The following may contain spoilers for the series finale of Gundam the Witch from Mercury.
At the time of posting, Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury has ended and I’m not expecting any new stories from the Ad Stella timeline outside the two anime seasons and the side-story manga Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury: Vanadis Heart. It also means we finally got solicitations for Gundam Calibarn and updated info, including packaging art for Gundam Schwarzette.
First, we have Gundam Calibarn who basically stole all the hype from this series, especially from Gundam Schwarzette who was in the running for the Gundam many speculated that Suletta will be piloting after being abandoned by Eri/Aerial. I was initially wondering why they haven’t proceeded with direct solicitations following its reveal and kept the “New Item B” moniker for pre-orders. Now we know why.
But first, we finally got a better look at the kit in its base state. We can see its witch broom-inspired primary weapon, the Variable Rod Rifle, is actually attached to the main mobile suit body via an articulated support arm, as well as all shell units in their deactivated states.
With the weight of the Variable Rod Rifle, it’s nice that they included one of those runner-less display stands for this kit, allowing you to immediately display the Calibarn in flight poses. Now that those are out of the way, let’s talk about the gimmicks based on the events of the final episode.
For starters the kit also comes with in-molded parts for the chest shell unit. But not only that, the blade antenna also comes as an in-molded part as it has the same technicolored glow as the rest of the shell units when it reached Permet Score 8. That said, the legs and shoulder armor will likely use stickers with the adhesive side containing the shell unit pattern.
Similar to the Aerial, the Calibarn now has a Bit-on form. Initially, it didn’t have GUND-Bits and only had the Variable Rod Rifle as weapon, but through the power of understanding, it acquired the GUND-Bits of Aerial Rebuild. Which means, the kit will come with the same parts to build the Aerial Rebuild’s shield, but at least it’s all white now and won’t need additional paint application.
As a side note, I only pre-ordered New Item B following the episode when Gundam Calibarn was revealed. I’m hoping that not many has pre-ordered this kit prior and I’m still running for the first print batch.
HG 1/144 Gundam Calibarn
July 15, 2023 / ¥2,000
Order via HobbyLink Japan
There was a time when Gundam Schwarzette got all the hype following Eri/Aerial abandoning Suletta. But ever since Lauda Neill became its pilot and Gundam Calibarn was revealed, that hype was gone. But following its battle in episode 23, there are still many reasons why you should get this kit. And Bandai Spirits has updated their solicitation page to show those reasons.
Since the Schwarzette isn’t a main character Gundam, it doesn’t get the in-mold parts for its shell units. These are likely reflective stickers covered by translucent parts. Its main weapon is the “Offensive and Defensive Platform Guardian,” or at least that’s how Google translates the blurb from Japanese. It’s basically a composite weapon that can split into several GUND-Bits that you can set into different configurations. This includes an asymmetrical configuration with a look similar to Gundam Rose, leaving a beam sword as melee weapon.
It’s likely that the underside details for these GUND-Bits will be done via stickers, but I hope that those for the GUND-Bits would be that 3D sticker they’ve started using in other kits. The solicitation does mention that two types of stickers are included in this kit.
Despite losing the hype, I kept my pre-order for the Schwarzette and I’m hoping to get a fun and enjoyable build experience with this kit.
HG 1/144 Gundam Schwarzette
July 7, 2023 / ¥1,900
Order via HobbyLink Japan
