropped, but to compensate, the shotels were made extra huge. The EW 1/144 line is a major step above the horrible Gundam Wing 1/144 line. The series is called High Grade fighting action because it focuses on trying to make the models recreate the poses seen onscreen.

Head

The helmet and mohawk are both separate and made of two pieces. There’s the face piece and the V-fin too. The helmet’s really wide and restricts movement just a little. It also makes the face seem rather small and there’s a large gap in the back. The crest also isn’t held tight by the helmet and tends to rattle around. Stickers come for the chin, eyes, and V-fin, but not for the sensor on the mohawk.

Torso

There are two torsos: one standard one, and a bend forward one for simulating a double-shotel blow. Both are constructed the same way with two halves for the upper and lower sections and pieces for the chest vents. The chest vents really stick out and look like they were stuck on rather than part of the suit. Head, arms, lower body, and backpack all attach to whichever torso you use. The main part of the backpack doesn’t really come together well and has large gaps in it along with exposed polycaps. The two shotel-holders plug into the polycaps and have some up-and-down movement. The holes in the torso are a little tight and are best widened to attach the backpack. The waist is simple with a moveable piece for the front skirt armor, hinged side armors, and a fixed rear plate. The raised parts on the skirt armor restrict waist movement a little, but not that bad. Stickers come for the colored parts on the skirt armor.

Arms

Both upper and lower arms are two halves. The polycap only allows 90 degrees of motion at the elbow. The shoulder armor has a nice feather patter on it with two inserts on the inside wide a similar design. Blue guards attach near the shoulder. There’s a bit of a depression on the top of the shoulder armor. The arms can easily support the weight of the shotels and there are sockets on each of the forearms to plug the shield in. There are open, fist, gripping, and shotel handle handsets. Stickers come for the forearms and shoulders.

Legs

Upper and lower legs and the feet are all constructed from two halves that snap together. The lower legs have vents and panel lines molded into them. The legs plug together at the knee blocks. The knee block allows for plenty of movement of the legs, however the feet never really rest flat in the dynamic poses. The tops of the feet need to be painted white and the joints and vents need to be painted gray. Overall the legs are excellent and allow for some good poses.

Weapons and Accessories

Heat shotels- They come all in white so break out the black and silver to make them look decent. There are two sets of handles: one with hands connected to them and another without. Each attaches to a hollow section of the blades that’s hidden in the box pictures. The handles without hands allow the shotels to be slid into the holders on the Sandrock’s back. Its a little tight and breaking pieces is possible when sliding them in.

Shield- The shield was never seen in animation but is included anyway. It’s got a sticker for the snake symbol on the front. There’s handles molded into it that the shotels can attach to form the cross crusher move. With the large shotels the cross crusher is so large it makes the Sandrock look unbalanced.

Conclusion

The Sandrock Custom’s focus on ‘fighting action’ makes it feel more like an action figure kit than a model kit. Of course, unlike a MSiA it requires a paint job and a little puttying work to make it look good. The shield is a little strange, since it was not featured in the animation and the option armor that was seen is absent. The other options for this suit are a MSiA that requires less work but has fewer options, and the 1/100 model that’s more expensive but includes the optional armor seen in the animation. The work required for this kit was a little aggravating. I think that the kit I got suffered from bad molding since many of the pieces didn’t fit together well. I’d give my kit a 2.5 because of that, but should the fitting problems be solved, I’d give it a 3.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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