Product Line / High Grade Future Century
Scale & Class / 1/144 Scale Plastic Model Kit
Manufacturer / Bandai Spirits
Release Date / 2011
Appearances / Mobile Fighter G Gundam
While 1994’s Mobile Fighter G Gundam received mixed reactions when it first premiered, it’s now much appreciated by fans with its ridiculousness, and how it took the franchise in a different direction. I’d even say its giant robot tournament concept is the farthest the franchise had reached to this day. G Gundam also introduced several well-loved mechanical designs, including some stereotypical ones. Neo Japan’s Shining Gundam has the bells and whistles of a main character Gundam, but also has concepts you’d normally see in shounen titles with its martial arts fighting style. The 2011 High Grade Future Century version would’ve definitely benefited something like 2024’s SEED Action System, but does that mean everybody should just skip it?
For starters, no. The proportions on this kit are really good, but you need to paint several parts for color accuracy. Chief among these are the side panels on the legs, but more importantly, all gold mechanical parts that are exposed when displaying the kit in Super Mode. Yes, the kit does transform, though I just built two copies, with one permanently in Super Mode, instead of going through the quick transformation. Articulation is okay, but it’s lacking for something that’s supposed to be very agile. I’d imagine a Real Grade version would address this. The kit does compensate with several accessories and effect parts. These include replacement manipulators, with a pair for the Shining Finger attack and a large Shining Finger you place over the left standard Shining Finger hand. There are also a couple of standard beam saber effect parts, and one for the Shining Finger Sword attack. All Shining Finger-related effect parts are molded in translucent green. Lastly, the Core Lander is detachable, and arguably needs the most paint for color accuracy.
