HG 1/144 00 Gundam Seven Sword/G (007S/G) Review

Price: 1600 Yen

I decided to fit this one into one single post this time instead of two separate posts like I usually do. This is because I do not have to review the articulation and gimmicks of the 00 Gundam (the base body) anymore as I have already done it in a previous review here.

Specs:
GN-0000GNHW/7SG
Height: 18.3m
Weight: 65.1t
Armaments: GN Sword II Blaster, GN Buster Sword II, GN Sword II Long, GN Sword II Short, GN Katar (2). GN Beam Saber (2)

MS Brief:
After then end of Gundam 00 Season 2, Celestial Being suffers from monetary problems as well as the lost of one GN Drive. Because of that, the 00 Gundam has lost its Twin Drive capabilities and is solely running one one GN Drive and a condenser on the other side (the side with the GN Buster Sword II). Furthermore, it can only use Trans-AM for a very limited time of 0.03 seconds.

EDIT (6/9/2011): I just noticed I put the hilt of the GN Buster Sword II upside down which made it unable to close in the first place. My bad.

Note: The third preview shot requires the XN Raiser and another 007S/G to be do-able. ^^;

There is also a short comic strip near the end of this review. =)

Part 1: Box

Your standard HG box but the art of the 007S/G shows its overwhelming power with a destroyed GN-XIII in the background. Pure awesomeness as it does happen in-story.

Part 2: Box Open!

Does it feel like it is worth 1600 Yen?

Part 3: Runners

Runner spread~ Some of them should look very familiar.

Kinda wish Bandai would've made these clear parts green... but lazy Bandai. However, I think they didn't do it because it might have affected the forehead crystal which is supposed to be red in color instead.

Bandai added an extra section for the new parts that are required for the weapons.

Completely new runners for the 007S/G. Hey, look, beam sabers and clear green parts!

Same ol' but definitely great HG 00 polycaps. The sticker sheet uses similar effects with the later 00 Raiser releases and the wire is for the GN Sword II Short.

Part 4: Building Process
As per usual, since they are not at their suitable colors, I took out my metallic Sangokuden Gundam markers and painted away. If you want to try this, just don't shake the markers and let the unmixed paint flow out instead when you're painting. Make sure you do it fast and as uniform as possible. You only get ONE shot to paint clear parts with markers.

Part 4.1: Torso

Painted the GN Drive, the thrusters and some sections of the abdomen. The GN Drive rings are normally depicted using gray colors but I prefer then to be green instead. I also sharpened the chest fins by simply cutting off the excess.

Part 4.2: Head

All clear parts except the eyes are painted. The V-Fin is also painted yellow at the required section. The sticker is just teh phail to use since it does not cover the rear section. I too sharpened the V-Fin.

Part 4.3: Arms

I kinda messed up for the gray circular section as it wasn't uniform due to me trying to make a second layer while speed building. Luckily some nail polish remover helped a bit. It still doesn't look so nice in person though. I initially did not want to paint it but went ahead with it anyways. ^^;

Part 4.4: Legs

This time I made sure I also painted the bottom part of the feet gray. I missed that one for my first 00.

Painted the side of the legs gray as well as specific sections of the circular areas near the knee. Forgot to panel line, even now, the small armor piece at the knee (rear). ^^;
The knee armor is switched with a new part in order to holster the GN Katars later. Color separation is top notch here.

Part 4.5: Waist

The waist was the easiest to do since no painting was required. =)

Part 4.6: Weapons Part 4.6.1: GN Sword II Blaster

The handle works the same way as the GN Sword II so it does swivel.
BTW, it also has a second handle which I totally forgot to use in the whole review. Not like it needs to use it anyways. ^^;

Part 4.6.2: GN Buster Sword II

The buster sword has a few moving parts. The blade section can be opened and closed but I find it very difficult to close without putting in a lot of force. (EDIT (6/9/2011): That's because I accidentally put the hilt upside down... only recently fixed it. ^^;) I ended up never closing it completely for the whole review. The blue armor parts at the side can be taken out as part of the opening gimmick. The white parts covering the handle can be opened up to allow the 00 to hold the weapon. It may become loose rather fast though. Furthermore, the handle section can move in and out but works much better than the blade section.

Part 4.6.3: GN Sword II Long & Short

It uses the handles of the GN Sword II found on the original 00 Gundam runners. Thus, the clear parts requires some green paint to synchronize with the rest of the armaments... The long sword is prety sturdy and has a second handle for a more stable grip while in rifle mode. The short sword is quite flimsy and the tip tends to fall off easily. The wire also doesn't really go in easily and requires some effort. Quite disappointing for me IMO but I guess due to its small size it couldn't be helped...

Part 4.6.4: GN Katar

The GN Katars are very solid. It has a simple sliding mechanism for the handles. These are probably the most beautiful 'short swords' I've seen in a while. *_*
Note: These katars were used to test out the condenser blade theory to enhance physical blade performance as physical blades has shown weakness especially if they don't get enough headroom to swing. At first - these katars melts on the spot but after some time, the GN Sword III was made based on it. This continued on with the GN Sword Kai and the GN Sword IV as well as 00 Qan[T]'s GN Sword Bit.

Part 5: Initial Shots

After speed building this until way past midnight due to a deadline, I snapped some quick shots before I fell asleep. ^^

A shot of the bare 00 Gundam.

Part 6: Up, Left, Down, Right!

Sorry for the lack of comparisons, I forgot and my camera battery died by end of the photoshoot session. Then again, I don't really think you need any other comparisons to other kits except to the 00 Raiser which I didn't do either. ^^;

The GN Buster Sword II is heavy enough to tilt the 00 to the left most of the time. ^^;

Part 7: Action!

Defying gravity and showing its polycap strength, the GN Drives can hold the sword up in the air.

This is how you connect the GN Sword II Blaster to the right GN Drive.

To put in the blaster, you need to do as seen above. You may need something like a knife or sharp nails to pull out the handle inside though...

*PEW**PEW**PEW*

I can hold it fairly well in this configuration. It IS the real way of holding it anyways. I didn't pose it attacking in sword mode though.

The GN Buster Sword II can act as a shield similar to that of the 00 Qan[T]'s binder. To hook the buster sword onto the GN Drive, just pull out the handle and slot it in connecting the peg to the slot under the cone.

This way of holding it is done by connecting it similar to most Gunpla shields. The handle (it can swivel) is inserted into the hands and the peg is connected into the arm. I heavily suggest you all to superglue the two halves of the white arm parts if you want to avoid the buster sword from falling off rather easily since the slot at the arm can open up... (most 00 Gundam owners should know of this already) ^^;

Box-art pose.

*PEW**PEW**PEW*

Final shot!

'Show me your moves!'

The buster sword is quite heavy as can be seen obviously through the above shots. I used my good ol' trick by using another stand to help hold it up in the air. You may try to superglue trick to strengthen the hands however.

The short sword took a while to set up due to the weakness I already stated above but the long sword cooperated nicely. I prefer the long sword over the short sword though due to its length and less troublesome playing headroom. XP

For these delicious dual sword action you need to have the extra parts from the 0 Raiser runners. Sorry if you don't have it and can't do this but since I can, I tried it out. I really like the outcome of it though. *.*

Beam sabers are kinda overshadowed by the other more awesome swords though. ^^;

I couldn't of much poses to do with the katars unfortunately but I think I should've made 00 throw it as well. Setsuna loves to wastes swords. >.>
Ian: SETSUNA!!!

Part 8: A Simple Comic Strip
This will be a silent comic strip since I'm too lazy to do any actual dialog. Hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless. ^^

And that's how the AHEAD ended up like in the previous post here.

Part 9: XN 00 Raiser 12 Sword/2G (XNR12S/2G)
Requirements: XN Raiser from Hobby Japan, 0 Raiser, Another 007S/G

This wasn't so easy to set up as parts can come off really easily if you're not careful since they start to rub against eac other as well as the sheer weight coming from the XN Raiser. Nevermind that, it looks totally awesome and much more killer than what I did for the preview. *_*

What's on the 00 now?
2x GN Sword II Blaster
2x GN Buster Sword II
1x GN Sword II Long
1x GN Sword II Short
2x GN Katar
2x GN Beam Saber
2x GN Sword II
2x GN Buster Sword III

Part X: What If?

Ribbons: This is the Gundam that will lead hu- OMG?!
Setsuna: Setsuna F. Seiei, XN Raiser, cutting towards the future!
Ribbons: !!! When did a mere human get such a--
*insert whatever your imagination can imagine here*

Note: Reborn's beam saber was painted with the metallic Sangokuden Gundam marker. =)

Part X: Now & Then

Top is my first 00 while bottom is my newest 00. See the differences in my detailing though my painting skills barely changed though since I'm still using the same ol' method of painting. ^^;

Part 10: Conclusion
Pros

• Tons of swords!
• Still can balance pretty well with all those swords on
• Great color and part separation
• Superb articulation!
• Good price @ 1600 Yen
• BEAM SABERS!
  

Cons

• Flimsy short sword
• Can't really hold the buster sword
• Still need some painting effort on the clear parts from the original 00 Gundam runners
  

Overall, this highly anticipated kit does not disappoint! Well, some flaws are present but they are negligible for me. It is also quite popular amongst most Gunpla-ers as far as I can see. he stocks of this kit just dwindle down like there is no tomorrow at the local hobby shop! =O

As a point to note, the rifle mode of the swords are pretty easy for me to set up now. Must be due to my experience with the previous 00 kit. Even so, I think the rifle mode might be a little annoying to some of your though. So, it is better to just leave then in sword mode except of the blaster as it looks just awkward being used primarily as a sword. ^^;

Another thing I want to address is how loosely the GN Sword II connects to the side skirts. It didn't become blatantly annoying until the flimsy short sword and long sword was used. They don't come off easily per say but they kinda just flop pointing downwards making certain poses less dynamic looking when it happens. Not really a major problem however.

Okay, that's all for now. Hopefully I didn't forget anything I wanted to say since I thought of what to say while building it on Monday night but only managed to do the review today due to time constraints.

Until the next post~