RG 1/144 GAT-X105 Aile Strike Gundam - Review (Part 1)

Review by G.G.

RG 1/144 GAT-X105 Aile Strike Gundam (Release Date: Apr. 30th 2011, Price: 2500 Yen) 

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REVIEW (Part 2): HERE

REVIEW (Part 3): HERE

RUNNERS PREVIEW: HERE

HOBBY MAGAZINE IMAGES: HERE

I got some time to work on the RG 1/144 GAT-105X Aile Strike Gundam today.  I had completed the Strike Gundam, while still working on the Aile Strike Pack & armaments.  So for now, I will just write a little bit about some things that I found interesting and let my images do the rest of the talking. 

I was really amazed at the amount of pieces used to build the head (17 individual parts if I remembered correctly).  Extra care must be taken when attaching these little parts to the head. Most of the parts are quite small (ie. eye lens, face vent) and can be easily misplaced if not careful.  And I foresee detaching the parts for painting will be a pain.

With all the detail panel lines that the RG line offers, I was a bit disappointed that the upper torso (chest) seems a bit bare.  I am really tempted to add in some extra panel lines myself.  

1/144 scale Kira Yamato... painting this guy will be the biggest challenge. 

One of the thing that I was interested to find out was to see how the cockpit gimmick works. The entire cockpit housing was built individually, and then attached to the inner frame. The cockpit opens by having the top blue part slide out and raised, and the red part pulled open.

Is quite a feat to have a fully functional cockpit for a 1/144 scale kit.  But once the kit was completed, I found it very hard to open the cockpit doors.  I was only able to open it by using a dull hobby knife to pull the door down.  However, I do believe I won't be playing with this feature after the kit is painted.

It would've been nice if the kit came with a sitting pose Kira Yamato to be placed inside the cockpit.

                     

The arms & legs could support a wide range of movements.  However, when posing the legs, the side waist armor (the one that house the Armor Schneider combat knives) would come off way too often.  This really is an problem with all the RG kits, the waist skirt of both the RG RX-78-2 Gundam & Zaku II also had the same issue, with the Zaku II being the worst out of the bunch.

Some info about the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam:

Unlike the other Gundam prototypes, the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam is intended to operate in many environments and various mission roles. The GAT-X105+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike Gundam is designed specifically for flight and mobility. In space, the additional thrusters make the Strike Gundam more maneuverable. On Earth, the AQM/E-X01 Aile Striker pack allows the Strike Gundam to make high jumps and fly briefly. Aside from the extra thrusters, the Aile Striker pack adds two beam sabers to the Strike Gundam's armaments. Additionally, the Aile Striker pack is capable of docking with the support fighter FX-550 Sky Grasper. Because of its extra mobility, the Aile Striker pack is the most widely used of the Striker packs in space and on Earth. (From MAHQ)

NEXT: Aile Strike Pack & Weaponary....