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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Gunpla #21 - MG Buster Gundam Review


Buster. My second MG kit. I've loved the design since the first time I watched SEED series. Two big guns, dual misile pods and cool military scheme, this is truly one of the best artillery-type Gundams other than Heavyarms from Wing series. I bought this kit together with Blitz at Yodobashi-camera Yokohama during my stay in Japan last month. As the other remastered MG from SEED, the boxart of Buster is just awesome !

The boxart is just awesome !
I could only build Buster at night after works, hence it took one week for me to finish the kit. There are 13 runners, less than Duel, but there are more details on Buster armors. The inner frame looks similar, but Buster's armors have greater amounts of panel line and segments. One of the most detailed parts is the leg. It took several hours for me, just for building a pair of Buster's legs. Such a pain in the ass if I recalled the time I spent for its HG version. But in my opinion, the sexiest part of Buster is its shoulder. There are two huge missile pods, with 6 missiles for each pods. Yeah, they are less than Heavyarms has, but aesthetically, Buster looks better in term of militaristic theme than the former.  

Big shoulders with even bigger missile pods.
Even though Buster's not equipped with short range weapons such as beam sabers,  you'll get two big guns as the main accessories, and I meant it .. they're truly BIG !  The 350mm gun launcher and 94mm high energy rifle are equipped on the right and the left side of Buster body respectively. You could choose to use one of them or wield them both. And of course, you could also combine the guns to form an Anti-armor shotgun or Hyper-impulse long range energy rifle. Personally, I prefer Buster wields the anti-armor shotgun, as shown on the MG box art. 


Speaking about the decals, you'll get one clear sticker and one dry transfer. Different with its brother unit, Duel, I found no trouble for decaling Buster. The decals simply make Buster looks even much cooler than before ! I really like the decals on one of Buster's arms which shows its OS : "GUNDAM" (as for SEED series, it stands for General Unilateral Neuro - Link Dispersive Automatic Maneuver). 


OK. Now, about the complaints. Well ... there are some parts which easily falling off whenever I posed the Buster. The first and the most irritating ones were side skirts. Buster is usually posed with its huge guns, hence, the legs are usually posed with an "open-wide" stance to balance the weight from the guns. On the other hand, the side skirts tend to slide out from their frames whenever I posed the legs. One of the solutions is to use lower crotch connection for more maneuverable stances. I also plan to use power glue for the side skirts. I will do the same for any other parts which keep fall off, such as the head crest and U-shape parts of Buster guns.

Articulation. It's really AMAZING !! Just look at the pictures below and you'll now why Buster has become one of the best kit of 2012. No complaints here.   












   
Closing remarks. Buster is one of my favorite mobile suits of all time (i have both HG and MG). There are many good things and few bad things about this kit. If you're a fan of SEED series, I could assure you that this guy is a MUST BUY kit for your collection.

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GAT-X103 Buster Gundam (Master Grade)

Pros :
  • Cool military design
  • Two big guns and Two big missile pods with so many play options
  • Tons of details (especially for panel lines and decals)
  • One of the best articulated kit Bandai ever released
Cons :
  • Side skirts, head crest and some of the guns parts keep falling off easily.
  • No short range weapons and shield.


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