mechaCENTRAL

Read my previous post about this kit here

The second part on the Blu Duel Gundam is going to be about the completed model and what it looks like BEFORE it is painted - who knows, may be this is the one kit you were waiting for — the one that does not need paint? Also I am going to share my thoughts on the overall quality of the model — it certainly has lots of “pros” and some “cons”, so read on!

Story

I realised that one thing needs a little bit more attention — it is the story behind this Gundam (here I am going to recap the information you can find at MAHQ).
A tragic tale of a stolen in C.E. 71 Gundam (Gosh! I’ve lost count of “stolen” Gundams already, don’t those story writers have anything more interesting to do than go through the same ideas every time?) that ended up destroyed during a battle with several Kerberos BuCUE Hounds (happened in C.E. 74):

Between these two events it was upgraded with the phase-shift armor. Interestingly enough, unlike the other mecha of the same line, the armor was integrated into its main body (although it is technically possible to remove it from the model).

Assembly and side by side comparison

Let’s get back to the model then. The shield caught my attention right away — it is the same type both Blue and Red Frame Astrays had, although this time it is mounted on Blu Duel’s shoulder and that mount point is quite interesting in its own right. I am not going to say anything else about it — you will see for yourself once you start putting the model together.

Assembly process is relatively straight with one remarkable feature, that is the external “phase-shift” armor is really external — first you put together an “underlying” part and then “dress” it with armor plates. Once you completed the model, look out for the beam sabers - they tend to fall off their slots in Blu Duel’s legs.

A little bit of a disappointment comes from the inability of this model of striking any “walking” pose — the external armor quickly gets pressed against its foot, thus making the stand I mentioned in my first post indispensable as this mecha is certainly better viewed “flying”

I’ve scanned the pictures of the completed and painted model from the booklet (came with the box) and then combined them with photographs of my one. Can you tell which one is which? Well, it is easy — my one is a little bit darker and it is not just lack of light during the photo session — that is how it looks in real life.

Click on the images below to see larger versions of them.

I can tell you that although the stickers are relatively small, they make a lot of difference — Blu Duel definitely looks good wearing them on! Imagine how much better it would be to get these areas properly painted!
You probably noticed that I did not do the panel lines at all at this stage. That was partially because the model is relatively dark and they are not that visible on it at this stage, when we are only trying to get the feeling of what this model looks like.

“Problems”

It may be just me, but I could not help but notice some “imperfections” — mostly in the way the parts are connected to the runners: more often than not there is a very visible mark left after you cut the part from its frame, no matter how accurate you are in clearing it with your hobby knife.

I was wondering if BANDAI engineers (who design the layout for the parts) ever tried to assemble their models… Sure there are some technical limitations in how you generate the paths for plastic and place the details in its way, but have they thought of connecting these little channels to invisible areas of details?

Ok, have a look at the front of the model first (click on the image below to view a high-res version of it):

Now let us go through my list of “imperfections” from top to bottom:

1. As I already said, the stickers are good but you may struggle to get them to cover their designated areas right, meaning a lot of seams to join correctly on often “not-so-flat” surfaces.
2. An ugly mark left by flash in a very visible area.
3. Another mark left in a visible place…
4. The halves of the external armor do not hold together (you will need some glue for sure).

Now let’s have a look at the rear (click on the image below to view a high resolution version of it):

From top to bottom again:

1. An ugly mark on a very small part… Sanding and painting are the order of the day.
2. The external armor is not holding together (rear view)
3. This is an interesting one — the sticker is not holding well because of the high curvature of this particular detail. I wonder why they made it gray in the first place? If you noticed on the “side-by-side” picture above, the version from the booklet has this part completely painted in the external armor colour. Use finishing spray to fix the stickers if you are happy to use them in first place (I bet you are not already ).
4. Marks on the external armor left by flash.
5. Sadly, these two parts do not fit each other well.

Conclusion?

Well, High Grade version of Blu Duel Gundam looks very good. It is interesting to build and very well sculpted. Stickers are a bit disappointing because they are quite useless (I would only use the ones that go to its head). Although, the model itself looks good, there are many little artifacts you would want to “hide” and there is only one way to achieve this — mix the paint and get your favorite brush in your hand — and that is exactly what I am doing. Get back soon for my report on painting the Blu Duel Gundam!

 

Some anime and Gunpla-related videos for you here:

 

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 25th, 2007 at 9:53 pm and is filed under Gundam SEED C.E.73: Stargazer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.