Gunpla - #7 - HG 00 Gundam Seven Sword/G Review

The fifth of my collection and ... damn, I love this kit. Not only because of the design, but also the weapons it got. I will go straight here, 00 Gundam Seven Sword/G (007S) probably has the most melee weapons than any other gundams ever had. You'll get two GN beam sabers, one GN sword II long, one GN sword II short, one GN buster sword II, two GN katars, and a GN sword II blaster. Hence, practically 007S has 8 swords in total. And to mention that this is a HG kit, it's just like a treasure if you are short on budget.

007S is basically the same kit with original HG 00, of course with addition of tons of weapons. Hence, this kit will be compatible with the add-ons/weapons from the original 00. 007S could be combined with HG 1/144 0 Raiser to become 00 Raiser Gundam + Seven Sword/G .. and it's awesome ! It's also much cheaper than to buy two 00 kits together IMHO.

The articulation of this kit is superb. 007S's joints is so sturdy as it could support weights from its massive weapons (especially the GN Buster sword), hence provides so many posing option. My complaint come from the hand joints. It seems that the weight of the weapons could makes them loose by time, thus it's better not to replace between open and close palm so often. But the most annoying thing is the sticker for the V-fins. I don't know the reason why Bandai did not paint them instead, but IMHO the sticker is ugly :-/

Overall, 007S is a fantastic kit and one my favorites among Gundam universe. If you don't have 00 kit and want to have the first one, I suggest you to buy this kit because it could be combine with 00 add-ons such as 0 Raiser, as I described on another post. :-)

With GN Sword II Blaster  (Sword Mode)

With GN Sword II Blaster (Rifle Mode)

With GN Buster Sword II (Sword Mode)

With GN Buster Sword II (Shield Mode)

With GN Sword II Long (Sword Mode)

With GN Sword II Long and Short (Sword Mode)

With GN Katars

With GN Beam Sabers

Combine 007S and 0 Raiser ... and you will get THIS !!

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GN-0000GNHW/7SG 00 Gundam Seven Sword/G

Pros :

• Tons of cool weapons FTW
• Superb articulation for cool poses
• Compatible with original 00 add-ons

Cons :

• Ugly sticker for the V-fins. Bah.
• Weak hand joints and loose GN Sword II Blaster peg
• No decals, only stickers

Gunpla - #6 - HG 00 Gundam Seven Sword/G + 0 Raiser Review

Well, this is actually not a new kit, but rather a combination between two kits: 00 Seven Sword/G and 0 Raiser. As I mentioned from the other review, 00 Seven Sword (00SS) is actually a variant of the normal 00 Gundam, and that means it would be compatible with the normal 00 add-ons as well. I've been thinking to add an "upgrade" for my 00SS since long time ago. However, 0 Raiser unit was very hard to find at any stores in Jakarta, and I spent almost 2 months for searching it on internet. But finally, I've found it at one shop in another city, and I immediately bought it even though the price was quite expensive. You know, this hobby could suck a lot of money from your pocket, but we just couldn't help it, could we ? :-p

From 00SS, you'll get 8 sets of weapons (beam saber x 2, GN Sword II long, GN Sword II short, GN Buster sword II, GN katar x 2. and GN Sword II blaster), while from 0 Raiser, you'll get GN Shield x 2 and   GN sword connector. While GN shields are quite mediocre compared to the other weapons, I could say that GM sword connector is the real bonus. This connector can attach two GN Sword II to form a GN Sword Staff. Not only for normal 00, it also works for 00SS GN Sword II long and short.

Tons of weapons. Hey, that's the GN sword connector in the middle.

This is the real bonus !

I was really amazed after combining 00SS and 0 Raiser. It was really really badass ! With tons of weapons attached all over the body, it looks much more bulky and menacing than ever. Of course, with the addition of 0 Raiser means that GN blaster and buster sword should be held on both hands. The extra weapons also added some stress and weight on the kits (especially hand), but the sturdy joints of 00 still could manage this.

00 angelic walk pose.

Now, come the best part. With such extra weapons, 00 practically has so many options for posing purpose. You could combine these weapons for almost unlimited variations. It's really cool and fun :-)

With GN blaster and buster sword (shield mode)

With GN sword staff. The GN blaster and buster sword were taken off.

With GN sword staff and GN shield combined.

With GN Sword Staff and GN shield (separated on each hands).

Errr ... GN sword fork on the right hand ? LOL

What's this ? GN scythe ? LOL

With such playing options like that, I have no choice other than give this kit an almost perfect mark, 9.5 for the extra features. Therefore, if you have already bought 00SS, I recommend you to buy 0 Raiser as well. It's much cheaper that if you buy two 00 kits. Of course, some people could have another opinion, especially if they want to have the GN sword III :-)

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GN 0000GNHW/7SG + GNR 010 00 Raiser Gundam + Seven Sword/G

Pros :

• Tons of weapons. Hands down.
• So many playing/posing options.

Cons :

• No extra decals.
• Put more stress and weight to the 00 unit.

Gunpla - #5 - HGUC Ex-S Gundam Review

The sixth member of my gunpla fleets. Tell the truth, I didn't know much about this guy. I saw it for the first time on one of gunpla review website, where the author put the image as the page banner. According to the information i found on the internet, Ex-S Gundam is one of the first designs of the famous Katoki Hajime (Gundam Sentinel Photo Novel). 

As the name implies, Ex-S (sometimes read as : "Excess") stands for "Extraordinary Superior" ... and it's HUGE. This guy is a monster compared with  my other HG kits. As the biggest of my collection, I suppose its size is almost similar with Master Grade kits. If I put Buster side-by-side with Ex-S, then the former's height is still below the later's chest. O_o.

Buster and Ex-S

I like the design, especially for the bulky shoulder and backpack. It is too bad that this kit could not transform as its MG counterparts. The articulation is also so limited because of its bulky armor. Simply speaking, this kit could only stands, without any other poses such as kneeling, crouching, etc. Despite above limitations, at least this HG kit still could stand by its own without an action base, hence you could still put it on the top of your desktop without any problem (MG Ex-S is so heavy as it needs an action base to support the weight).

Another cool thing is the rifle. It looks like a sniper rifle with an "UFO" attached to it. I've never seen such weapon exist LOL. However, the "UFO" disk is a little loose, so I plan to glue it later.

After all, Ex-S is an amazing HG model kit. In spite of the bulky design and some design limitations, it still could stand by its own, but I recommend you to put it on the action base for the better posing options.

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MSA - 0011 [Ext] Ex-S Gundam 

Pros :

• Cool bulky design and nice color scheme.
• Badass sniper(?) rifle.
• Able to stand without an action base compared with its MG counterpart.

Cons :

• Very limited articulation.
• Could not transform to G-cruiser mode as its MG counterpart.
• Some parts of the rifle are loose, especially the disk.

Gunpla - #4 - HGUC Jesta Review

If you ask me what was the best design for grunt units in Gundam history, then It should be Jesta. I was getting bored after building my latest HG Gundam kit, Unicorn. Then, I decided to switch my attention to another types of gunpla, that is the grunt units. Recently, I watched Unicorn Gundam OVA, and I really amazed with the design of mobile suits in the movie. The grunt units such as Jegan, Zaku or even GM looked so damn cool as they were different designs from the original series. It was the first time when I saw Jesta on episode 4 of the OVA. 

RGM-96X Jesta is high performance special operation mobile suit based on RGM-89 Jegan. Based on the story, Jesta was built mainly for one purpose : escort the Unicorn Gundam as the Destroy-Mode of RX-0 is time limited. Simply speaking, Jesta should handle the 'grunts' enemy units, while Unicorn deals with the 'boss', especially the newtype weapons. In the OVA, there were three Jesta units shown, and they were assigned to the Londo Bell elite mobile suit team, the Tri-Stars.

Back to the design, HGUC Jesta is an awesome model kit. The sturdy and menacing looks, combined with the special-ops dark color scheme are just to cool ! Compared to Jegan, Jesta has heftier body and armor. And Its main weapon, Beam Carbine, should be one of the coolest weapon in the Gundam history. You'll get seven sets of hands : 2 closed palms, 2 grasped palms, 2 opened palms, and 1 rifle palm. The model provide two beam sabers, but since the holder is the only one attached on Jesta's left arm, we could only use one beam saber. This kit also provides tons of decals, including number stickers in case you want to make a platoon of Jesta (if you have money, that is). LOL.

Overall, Jesta is definitely my fav grunt units, second only to Gundam. The design, color scheme and weapons are way way cooler than any other grunt units (in my opinion). And since Jesta Cannon, the assault-variant of Jesta has been already released, I couldn't wait to build and pair it with the original Jesta :-)

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RGM-96X Jesta

Pros :

• Hefty and sturdy builds. 
• Cool special-ops color scheme.
• Beam carbine and the shield are just awesome.

Cons :

• No beam rifle as depicted on movie.