I teased building the HG L-Gaim with the completion of my RG Evangelion Unit-01 build, and this is something I’ve hemming and hawing for a good while. Back in 2020, Bandai Spirits announced that they are reviving the HG Heavy Metal L-Gaim kits with the release of a new HG L-Gaim Mk-II, a kit that wasn’t included in the original High Grade Heavy Metal (HGHM) line. At the same time, the older kits got reissues with the “High Grade Heavy Metal” brand dropped to just “High Grade.”
For the most part, the reissues were the same 2001 kits with new packaging. Except for the L-Gaim as it was given the “version 1.5” treatment. To those unfamiliar, this is where Bandai Spirits tweaks the engineering and includes a runner or two of new parts, while the rest were kept the same.
So, why did I decide to pivot from the pre-assembled figure to the plastic model? The short and quick answer is that The Robot Spirits figure didn’t hold well after all these years, like it got all floppy and everything was all over the place. And that’s considering that it wasn’t played with or anything. This is also in line with my current “model kit first” mindset.
As for the build, the instruction manual tells us to build the legs first, which is a good thing since this is arguably the most involved part of the process. A prominent feature of this kit is having the outer leg panels open to reveal internal mechanics, and the kit is able to achieve this with the use of several hinge joints. Though I will advise caution as this gimmick is dependent on a rather delicate plastic piece that can break if not handled carefully. Besides that, you would also need to paint some of the inner armor panels gray. All that remains are the hands, backpack and weapons, which I’m confident I’ll should be able to finish within the next couple of days.
By the way, I also have the HG L-Gaim Mk-II over at the From Japan warehouse (yes, I’m thinking of changing my preferred proxy shopping service) along with other kits so I should have this series covered. On that note, I’m tinkering with the idea of building Mamoru Nagano-designed mecha in succession, or at least for this year. This includes the aforementioned HG L-Gaim Mk-II, the ‘revive’ HGUC Zeta Gundam, and the IMS 1/144 L.E.D. Mirage Light Armament Type. The last one is a tall order since I’ve yet to build any Five Star Stories kits so let’s see.
