HG 1/144 Zeydra Review - Part 1

Been out frequently ever since I got a chance to drive myself around the place so this post is very much belated to when I intended to post it up. :X
Well, I guess real life does come first before anything else here. ^^;

 

Price: 1300 Yen

Bought this a few months back as well as took those photos a few months back. Currently got some free time to burn so here is the Zeydra! Really enjoying the new Gunpla kits. As much as some of us like to complain that the designs are rehash of the old suits and such, the Vagan designs are quite fresh, different and special when compared to past mobile suits, although there are parallels to the original series in their designs such as Zehart mobile suits being based on Char's mobile suits.

Specifications

Pilot: Zehart Galette

Height: 20.0m

Weight: 46.7t

Armaments: Beam Vulcan Gun/Saber (2, at the palms), Zeydra Sword (1, tail), Zeydra Gun/Saber (1), Beam Buster (1, green part of chest)

Read on for the rest of the review!

Section 1: Box

 

Section 2: Box Open!

 

 

 

Section 3: Runners

A good amount of parts for 1300 Yen. The only sad part is that the HG is orange-ish instead of being actually red or light red like in the art... Also, it would be nice if we get some beam parts for the hands and gun too since AGE-1N gets a full set of beams for 1200 Yen.

Section 4: Building Process
Section 4.1: Torso

 Part separation is improving as we go along the years. =)

Bandai applied a rather interesting trick with the clear green area, which is evidently more effective than the HG 00 series. I like.

 

Section 4.2: Head

Heads are getting more detailed as well, since the first HG AGE released, I see that this section gets quite the number of parts now.

 

The "eyes" are hard to see and hard to show on camera IMO but they are there, quite different from mobile suits prior to the series as well. The "horns"/antennae are easy to get pushed off so be careful with the head when posing.

Section 4.3: Arms

 

Hand parts will need some gray paint to look nice. Only painted the open palms since they are more obvious. Thought I could just straight build this model kit initially but I guess I just can't help myself. XP

I also realized that the Vagan mobile suits have two thumbs and three fingers. = |

Arm articulation is good, as good as what AGE-1 has presented us initially.

The barrels can "wiggle" around as they are connected via a plastic ball joint.

Section 3.4: Legs

 

Detailed feet are detail feet. I just hope those flat pegs are lasting enough...

The other thing I find disappointing about this model kit is that the legs are connected to the waist via a traditional ball joint... would've been better if it used the newer more flexible joints though but I guess they wanted to keep the cost as low as possible considering the price.

 

Legs can bend completely and the "thruster vents" doesn't hinder that at all.

Section 3.5: Waist

 

The waist is rather special this time too. The rear skirts, both sides are movable, and somewhat part of the side-skirts as well - more of them being side-skirts going to the rear portion as well I think.

Section EX1: Preview

Section 3.6: Binders

Painted those gray rather than using the off-color black stickers provided.

The binders seem flat yet gets the job done of giving the Zeydra a sharp looking shoulder area but not getting a heavy backpack while at it.

Section 3.7: Zeydra Sword

 

 

 

 

 

The sword is attached to the rear as shown and acts as a "tail" while not used in combat.

Section 3.8: Zeydra Gun/Saber

 

 

Interestingly, the gun is bigger than in the anime. No complaints here. =3

Section EX2: Preview

 

 

"Zeydra Finger!"

 

 

 

 

Yep, that's how the sword is held. The hole is connected to the vulcan barrel and it works.

The ball joints are flexible enough to allow some level of dynamic posing. ^^

"Sekiha Tenkyoken!"

"This hand of mine is..."

"Goodnight."

To be continued with more shots and then Gundam AGE-2 Double Bullet (as these two go together). XP