If you’ve been caught up with mecha model kits in the last couple of years, then you should be aware in the increased presence of Chinese-made 1/100 scale Gundam-adjacent kits. And to be clear, while these did start with Zero Gravity’s 1/100 Judge, which is an extreme derivative of the Forbidden Gundam, recent releases have been mostly original designs. Not just original, but original and very spiky designs.
The only reason I’m able to avoid purchasing these kits is that they’re all 1/100 scale, which I don’t collect. But that won’t be the case anymore as SNAA has finally announced a 1/144 scale kit, though not as spiky as I’ve expected.
This is the BE 1/144 Thunder Incise Grade from The Round Table Knights series. “BE” means Beyond Exquisite and sports a logo clearly not inspired by the Real Grade logo. As mentioned, the design is more subdued and is not over-the-top like its larger-scale contemporaries, but still has copious amounts of sculpted detail.
Despite coming from a series named The Round Table Knights, the design doesn’t have any fantasy-looking elements and is more of a military machine. In its default configuration, the kit comes with several weapons. On its shoulder is a large back-mounted cannon, then each forearm also comes with smaller cannons. On its right hand, the forearm cannon also has a shield and blade attached to it. And finally, it’s also equipped with a standard rifle.
Despite the smaller scale, the kit will still have a complete internal frame. Though instead of a pre-assembled die-cast piece, you will also build it just like any modern Real Grade kit.
The internal frame also provides superb articulation as you can see above. Both arms and legs have a wide range of movement to allow such poses. The same can be said for the shoulders and torso sections which can rotate and extend for even more dynamic poses.
To be honest, I’m already sold on this kit as it looks really good. While I don’t expect perfect engineering like your standard Bandai Spirits model, I’m positive that building this will be a more favorable experience. Speaking of being favorable, SNAA over at their Weibo post mentions that this kit will be cheap. I won’t mention the prices as I don’t know if I’m interpreting them correctly, but it appears to be really cheap. Hopefully, that’s not an indicator of quality as it looks really good based on the prototypes shown here.
