TT Hongli MG 1/100 Strike Noir Review - Part 2

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

Time for yet another finisher to something I think many of you are curious about! Is this bootleg MG good or bad?! Read on to find out the conclusion!

A total of 98 shots with no edits what-so-ever (Sorry, no story this time, as 1/100s are harder to do.)!

Part 1: Articulation & Gimmicks

Shoulder can move forwards and back. Same goes for the Noir Striker.

Arms can go pretty high like most MGs. Legs spread are limited due to the use of a ball joint.
I also have to warn you that the legs will tend to pop off the ball sockets if you move em' a little bit (but its not as awful as it sounds). I suggest using the superglue trick for the ball joints and try to tightly insert the legs into the waist. Other than that, if you have some spare polycaps from an original MG, you can try that instead.

Great articulation for the arms.
Note that the rear skirt armor can move a bit also but please don't stress that part too much or else it'll break.

Improvement from the Strike - the hands can also turn up and down just like the Astrays.
Warning - the lower elbow joint is quite loose. It can lock a bit at a certain point but it won't easily carry any heavy weapons such as the combined shield from the I.W.S.P.. It has no problems handling lighter, normal weapons, such as its own weapon.

The head can't turn much though since it has a long armor piece covering the neck. O.o

The cockpit is slightly easier to open this time as compared to the rather difficult Strike. Of course, having long nails or something thin and sharp comes in handy here...

The waist can't turn much as the front skirts and rear skirts prevents some movement here.

You can open the armor piece near the elbow to allow it to use some arm installed armaments such as a shield.

The Striker Pack connection here can shift front and back a little. It has some kind of piston-ish mechanism to it also.

Besides the obvious turning point at the "circle" region, the wings can also turn at that point. Thus, it has two moving points. Neat.

The linear gun can be pulled out as so. It has three moving points that allows it to turn and "twist". Note that I said that I messed up these parts when building them... so sometimes they tend to open up... ORZ.

The small wings on top can also bend 90 degrees.

This is an important "trick" as it is detrimental for the boxart pose or what I like to call "Freedom wings effect". I only found out that I can indeed do this pose but by tricking the sword handle into getting "stuck" onto the gray part... the shot should give you a good idea how.

Part 2: Action!

*BA-SHUUUUNG + PEW PEW PEW*
Linked linear guns and dual beam rifle action!

Dual Fragarach 3 beam blade action! Looks kinda plain IMO... but big swords are always good!
Note that the "sword hands" doesn't seem to close completely.

Dual beam pistol action! I really love dual pistols more than single beam rifles (yes, Cherudim is win). Of course the dual beam rifles just now are more win. *_*

Rocket anchor action! They give you two wires but I find that they are a bit thick to go into the holes properly. Thus, I had to shave the tips a bit so that they can go in better but not necessarily perfect. You can shave open the holes instead if you want.

Part 3: Comparison with "Big Bro" (Strike)
Before you say, "Why does your Strike somewhat different?!", my Strike lost its forehead crystal and broke one side of its rear skirt armor. Because I can't live with a forehead-crystal-less Strike, I had to custom one... though it is bigger. =X

Note: Strike here is an original Bandai product. Got it as my first MG. ^^


Besides the obvious external differences, there are some changes internally as well.

The "claps" is smaller on the Strike Noir. It is kinda useless though.

The arm section here has a different internal frame.

With that said, Strike Noir also has more armor pieces at the arms.

The legs are also different. The Strike Noir, luckily, has an improved connection design for the ankle guards. Thus, the ankle guards will not fall of as easily as the Strike ones...

Part 4: Striker Pack Swappin'
Note: Strike and Impulse are both original Bandai products. ^^

Part 4.1: Strike E

Beam rifle is its own while the shield is borrowed from the Strike. It doesn't look so good though... yeah. ^^;

Essentially, the beam rifles between Bandai and TT looks virtually the same except that the scope for the bootleg doesn't look so nice.

Part 4.2: "Strike Noir"

The pack fits in nicely but the color scheme doesn't match that well. XP

Part 4.3: Impulse Noir
You saw those promo shots of the MG Sword Impulse and now... I can do it too!

If only the Impulse has a darker color scheme, this would work really well. It looks quite awesome. o.o

...and it basically steals the spotlights! Well, not really. XD

Part 4.4: Sword Strike E

Just like any SEED suit that can use the Striker packs (that's not the original Strike)... this one also can't use the shoulder parts, sadly. )=

*cough*

Part 4.5: Launcher Strike E

Very bare since it cannot use the shoulder part... ^^;

Part 4.6: Strike E + I.W.S.P.

Weirdly, this one doesn't want to properly stick into the back unlike the rest. O.o It tends to drop off so you guys better don't try this without preparations. Hmmm... looks like I have almost every Striker pack of the Strike now... except the Aile Striker. @_@

Part 5: Conclusion
As for the variation itself...
Pros

• More detailed than the original Strike at some parts
• Fixed some problems that the original Strike had which are the cockpit, ankle guards and holding capability (hands)

Cons

• Made in 2007 BUT doesn't use the newer, much better, MG hands
• Ball joints for the legs...
• NO STAND!!! (and it costs 4500 Yen?!) (and it is a bit back heavy)
  

As for being a TT Hongli kit....
Pros

• Matt plastic (not shiny like the original)
• Stickers work.
  
• WATER SLIDE DECALS!

Cons

• Some loose parts such as the arms and legs (the arms are not much of a problem unlike the legs)
• Some armor parts tend to fall off but you can superglue them if you want
• The sword holders in the Wings are loose
• Tight packaging can cause some parts to fall off from the runners, so be wary
  

This one may take some patience in building if you want to prevent or lower some of the problems but the final product after that will greatly satisfy you. The legs are the number one thing that really annoy me for this kit which is a similar condition as my HG Virtue. However, with a bit of help from the superglue, the legs wont really fall off the ball joint unless you move it a bit. ^^; Just force it in as hard as you can.

Be careful when you put the pistols on the side skirts as well as they may fall off. But they don't really fall off unless you actually touch them accidentally. This is mostly problematic for the right side but the left side has a more solid connection... so I guess it is fixable. I did sorta fix it with a bit of carving. >.>

The face also likes to drop down once in a while You can just superglue that in. I just didn't since I didn't expect it at first. The rear thrusters are very loose. You can superglue those too if you want.

It is a bit back heavy so you better ready off a stand or action base.

Overall, this MG, being a first by TT Hongli, is pretty decent but not amazing. A bit of work is still needed (like most bootlegs since they can't be perfect) to make it more workable. The legs can be quite annoying though but as you can see from my shots, it won't just drop off just like that.

In the end, I can say that I am pretty happy with this guy. Water slide decals... the best thing TT did for it. ^_^
It is not perfect, but for RM4X, I can't complain much. Just make sure you can hold your patience if you want to get this guy or any bootleg kits from TT. I heard one of the best is the MG Unicorn...

Okay, that all for this review. Stay tune for maybe another review soon or maybe something a little bit different if I can get myself to get this thing more...

Note: I don't have anymore TT Hongli PGs or MGs to review for the time being, sorry guys. Hafta wait until I get another chance to get em' from Chow Kit once again... ^^;

PS: If there are some parts that are not clear enough to you, please ask via comments. I'll try to answer you the best I can.