NG 1/100 Astray Green Frame Review

Finally, I have some time to post up this review. Ah, how sudden that Monday can be a more "free" day now since I have gone to a higher learning institute. =P

Okay, here it goes. SEED is not my most favorite series but I do like it quite a bit, especially from the view of the mobile suits, especially the Gundams. ^^ Well, the Astray line of mobile suits are mass produced versions in the animated SEED and SEED Destiny but this one is slightly different, as far as I know. It is still an Astray but at least it is a main character's one. XP

Grade: NG
Scale: 1/100
Pilot: Trojan Noiret
Price: 2500 Yen
Extra Stuff: Cutting Mat

Extra Details(according to story);
MS No.: MBF-P04
Height: 17.53m
Weight: 49.8t
Weapons; Beam Rifle Beam Saber( Shield Igelstellung Twin Sword Rifle(main weapon)

Part 1: Box Opening The glorious box, how wonderfully green and has a very basic pose for the Astray. Since this model came out in 2009, they should have at least give it a better boxart than one that is similar to the rest of the older SEED NG boxarts.

I seriously did not buy it because of this! Serious! Well... I kinda did... >.>

The box itself is pretty tall.

Opening the box.

Yep, NG amount of runners, much less than a standard MG.

It is a Astray Red Frame Cutting Mat! I haven't even open it from its own plastic wrap. ^^

As said before, NG amount of runners. This is not much as some of you may think.

Normally the manual is put at the very bottom of the box and here it is. They blended the finished product of the Green Frame with greenery. It is an interesting choice.

Part 2: Runners All of the runners above are the same as the Astray Red Frame, 'cept the red color has been replaced with green. Lazy Bandai. They even left the complete runner for Red Frame's sword and extra hand. >> Which is a rather good thing as I can do something with the sword... Though I wish the blade is plated with shiny silver like the Red Frame's one, so that it will look much nicer when I'm done with it. You'll see that at the end of this post.

Same as the Red Frame also. Quite a lot of polycaps here.

The two runners, sticker and decals are the only parts that truly belong to the Green Frame. The first runner is the Twin Sword Rifle. How lazy of Bandai to put all the parts on the same runner, thus make painting an important aspect to make it more similar to the illustration. =.=

Part 3: Assembly Part 3.1: Main Body Unit(Torso) The main body has quite the number of parts. Nothing much to say except the backpack has a gimmick.

Part 3.2: Head Unit Head unit. If you can see, I decided to pain the chin as the sticker doesn't cover the lower part of the chin, making the face look a bit weird.

Part 3.3: Arm Unit The articulation of the arm was rather good considering the model is based on an older NG architecture. Then again, that can be attributed by the way the model is molded. The only complaint I have here that can be rather annoying is the green shoulder piece. It is connected rather weakly and can easily fall off or break(if you;'re not careful), especially if you play with the arms.

Part 3.4: Waist Unit I wish is can be a little more symmetry and have the "holes" on both sides so that it can hold two weapons. Hehe. ^^

Part 3.5: Leg Unit Legs are quite flexible. So flexible, the Astray is able to sit down with its legs folded(sadly I don't have a picture of it currently). ^^

Part 4: Gundam Astray Green Frame Main Unit

Part 5: Armaments As you can see, the shield handle can be put at different locations, quite similar, if not the same, with the MG Strike. =)

I accidentally broke this rifle though(the tip). >.<>

The Twin Sword Rifle(basically a gunblade). The sticker doesn't look so good on it and it lacks major details that makes it what it is.

Part 6: Adding Extra Effort Astray Green Frame version of the katana. Came out rather nice, no? Especially the gold color, the BB Sangokuden Gold is really nice, unlike the unsastifying silver.

For the green and black color I didn't use the Gundam Marker(GM) but Zebra branded oil based paint markers. They are a bit smelly(smells like normal paint) but they are about half the price of a regular GM here and can do the job rather well. However, the tip is not specialized for painting edges, so some extra scratching may be needed. =/ The green lines and diamond part of the handle however, I used green CD marker, essentially permanent marker.

The overall design of the katana is based on Ngee Khiong's work here.

Part 7: Action
I don't think you wanna get close to a Gundam with a katana in hand though...

Part EX: Randomness
Exia: There can only be one here!
Astray: Huh?
Exia: Prepare to be beheaded!
Astray: You're making no se-

I can feel the FORCE within me! >.>

All in all, the Astray Green Frame is a rather good buy. However, the body is a bit "lose", in a sense, since it is rather easy to move the body parts. With that said, the Astray can't really hold heavy things rather well, like its own Twin Sword Rifle. However, as the katana is quite light, it can hold that pretty well, so go all out with that sword! ^^

An interesting thing about the Astray is that the parts are laid out on the runners with the intention to not leave much nub marks after the parts are separated from the runners. To be frank, the main body of the Astray, especially the easily seen body parts leave behind almost no noticeable nub marks. Nice job Bandai. But it does not apply well for the armaments...

Buy it? Wait for an MG? Rather buy the PG Astray Red Frame? Well, it is up to you. If you can get at around RM90 currently, it is already at a very decent price. If you can get even lower than that, go, buy it! Especially if it comes with the free cutting mat, which is a "limited item". How limited it is, I would not know(though it might not be available on all Astray Green Frames).

Okay, that's it for now. I might add more pictures later when I have for time to take more poses with my camera. Though I prefer to do so once I have panel line the main body. ^^