HG 1/144 0 Raiser Review and HG 1/144 00 Raiser 70% Painted

Yes, you read the title right folks, a 70% painted 00 Raiser. But first, I'll give a bit on the HG 1/144 0 Raiser. At this point, due to budgeting reasons(it should be very obvious), I might not get the NG 1/100 0 Raiser(hence finish the NG 1/100 00 Raiser) anytime soon.

As of now, I'll mostly collect Gundam 00 HG and probably some cheaper MGs on the side(if possible). Damn you rising Yen~ >>;

EDIT(18/03/09): Just in case anyone misunderstands, the "70%" means that it has been painted at necessary parts, not the entire body, which I cannot do currently. So, it is not painted entirely, just in the necessary places to give a bit more detail. ^^

Early note: Beware, the following pictures are taken with a 7MP camera with macro function on(though not so great when too close) and has been resized by 25%. However, the file sizes are about 400kb and above, each. You have been warned(especially those who are suffering from Streamyx slowdowns).

Before we begin the review/long post, I recently bought the BB Sangokuden Marker Set. All the markers are in metallic colors. The silver is slightly different from the one I bought earlier... though not so much. I decided to buy it since I got some ang-pau recently. >_> Seriously, I boughtit for the green marker, so sue me. The panel lining marker(ther ufrthest to the right) is a pretty great panel lining marker, not too light(like the Gundam 00 Second one) nor not too dark. Perfect and very easy to use since it is wet one(easy to wipe off).

The markers, if you buy the BB Sangokuden Gunplas, you'll highly need this to make them look better as their detailing is not much.

Now, onto the review.

Since I didn't give much of an intro to 00 Gundam last time, I'll give one now, so that those who does not follow Gundam 00 can get what I might be talking about.

Like the intro I gave the GN-X, as I said before, Gundams use a GN Drive. The real ones(green particles) have infinite power supplies and has Trans-AM(makes them go red and 3x particle output, thus overally stronger and faster).

00 Gundam is a prototype 4th generation Gundam(the ones in the first season are meer 3rd generations). It is a prototype to the Twin Drive Sytem(TDS). This TDS requires two GN Drives to sync in order to function properly. Though, the 00 Gundam only can stabilize up to 89% at its first activation. Not good enough as it is only slightly stronger than the regulat GN Drive equipped mobile suits.

However, the 0 Raiser is developed and became a "support craft" to the 00 Gundam, in order to stabilize the TDS, thus in a fact, squaring the performance and forming the 00 Raiser. It loses the name "Gundam" due to it being "a mobile suit that transends other Gundams". Watch the anime, especially the 2nd season to find out more. ^^

0 Raiser doesn't really do much on its own as it uses GN Condensers which stores GN particles spewed out by the Gundams(specifically 00 Gundam) to operate. Due to the use of a GN condenser, it is theorized that it does not operate for long, but it will operate good enough.

00 Gundam
Stats;
Height:18.3m
Weight: 54.9t
Weapons & Equipment;
GN Sword II(2)
GN Beam Sabers(2)
GN Shield?

0 Raiser
Stats;
Length & Width: 17.6m, 11.2m
Weight: 20.2t
Weapons;
GN Vulcan
GN Beam Machinegun
GN Micro Missile

00 Raiser? Just put those two together and you'll get the stats. =P

Price: 800 Yen or RM32 if you open the image. Not so cheap for 800 Yen... damn conversion rates.

Box open! Shiny plastic~

Wow, that's all? No wonder the box was tiny... hopefully conversion rates don't get worse, or else I might not be able to buy much of anything later... I mean... so little runners! Yeah!

Plastic open! Yeah, doesn't make it look any more than 2 plastic runners, 1 small polycap runner and a sticker sheet.

See this? This belongs to the 00 Gundam, its part of its shield(just like the 1/100 00).

You can combine the 2 GN Sword II together with this. I didn't take a photo of it though, just remember the 1/100 00.

Again, shield parts.

Yet again, shield parts.

Nice~ A base for the 0 Raiser. It also can be used by the other HG 00 model kits. Sweet, since I haven't bought an action base...(which is better, but it costs the same as the 0 Raiser currently...)

Now, the building process of the 0 Raiser. You can skip if you want to, it may be boring. ^^;

A few pieces put together and I already decided to paint a part, yes paint, but with the gray Gundam 00 Second Marker Set(not completed yet as of that time when the pic was taken). A sticker was provided, but it was too small for me to pick up nicely from the sticker sheet...

Another painted part, this is the underside of the 0 Raiser. Pretty easy one to do, since its a pretty nicely spaced out part. The white tape you see is a cheap "masking tape" which is not recommended to use(and it may even be not the right tape, but it kinda works).

Main body complete! See the side vents near the gray spots on both sides at the front view? They are GN Vulcans. Nice. Oh, the tail part can move left to right, which I guess is for maneuvering.

The bottom~ Not yet completely finished here at this point, a few parts need to be painted to look right at that time.

Watch carefully. Hold the 0 Raiser like this.

Fold the tail.

Push the front slightly down. And there! This is how the main body of the 0 Raiser should be folded before attaching to the 00 Gundam. Very simple.

This one of the "wings". The top blue part is equipped with GN Micro Missiles.

The bottom part. See the middle gray area? That's the GN Beam Machinegun.

The base is made of 3 parts. Simple, small, but effective.

0 Raiser ready for take-off!

*whooosh**pew**pew**pew*

There's nothing much to say about the 0 Raiser, its a support craft and basically a "plane". Doesn't seem to have any faults to me by itself. If you want to buy this, you either already have the HG 1/144 00 Gundam(like me) or buying it together with the 00. Otherwise just get the HG 1/144 00 Raiser Designer Color which is cheaper(and looks nicer IMHO) if gotten at the right places due to the exchange rates going up and down.

Okay, now for... HG 1/144 00 Gundam. Again? Maybe, just a bit, just to show you my progress on it. Hehe.

The 00 compared to a 500ml bottle nearby. Looks small now, doesn't it?

Close-up. See that green "orbs"? I painted the underside of the clear plastic parts with the green metallic color from the BB Sangokuden marker set. Came out really nice personally.

Front view. Don't mind the awkwardness of the pose, it's just me not putting him straight nicely. ^^;

Side view. Metallic green looks nice here~

Rear view.

If you notice some of the dark black lines, that's the panel lining I have done on the 00, following my own "style" and well, tastes. Like I said in the title, 70% painted. Some parts I did not paint, like the eyes which still used sticker or the booster parts on 00's backpack, due to limitations of the markers' reach.

Frontal close-up. Sorry for the blurry-ness, looks like my camera's macro is not that great. Like I said before, the yellow part of the V-fin is painted and now even the red crystal part(painted the underside to keep the nice glass effect).

The GN Drives are painted gray, since it was done earlier on. If possbile, I might change it to green with the metallic green marker. Though, I could not reach the insides of the GN Drive(the holes), thus making it very incomplete. The black part of the head was done with the panel lining marker, I just used the "side".

Close-up of the rear lower region. Yes, I just noticed the left leg is missing one panel lining. Already fixed it now.

Close-up of the lower front. Nothing much to see here. XP

0 Raiser, lined and painted! 00 shields can be put on the wings of the 0 Raiser BTW.

Rear view.

Put it down.

Now you can see the bottom part! I think I painted most of the visible parts already, except those which are using stickers due to me being a bit lazy. XP

0 Raiser can be opened up, since you'll need to open it up to "gattai" with 00.

Underside.

See this wing part?

Push it up.

Insert here.

Connected!

Open up the blue parts, push the white sides inwards, including the top part to make it look like holding onto the 00(I didn't really do this during the photoshoot).

Shield attached!

Remember how to fold the main body of the 0 Raiser? Good, now connect it here.

Yeah, now 00 Raiser!

Its very wide and is quite unbalanced. If you don't pose 00 Raiser properly, it may topple over its back or side due to the weight and loss of balance.

Close-up~

Fornt view.

Side view.

Rear view.

00 Raiser! Eliminating the targets!

Twi- QUAD Buster RIFLE!!! I mean, FREEDOM/KIRA HAX!

*pew**pew**pew*

Well, that's all I have to show for my 00 Raiser. Its a very nice kit, but the "jetpack" might lead some buyers away. Also, 00 may lose its balance due to the weight of the 0 Raiser(especially the rear) but can be fixed with the provided 0 Raiser base(though limited, unless you have an action base).

All in all, if you buy the 00 Raiser, it will set you 1800 Yen. Whether you buy together or set(special color), the price in Yen is still the same. Also, a Trans-AM version will come out soon-ish(late April) for 2000 Yen that has the GN Sword III! Darn you Bandai! I just finished mt 00 Raiser again! Hopefully it won't be so expensive when it comes over here due to the unbearingly unstable and high exchange rates!

Oh, I might add some more pictures of my 00 Raiser again later, if I have time in a new post, if people like it or just want to look at my newb skillz at painting. XD