I don’t often reach four works in progress posts for my builds, but this is a quad-build and I’m also using these to push myself to finish all four copies within the month as I plan to do a One Shots photo to wrap up October.
I’ve yet to build the weapons but the two copies meant to remain in MS mode are already complete so I’m chugging along to do the latter two in MA mode, or the Mirage Oiseau as it’s called. Except for the Macross HG kits with their Shortcut Change feature, HG Gunpla with more complicated transformations require parts replacement and disassembly, and the HGUC Phantom Gundam isn’t an exception. These extra parts also give a hint of how the transformation would’ve worked.
Basically, the whole mobile suit does a Van Damme-style split that goes beyond the hip section and up to the waist. The torso section from the cockpit hatch to the front hip armor also splits forward while the head tucks back and the arms fold in the same direction. What we get is a non-streamlined, horizontally oriented MA mode that doesn’t make any sense, but I’ll still build them.
Speaking of which, I am using parts from the two boxes I’ve opened to build the main replacement torso part, which means I’ll use parts from the latter two boxes to build the arms, legs, rear binders, and the replacement heads for two more configurations. Which also means I will have a whole slew of spare Phantom Gundam parts. I’ll keep them for potential kit bash projects, but they’ll likely end up in storage.
The replacement torso parts for both normal and Phantom Light-activated MA modes are both complete so it’s really powering through building the limbs again, which I’m targeting to complete this weekend. And then I can continue completing the Calibarn.
