Thanks to actually building Gunpla (more on that in another post) and mostly work-related stuff, I haven’t been able to write stuff on the blog for some time. So as a return, here’s something interesting.
A month before its release, Bandai Spirits released a subtitled commentary video on how the Ken Okuyama-designed HG Gundam G40 [Industrial Design] came from paper to plastic. What’s interesting is that they made the design with the mindset that they are building an actual 18-meter machinery rather than a 12 cm model kit, thus the moniker "Industrial Design." These include considerations for a hypothetical core fighter, as well as functionalities like the main camera unit.
That said, they still wanted the design to have call backs to the original 1979 animated series and how it looked back then. This is evident in added points of articulation on the forearm and lower leg units. Finally, they explain the thinking behind making the hip armors a single piece, a total departure from current designs.
If you liked all the thought and engineering that went to this kit, don’t forget to pick one as it comes out this December.
HG 1/144 Gundam G40 [Industrial Design]
December 2019 / ¥3,000
