As far as I remember, mobile suits in “real type color” are something that’s unique to the Universal Century timeline. For those unfamiliar, it’s basically adding another layer of realism to the mobile suit designs that might’ve otherwise gone through ‘toyetic’ filters as demanded by sponsors. It’s the reason the original Gundam, and all subsequent Gundams, have similar tricolor schemes. Real Type-colored mobile suits typically have more muted palettes for camouflaging purposes. Yes, in the assumption that you’ll have a good deal of suspending your disbelief that four-story tall mobile suits can be hidden by changing colors.
In any case, it’s a treat that we’re seeing that concept seeping into the Cosmic Era universe with both the Freedom and Justice Gundams getting real type colors as part of the 20th anniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. Both of which, and the illustration you see above, are from legendary mecha designer Kunio Okawara.
I wanted to say that the Real Type Freedom Gundam over here takes inspiration from the Real Type RX-78-2 Gundam with the use of moss green for the bright blue parts. Though in exchange, we see a good deal of bright blue in areas previously highlighted with red. We do see red markings all over the mobile suit so expect decals when building kits of this guy (yes, foreshadowing).
Then there’s the Real Type Justice Gundam, in all of its blue glory. We all know that the original Justice has Athrun’s signature red/pink/magenta color scheme so it’s quite the departure to basically flip the color slider to the opposite direction. It sure won’t help in camouflaging this mobile suit, but if it’s meant to be an aerial-use mobile suit, then it will make sense as this should blend to the sky well. But then again, the large FATUM backpack is in dark gray so go figure.
Bandai, and all of its divisions, have announced merchandise featuring both real type designs. Bandai Candy/Shokugan went first with pre-orders of Mobile Suit Gundam G FRAME FA going up over at Premium Bandai. Both Bandai Hobby and Tamashii Nations followed suit with announcements of Master Grade kits and Metal Robot Spirits figures of each, respectively. They’re also Premium Bandai for those wondering.
