MG 1/100 Force Impulse Mini-Review

Image courtesy of Dalong.net, once again.

Price: 4500 Yen! o.o

This is a mini-review for the Force Impulse, a full on review will come in the near future(hopefully) after panel lining, making some obvious nubs disappear and higher quality photos are taken.

The Impulse Gundam is a mobile suit which can change its equipment much like the Strike that I have reviewed earlier on. In a sense, it is a Strike V2. But, there are a few key differences. The Impulse is split into 3 main parts, the Core Splendor(jet flyer), Chest Flyer(the main body, arms, head, beam rifle, shield) and the Leg Flyer(well legs and waist, plus its own armor schneiders). It also runs on a "battery" much like the Strike and is frequently seen to run out of power in the anime(too much power?) but can be charged on the fly by the Minerva(battleship housing the Impulse) though the helmet sensor(is that really logical?). The pilot of this Gundam is non other than Shinn Asuka, later on Lunamaria when Shinn gets the very beautiful Destiny Gundam.

The Force Impulse Gundam is the Impulse equipped with the Force Silhouette which is similar to the Ailse Strike. It is equipped with 2 beam sabers for weapons and is mostly used for quick versatile movements, making the Impulse more agile in flight battles.

It is also famous for destroying the Freedom Gundam as well(using the big sword in the boxart)!

The best part of this MG model kit is that it comes with the anti-ship sword which belongs on the Sword Silhouette(MG Sword Impulse is coming out in April!). Its freaking long as evident in the following pictures.

There are a few things I did not snap(since I took them a while ago), like the individual parts of the Impulse(Core Splendor, Chest Flyer and Leg Flyer). Very sorry, I'll do this in the full review later on, once I have the mood and lots of free time to continue tinkering with the Impulse.

For now, enjoy the low res pictures taken with my 2.0MP camera phone and some notes on the Impulse. ^^

The Impulse with its standard weaponry. Please note that the shield can be closed or open up. In this picture, the shield is opened up.

Rear view. Note the "wings" on the Impulse. It belongs to the Core Splendor.

You can move it up or down, but you'll need to leave it "up" to make sure the Impulse can pose properly.

Front view. Note that the "cockpit doors" are the top of the chest, which can be opened. But there is nothing much to see there...(no pic)

Side view. The shield is in its "closed" position.

Proper rear view. Notice the diagonal hole on the "skirt". You can attach the beam rifle here when not in use.

You be a multi weapons pack using Gundam without your very small daggers! I only seen the Impulse used this weapon once in Destiny, which Shinn used to stab the enemies' cockpits. Ouch.

The obligatory boxart pose. I used the Strike's base for this, which was not very suitable. But with a bit of paper, I was able to put the Force Impulse on it, though not very stable.

I just realized I never took a picture of the Force Impulse's back! So very sorry, but you can imagine a glimpse of it through the picture above, hopefully. This will surely be resolve in the full review.

Well, the Force Impulse is a really nice MG kit, there are not much flaws, almost none, except a few. One being the ankle hydraulics which can come off when the feet stretch too much and a moulding error on the top part of the chest(can be ignored if you're not too picky).

Now, for some extra stuff. XP

"I have a big sword and a beam saber. So, why should I not use BOTH?"

Looks like the Impulse and Strike can really increase their similarities. See here? Bandai gave the Impulse an alternate back!

Which you can use to do this!

Too bad I couldn't put the shoulder part, but you can switch it the the Strike's shoulder if you want, since the shoulder armor connectors are practically the same.

Yep, "Sword" Impulse.

Where did that beam boomerang came from?

Obligatory Gundam big sword pose.

I can also do this!

Looks a bit bare though... since Impulse is missing the shoulder part of this launcher striker pack.

I can also do Strike's "Aile Strike boxart pose"!

Strike and Impulse is doing a shootout with an unknown enemy!?

"There can only be one multi weapon pack using Gundam in SEED!"
"...what about Strike Rogue, Strike Dagger and Akatsuki?"
"...I want my lawyer..."

Err, yeah. That's all for the Force Impulse for now. Like I said earlier, very much lack of pictures, so it will only be a mini-review. ^^;

I highly recommend the MG Force Impulse. Its a real beauty! But however, don't buy it as your first MG, you better buy the MG Aile Strike or MG Freedom(heard its easy to build also) because the Impulse is more expensive and I felt it takes a bit more skill to build than the Strike. But of course, it is one of the easier MGs to build also. So, it's up to you. Then again, the more beautiful(IMHO) MG Sword Impulse is also around the corner... heh.

In all seriousness, I bought the Impulse because of the huge sword. XD