RG 1/144 GAT-X105 Aile Strike Gundam - Review (Part 2)

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

GG INFINITE: PRE-ORDER ITEM (10% OFF)

REVIEW (PART 1): HERE

REVIEW (PART 3): HERE

RUNNERS PREVIEW: HERE

HOBBY MAGAZINE IMAGES: HERE

Just finished the straight built of the RG 1/144 GAT-X105 Aile Strike Gundam today by completing the Aile Strike Pack & armaments. I must say, I really enjoy the time spent building this kit.  Building an RG kit is far more interesting than putting together your average HG kits.  The amount of details given to each piece of plastic is truly worth the price of admission. 

The Aile Strike Pack is pack with dense panels line on almost every parts.  It should look pretty awesome after a clean paint job, panel line wash & decals.

The first thing I wanted to do after completing the Aile Strike Pack was to see if theres any neat gimmick with the wings.  Unfortunately, the answer is pretty much 'no'.  Yeah, the wing can be tilted to a certain degree as expected, but then it could not be folded down in pre-launch mode as seen in the image below (Right - MG Aile Strike Gundam).  A missed opportunity for this RG offering really...as a SEED fan, I would had liked to be able to do a pre-launch mode pose with this RG version of the Aile Strike Gundam, especially since it has the cockpit door gimmick.  And also, for those wondering about the flaps on the wing, no.. they cannot move at all. 

Now onto the weight issue.  Can the kit support itself upright with the Aile Strike Pack attached?   Well, call me a party pooper for having to say for most of the time, the weight is an issue.  If you pose the legs in a certain way, the kit could stand on it's own.  But any slight movement made, could easily toppled the kit backwards due to the weight.  So don't breath heavily when posing this kit

Armament wise, is pretty standard stuff.  It comes with 2x Armor Schineider combat knives (stored in the hip armor), 2x Beam Saber (stored in the Aile Strike Pack), Shield, and the 57mm High-energy Beam Rifle. Two sets of hands are also available (Close fist version & movable fingers version). 

A nice little touch on the beam rifle is the handle attachment.  The attachment piece can be pull out from the rifle's handle (as seen below), and attach it to the hand so that the beam rifle can fit securely.  This feature is very helpful, since the hands alone cannot support the beam rifle, as the fingers on the hand are pretty flimsy.

The side hip armor houses the Armor Schineider combat knive.

Action Poses:

An attachment part is included to attach the kit to any Action Base Display Stand.

Final Thoughts:

The RG 1/144 Aile Strike Gundam impressed me in every way, packing in such a huge amount of details in a 1/144 scale kit is no small feat.  Although there were some disappointments, but those were generally expected and was in no way a show stopper.  The kit offers plenty of articulation for creative poses, but do note that the Aile Strike Pack does add a bit of weight to the back. 

A comparison shot with the RG 1/144 MS-06S Char's Zaku II

NEXT... Preparation for the painting phase.