TT Hongli MG 1/100 Strike Noir Review - Part 1

Price: RM4X*
Bandai Original Price: 4500 Yen

*This is the lowest price you should be able to get it for in M'sia. Normal shop price will get as high as somewhere around RM80.

I bought this one at the same time when I bought the TT Hongli PG WZC last month at Chow Kit. It was the only MG they had there and luckily, I wanted it. Looking at the box itself, I noticed that this is TT Hongli's first MG.

GAT-X105E - Strike Noir (Gundam)
Pilot: Sven Cal Bayan
Height: 17.72m
Weight: 90.51t

About the Gundam:
Strike Noir is an upgraded Strike, improving various functions from its predecessor. Its piloted by a natural, Sven Cal Bayan in the SEED OVA SEED C.E. 73 Stargazer. Read the manual scans (if you dare) for further information. =)

Part 1: Box, Box Open, Runners, Manual Scans & Building
Part 1.5: Clear Stickers & Decals
Part 2: Articulation, Gimmicks, Action and Conclusion

Read on for the box, box open, runners, manual scans and building process.

EDIT (30/01/10): Added some more detailed explanations.
EDIT (02/02/10): Wrong body part name for elaboration on the legs... knee guards, not the ankle guards. ^^;

Part 1: Box

Just like the other two I have reviewed recently, I had to take the photos while in the hotel. The shots came out pretty nice though.

Part 2: Box Open!

As per usual, TT Hongli is VERY stingy with platic bags. There are only TWO plastic bags used and the runners are pressed onto each other VERY RIGHTLY. Not a good thing. Because of that, some parts came off the runners already...

Part 3: Runners

Note that some of the runners have duplicates. Also, note that the runners are mostly in a matt like color where it doesn't shine like a Bandai original. Good or bad, depends on your preference.

Part 4: Manual Scans

Enjoy the rather large and hopefully very readable manual scans this time. I feel it is better translated than the Destiny one overall. ^^;

Part 5: Building Process
Make sure you have a knife and superglue ready before building any bootleg. You'll also need a screwdriver for this one as well. Plus, some good ol' patience doesn't hurt...

Part 5.1: Torso

At first I wanted to avoid using the screws for the shoulders but it seems that it needs it or else it will be VERY loose. OTL.

The armor parts are actually a little different than the Strike. The cockpit hatch has also been improved! The chest vents are little annoying to put on though.

As you can see, the exhaust vents also has newer parts. This makes the final product closer looking to the boxart especially for us OOB-ers. ^^

Part 5.2: Head

I actually almost lost the black part shown in the second shot. @_@ Luckily I managed to find it.

Also, the V-Fin is a little hard to put in though but not impossible. The face needs a little extra effort too...

Part 5.3: Arms

Note that I didn't push the whole top armor part for the arms in the shot above. I already fixed that though. ^^; I noticed that the elbow is a little loose... hopefully it won't cause any problems later...

The shoulders have been modified from the Strike. Sadly, it looses compatibility to two of the Striker packs because of the thrusters...
If you want to, please put some superglue for the yellow parts to prevent them from dropping off...

Part 5.4: Legs

The feet have been modified from the Strike as well. They are slimmer and has some added functions.

Some changes in appearance for the armor parts. The ankle guards feels less "wonky" too... but we'll see that after I start actually playing with it. >_>
As an early note, the sliding armors on the thighs kinda like to drop off once in a while. Superglue them on if you don't want them to drop off. The knee (not ankle, sorry) guards also tend to drop off... nothing I can do about that though as using superglue for that will kill off its articulation.

Part 5.5: Waist

The front and side skirts got some changes as the Strike Noir uses mostly ranged weapons.

Part 5.6: Noir Striker

I actually missed the long part for both the cannons... OTL I hard to force remove the parts causing the very tight connections to break. With some help from trusty old superglue, I put the cannons back together nicely in the end. Phew.
I also superglued all those yellow parts on. Some of them are rather loose so I don't want to risk them disappearing on me later...

The swords are very straightforward and easy to build though.

Middle section of the backpack.
There are some small thin pieces of plastic that really needs some superglue to stay on or else they will just drop off when you move the mechanism later on.

After all that, put em' together. The sword holder is bit loose though... urk.

Part 5.7: GUNS!

Beam rifles with grenades. Painted the clear part green on the underside (not shown).

The same rifle as the Strike... kinda don't care about this one actually. XD
I painted the sensor with blue if you can see it.
The clear piece doesn't look so nice though. A bit rough on the edges.

If you look closely, one side of the sensor can be moved up and down... and yes, I lost one of the pistol's mouth. ORZ.
Oh yeah, after watching one of prime92's videos on Youtube, the mouth is lose-able. Thus, please superglue it onto the pistols or else you would lose it forever like me... @_@

Part 5.8: Extra Hands

The Strike Noir also come with 3 extra HG-ish hands. This is so that it can hold its weapons better... Bandai was too lazy to give it better hands in the first place anyways.

Part 6: Preview

Okay that's all for the first part of the review. I can say that I built this one REALLY, REALLY slow as I didn't feel the mood to build it for some odd reason. Weird. Maybe I'm just burnt out. XP

Anyways, should I try to apply the clear stickers and decals? If I do it, the next part of the review will be delayed for a while as I would like to build some others first as the clear stickers and decals could be a pain. >.>;