| PG
1/60 RX-78-2 Gundam
Series: Perfect Grade (PG) 1/60 Title: RX-78-2 Gundam Release Date: 11/1998 Suggested Price: ¥ 12000 No. of Parts: 626 (23 runners) Plastic colors: red, yellow, blue, black, white, gray Gimmicks: shield, beam rifle, beam sabers (2), transforming Core Fighter, light up head unit, numerous extra transfers, screws
Contributor: Corey Mello Photography: SladeTekka Date: February 3, 2004 Well, it seems you've decided to enter the big leagues of model building, eh? In Gundam, it doesn't get bigger than this. One of the first three Perfect Grades created by Bandai, the Gundam is reproduced perfectly (go figure) in all it's glory. Not only do you get a model detailing every gear and actuator of the RX-78, but it comes with a booklet giving full technical detail of the Gundam, from construction information to performance data. It also brings a new challenge to the Gundam fan: wiring electronics! Hope you have a steady hand if you want Gundam's eyes beaming...
The head is perhaps the most challenging part of this model. It gives you the task of not only putting the head together, easily more time consuming than an average HGUC, but then tests your hand-eye coordination with wiring the light unit to the battery unit you insert in the back. It isn't easy for a beginner, especially if you've never actually done anything of this sort before, so I'd suggest practicing with some wires first. Of course, the eyes themselves are clear plastic, and everything moves, even on the head! The side vents can open, so much that you can expose the entire rear of Gundam's head (which is where the power switch and battery slot for it is, tastefully hidden in the numerous details). The camera cover can also lift up, allowing exposure of the rear and front cameras. All the parts fit snug; the parts will never fall off while posing your White Devil, but they easily come off if you feel like showing off that semi-monocoque interior. On a final note, the motion range is no less than perfect. I've had mine for over a year now, and it still fits firmly on the ball and socket and holding firm where you position it.
The torso is by far the most entertaining part to build on the Perfect Grade Gundam. Since you can simply insert the Core Block, that's all I'll detail here. First off, the Core Block is mainly one large unit. A single, gray chunk of plastic composed of two halves and a booster array posterior to lock into the bottom. It is also the only part of the Perfect Grade that requires painting. But since you got it for free, and you're not showcasing the Core Block if you have the Core Fighter out anyhow, who cares? Moving on, the upper torso has flip up panels over the ventilation ports, exposing the thick grating underneath. The vents can also be opened or shut much like window blinds. Finally, the door for Gundam's cockpit can be fully opened, or the actual pilot hatch can be lifted. As for the lower section, it can open all the yellow generator ports, as well as swing open the crotch armor. The rear of the skirt can be pulled down to reveal a hardpoint for the beam rifle. It holds the rifle incredibly well considering it's only a peg. Another good use for the Core Block, if you work on the torso before the Core Fighter, is that the two torso segments have no way of locking in without the Core Block/Fighter. Not only does the torso fit surprisingly tight, but this setup allows for minor torso movement up and down as well as side to side.
So now we get to the chore of the Perfect Grades, the limbs. Just to warn you now, you better go into building a limb with a lot of excitement, because not only are they complex and rather difficult to build in comparison to the rest... oh, and that's not the real reason. When you finish a limb, you'll probably feel proud.. then realize you have to spend another few hours building the EXACT same thing. In my opinion, that is the worst part of Perfect Grades. Moving on, the arms are interesting to build. You get to put together actuators, pistons, and the hands. All the armor of the arm is removable, exposing the thick mechanical structure underneath. You'll also deal with a LOT of screws in this section, which can be tricky if you don't know Japanese. The arm also the opening ports for the never-before mentioned verniers, in the lower and upper arms. The upper ones gave me some trouble; they don't hold as well as I'd prefer. In the end though, the arms are extremely sturdy. While this doesn't make for good playing around, it does ensure that the model can accomplish any pose you want... after all, this is the perfect Gundam model. The hands are a game of patience,but when you finish them, they look simply amazing. They grip everything they need to perfectly, and have a pair of slots for weapons to plug into, for a firm hold.
Since you already read about the arms, I won't reiterate for the legs. They are sturdy, and will keep your Gundam standing tall (very tall) over everything in your... house. Anyway, I've never had problems posing it. Of course, the original Gundam isn't back heavy like many future MS, so this isn't much problem anyhow. The feet plates have two separate parts, which act as 'toes' and a 'heel'. In other words, the foot has articulation! If you put it in a running pose, you can set it up so just the toes of the RX-78 touch the ground, and the toe plate will bend to help support that. An awesome gimmick, that's all I can say. Otherwise, the armor is all removable once more, and the leg verniers are poseable and have the plate on them to open up and expose them. Not much I can say about them, it's built like the arms, with tons of moving gimmicks you can watch.
I have to say right now, who knew the Randsel was so important to Gundam. The manual makes a big deal out of it, that's for sure. It is nice though, holding the beam saber hilts well, as well as having movable thruster nozzles at the bottom. It can also lift off, exposing the mechanical interior. The beam sabers are simply constructed, but have an extra gimmick in them. Remember how I mentioned the plugs in the weapons to go into the hand slots? The saber plugs are on a ball and socket joint. What that means is that you can set the plug however you want. Want the gundam flipping someone off with it's saber? Turn the plug 90 degrees and stick it between the four fingers, then loop them around it. The possibilities are endless, and proves this toy can do any pose a mobile suit could. The rifle is well built, but that's about all there is to say about it. You can move the scope, which is interesting, but the lift-up dorsal section of the rifle is sort of useless in my opinion. The shield is the best part of the accessories here. It has a clear plastic 'sight' in the top of the shield, a blast cover for the clear plastic that slides up, and a handle that holds by clamping onto the forearm, and swinging into the hand and plugging in both slots. In short, Gundam will NOT drop the shield. Throw rocks at it. No, don't do that you moron, you paid at least 150 dollars for the damn thing! What makes the shield so awesome though? The aforementioned handle is on a track, meaning the handle can slide up and down the shield. In my opinion, it again vastly increases the number of poses Gundam can do, and makes it seem even more excellent, at least in my eyes.
Core Fighter- So I lied. If you're an original Gundam fanatic, which you must be putting the cash in for this thing, then this is probably the best part. The transforming Core Fighter is just, a great piece of work. Granted, if there's one part of this model you want to detail, it's the core fighter, but it does come with panel lines to handle it. Of course, you'll probably need a larger detailing pen than you're used to. None the less, it's a snap to build. For me, I finished it in less time than the head. It has an awesome weapons gimmick, by the way. If you put in the work to paint them, it has the flip up missile launcher ports. They take a little to lift up, but that's in order to ensure they never interfere with quick transformations and docking with Gundam. After about an hour of being in a complete rave that I had my own Core Fighter, I finally played around with the transformation. It is fairly simple to transform, apparently, and the wings are made perfectly in that when pressed all the way against the Fighter, they 'pop' into place, and take some pressure to pop out. The nose is a little loose, but that is negligible, since if you're making the Core Block, the torso of Gundam secures it quite nicely in aforementioned lower torso port. Also, it comes with three 'wheels' that must be plugged in by opening the small ports on the belly of the fighter. I don't think they made it this way out of simplicity, but more for necessity, since the relatively small Core Fighter seems it would be too complex having the wheels stored to be dropped down all the time.
You get what you paid for, right? You paid for a model kit of the grandest scale, something you can proudly pose in your home and say you constructed with care. What is there better than that? With so many gimmicks, and so much poseability, the Perfect Grade Gundam will last a long time and never be looked down upon.. unless you have Perfect Grade Zeta or something. It's not made for play, with it's stiff joints and slow moveability, so you better not have put in that much money expecting a toy. Unless it's for the Core Fighter. Zoom! Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars<<back to Gundam |
