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LM314V21 Victory 2 Gundam
Series: 1/100 Title: LM314V21 Victory 2 Gundam Release Date: 1993 Suggested Price: ¥ 1500 No. of Parts: 7 runners + 1 runner polycaps Plastic colors: white, red, blue, gray, yellow, clear, clear pink Gimmicks: beam rifle, beam saber, beam fan, beam shield, transformation into Core Fighter, V2 Top, or V2 Bottom
Contributor: Chris 'KokopelliChindi' Knudtson Date: July 25, 2004 Truthfully, I built my V2 out of the spare parts of the V2 Buster and V2 Assault kits. However, I checked which parts came with the original V2 kit. Due to the size of the V2 it’s half way between a normal 1/100 and a 1/144 in size. One of the first things that I noticed about this kit is a tree with multicolored parts on it. Those are nice, but the lemon yellow polycaps?? What were they thinking?
The face and V-fin are both molded in two colors so all the paint that’s needed is green for the sensors. There’s only the clear eyes and a polycap between the two halves of the head. The head attaches to a peg on the collar. There’s 360° rotation and good up and down movement. The head and collar assembly plugs into the torso. Unfortunately, the head is oversized compared to the body.
A gray support piece runs through the entire torso from chest to crotch. This means a fixed waist. There are 3 sections to the torso assembly. The first part consists of the gray support piece with the cockpit, vent, and crotch piece attached to it. The second is a blue “cradle” that the arms and skirt armors attach to. Instead of being attached to the torso, the skirt armor hangs off a plate that connects to the underside of the torso, which gives the legs a wide range of movement. There are plugs in the hard points for optional equipment. The rear skirt armor is hollow. Third is the upper torso which plugs into the two lower halves. This part doubles as the Core Fighter and has a folding hatch and opening wings. The wings pieces are molded in both blue and yellow. The upper torso has a habit of pulling away from the rest of the body so if you don’t plan on showing off the transformation I would recommend gluing it in.
The arms are a bit of a disappointment due the necessary construction to simulate the V2’s transformation. The shoulder armor is as undersized as the head is oversized. The shoulder polycap is exposed due to a gap in the upper armor. The lower arm consists of three joints enclosed by the arm frame. The first is the connection to the upper arm, the second is the red beam shield generator, and the third is the rotating hand block. The result of this construction is that the arm can look a little hollow and only has about 80° of movement. The hands have a fixed thumb and gripping fingers.
Fortunately, the legs are good. The upper and lower have two pieces enclosing polycaps with a knee block. The knee joints have large hollow spaces that look horrible from the back but can’t be seen in the front. The knee armors are hollow on the inside. There are plugs in the hard points for optional equipment. The feet are molded in red and white and consist of a forward and rearward part. The there’s a space in-between them for the transformation that looks hollow, but only when seen from the bottom.
Beam rifle- The nice and simple with the oversized sight. The V2 holds it easily and the barrel rotates so it can be attached to the top section or held in a stabilized firing position. Beam saber- One piece of clear pink plastic, the handle needs to be painted. Also, it’s easy to get scars on the clear plastic when cutting it off the tree. Beam fan- Same as the beam saber but has less of a problem with scars and looks better. Beam shield- Excellent molding to get the star burst on the plastic. The red generator has a piece that is removed. fits through the hole in the shield, and plugs into the main part again. Transformation- For the Core Fighter, the upper part of the torso is removed. The head and collar are taken out and covered by a hinged flap. The lower parts of the wings close and a cockpit has to be added. For the Top Fighter, the arms and skirt armors are removed from the torso. The outer part of the shoulder armor extends to allow the entire shoulder assembly to rotate up. The hands are removed and the block is rotated inside the arm. A piece can be put in place of the hand to carry a beam rifle. The skirt armors fold up. This all connects to a frame. The Core Fighter can then connect to this framework. For the Bottom Fighter, the legs have to be removed. A flap in the feet folds inward and the feet collapse into each other. This plugs into a framework like the top section. It also has a section the Core Fighter can plug into.
Due to the V2’s size there was only so much that could be done with kit. However the pieces are well molded and the multi-colored parts are great. The Core Fighter looks good but the top and bottom fighters look ridiculous. The transformation is a joke and the kit is best glued in MS mode for stability. I’ve never had to paint polycaps before but the lemon yellow really stands out at the joints. The regular paint scheme looks bland and the kit is really touched up by painting the little detail marks seen in the lineart of the instructions. A good kit and its flaws can be easily solved, but it still feels lacking in some areas. Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars <<back to Gundam |
