Metal Build 1/100 00 Gundam Seven Sword - Review

Metal Build 1/100 00 Gundam Seven Sword is the first release for Bandai's new 'Metal Build' series.  This figure is similiar to the 'GFF Metal Composite' for having die-cast parts for the joints, but different in that the armor is said to be made out of something called 'Hybrid Material'. 

Instruction Manual

The accessories are pretty complete for the 00 Gundam Seven Sword:

- 2 GN Sword II (Short), 2 GN Sword II (Long) + attachments, 2 GN Katar, 1 GN Buster Sword II, 2 beam sabers, Grapling hook cable, double sword attachment, 4 set of hands (various handles), Display stand, and clear display stand for GN Buster Sword II.

Each armament is very well made and has little gimmicks here and there.  I especially like the replaceble knee armor part that can be used to swap between 00 Gundam & 00 Gundam Seven Sword. 

Concept design booklet by anime mechanical designer, Kanetake Ebikawa. 

Upon opening the box and taking out the figure for the first time, it definitely looks and feels like it is worth the high price tag that this figure is selling for.  And the 'hybrid material' used to create the armors are really just plastic, but it also gives off a metal shine. Which makes the figure look, well... like a 'Metal Build'. 

Here are a couple of comparison images with the GFF Metal Composite RX-78-2 Gundam & RX-0 Unicorn Gundam.

Profile images of the Metal Build 1/100 00 Gundam

Detachable GN Drive

The articulation of this figure is very good.  The Metal Build 00 Gundam Seven Sword can do a wide variety of poses.  GFFMC has nothing on Metal Build when it comes to articulation.  And how does it stack up against the HG gunpla version of 00 Gundam Seven Sword?  The Metal Build is just as articulate as the HG model kit, and better.

Metal Build 00 Gundam w/ Seven Sword armaments attached

Decals for this figure is top notch.  I really like the designer ver. style decals on just one side of the 00 Gundam Seven Sword.  The placement of rest of the decals are appropriate and doesn't seem out of place. Very nice.

If I had to really find something negative to say about this figure, it would be the GN Buster Sword II.  It looks great, but it does have a very slight weight issue for the torso joint when it is attached to the left GN Drive armor, which tend to slightly favor tilting toward the left. But it is really not much of an issue overall.  However, when having the figure to hold the GN Buster Sword II, the weight is indeed too much for the arms/hands to handle.  But thankfully, the figure comes with a clear display stand to hold the sword in place.

Action Poses

The Metal Build 1/100 00 Gundam Seven Sword is one heck of a desktop beauty.  The figure is solid with very well made metal joints, and the 'hybrid material' of the armor parts gives off a nice metal like shine.  The articulation for this figure offers a broad range of possible action poses.  The weight issue of the GN Buster Sword II is very minimal and can cause a little bit of frustration when trying to get it to hold with the hands. The display stand is awesome, it allows much more flexibility when posing your figure for display. Is been awhile since I had played with a well made chogokin like figure. This first offering in the Metal Build series has my approval and I definitely looks forward to their next offering.  

Club MG: RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. 2.0 Gold Plating Ver. - Review

Club MG: RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. 2.0 Gold Plating Ver.

Review by Dalong.net (Review HERE)

Review by Dalong.net (Runners Review HERE) 

GG INFINITE: New In-Stock Items!

Metal Build 1/100 00 Raiser Seven Sword

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SD RX-0 Unicorn Gundam   GG INFINITE: IN STOCK

S.I.C. Kamen Rider W Cyclone Joker  GG INFINITE: IN STOCK 

S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider 000 Gatakiriba Combo   GG INFINITE: IN STOCK 

Saint Cloth Myth Hades  GG INFINITE: IN STOCK 

Dengeki Hobby Magazine (May Issue) Limited Advanced of Zeta: GM Type C [WAGTAIL] Parts - Painted & Customized Built

Painted & Customized Built By Atsupo3

Dengeki Hobby Magazine (May Issue) Limited Advanced of Zeta: GM Type C [WAGTAIL] Parts for HGUC 1/144 RGM-79C GM Type C  

GG INFINITE: IN STOCK  View more previous coverage (HERE)

* This post was updated away from home uisng my Ipad 2  =D *

BANDAI Model Kit World Cup 2011

Gunpla World Cup 2011 – U.S. Championship

Do you love building GunPla? Do you spend hours on end assembling these miniature war machines? Well here's your chance to show off your best works! The Bandai Gunpla World Cup is a yearly contest held amongst modelers to show of their completed Gundam models. Competition will be held in several categories and age brackets. Top modelers from countries such as Japan, China, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Italy, France, USA, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia and Malaysia battle it out for the title of Gunpla World Cup Champion.

Like every good global competition, our country needs a representative! Does your model have what it takes to make the U.S. proud? Read on! To determine the U.S. Representative to this world competition, a number of conventions in the United States will hold regional model competitions in 2011. Each convention will have its own set of U.S. Semi-Finalists. From this pool of semi-finalists, one will be chosen to be the U.S. Representative to take names and kick some butt against the world at the Bandai GunPla World Cup Finals later this year.

For more info, please visit Bluefin Distribution Website.

RG 1/144 GAT-X105 Aile Strike Gundam - Review (Part 3)

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 2): HERE, RUNNERS PREVIEW: HERE, HOBBY MAGAZINE IMAGES: HERE

Preparation for painting the RG Aile Strike Gundam is underway.  This includes the initial sanding and priming of the kit.

Here are some images of the kit after it had been primed with a can of surfacer.  A lot of details can be seen now.  Some parts on the legs I had loosely put back together to allow me to easily take them apart again for the painting phase.

I know I had already said this in my previous review, but would like to mention again just how amazed I am that the RG Aile Strike Gundam could be packed with so much small details.  A lot of these details cannot be painted using an airbrush, so I will need to resort to handpainting all the small intricate parts.

I had also mentioned that the upper torso (chest) of the RG Aile Strike Gundam looks a bit bare in term of details when compared all the other parts on the kit.  I am looking into adding some panel lines on the chest area to look like the ones on the PG 1/60 Strike Gundam.  But not sure if I would do that yet.

I am planning to spice up this build by adding a simple diorama to be the display base for the RG Aile Strike Gundam.  The diorama is consist of parts from various Kotobukiya Mechanical Chain Base & Wave 1/144 Moble Staff set.  Some of the parts I need to customize myself like cable that the maintenance workers are attached to using a very thin bendable pla-plate (tube), and will also apply additional pla-plate to detail some of the diorama parts.

The cockpit could fit a 1/144 sitting figure inside, which would be quite nice to have for this diorama.  Currently I am debating whether to do some extra details inside the cockpit area. 

Maintenance crews are buzzing around working on varous tasks...  Painting these 1/144 figures is going to be a challenge since they really are quite tiny.

Here are more shots of my simple diorama at various angles...

Next: Painted Build.... Is going to take at least a week to finish painting the RG Aile Strike Gundam.  And then I will work on the diorama. Stay tuned.