1/144 HGUC RX-0 Unicorn Gundam (Unicorn Mode)

Ladies and gentlemen... Shewsbury Land is proudly introducing;

RX-OSC Sword Strike Unicorn Gundam Shewsbury Custom (Unicorn Mode)

Please bear in mind, this reviewed unit here is basically just 80% completed... I will still want to add more sticker and dry transfer decals on the body plus 1 more round of extra top coat process. Due to the deadline and time constraint, as at now, this is all I could produce....

This is basically the standard 1/144 HGUC RX-O Unicorn Gundam (Unicorn Mode) which is available at HLJ or any other online hobby and toy shop and the price is 1,500 yen (about SGD 24.00) before adding whatever shipment charges.

The box...


All the runners.... this one is quite simple... I managed to finish assembled it within 4 hours.



As always, let's have a look at the Gundam's body...









Articulation wise, despite being made in the year of 2009 this Unicorn is not that great... I think that 00 Gundam is still the king when it comes to articulation for 1/144 HG.




Though he still can do kneeling pose, but the overall feeling of articulation is just at the average level and probably if you compare it to 1/144 HGUC Nu Gundam.... you will feel a little disappointed with it...

This is probably due to the design of it (maybe, just maybe)... well, when I think of it, even the 1/100 MG Unicorn Gundam Ver. Ka is not that great as well when it comes to articulation plus you will have that complain on certain loose parts here and there... so based on that, obviously we can expect the 1/144 HG to be an improved version of the 1/100 MG right? Bandai never said that and it will never be that way... HG is cheaper than MG and that should be it...



Some kicking action...


When you try to pose this Unicorn you will realize about the limitation....


The maximum stretch.... yup this is all - the maximum...


The face...


I put some stickers here and there on the body to "enhanced" the look of the Unicorn instead of just the plain white... although actually there is nothing wrong if you leave it as all in white only because even in the OVA (and maybe in the anime) that is basically the color of it.

Nonetheless as model kits... I guess it would be better to add something to make it looks slightly different or rather attractive...







I will just use some of the decals below next time...


RX-OSC Sword Strike Unicorn Gundam in Heavy Assault Mode with 2 unit of bazooka...




And then later we add not 1 but 2 shield... 1 on each arms...






Actually it's kind of hard to really pose the Gundam with the bazooka.... you might seen it in other website or blogs but you do need some efforts to really make it happen, it is not impossible but I would say it's a little bit difficult.


"Nobunaga Katana".... as the main weapon for close combat...




"Twin Heaven" Anti Ship Sword...






Beam saber stored on the arms for convenience purpose...





And last but not least, you can combined the 2 beam saber to form a "Beam Javelin" - please note though that this is only available for this Shewsbury Custom. The standard version wont have it out of the box....



Overall, one might say that this is not a spectacular 1/144 HGUC GunPlaMo Kit. You will be disappointed if you expect it can be better than the 1/100 MG Unicorn Gundam Ver. Ka and even worst if you expected that they will improve what ever weaknesses that you encountered in the MG counterpart of it.... in fact I think you are crazy if you have such a high expectation.

If you want an improve version of 1/100 MG Unicorn Gundam Ver.Ka you should instead buy the latest 1/100 MG Unicorn Gundam Movie Ver Special Pack because surely this one is the improved version as it was redesigned or were given extra touch up by other mecha-designer from Bandai and thus it does not have the "Ver. Ka" (Version Hajime Katoki) word on the name.

The only reason for me to have this kit is simply because my 1/100 MG Unicorn Gundam Ver.Ka cannot do the transformation anymore. I use super glue to fix certain loose parts and permanently seal it and thus my MG now is like in half Unicorn mode and half Destroy mode.

Therefore I grab this kit and also the HGUC Unicorn Gundams (Destroy Mode) so that I can at least be able to display them side by side in their respective mode accordingly without having to buy another MG and going thru all the hard work assembling it all over again.

Now you may have your own reason for buying or not buying this kit and that is all up to you but what I state here is my own personal reason - yeah, just for the sake of having it for display purpose only.

My other complain about this model apart from the "lousy articulation" is the joint parts for the elbow.... I would say it is totally "fucked up" - what I mean is that the way they designed it is not that great at all and after a while it become loose easily and looks like it has the tendency to break the assembly.

It feels quite soft and not as firm as 1/144 HGUC Nu Gundam that we reviewed here last year.

Honestly, based my experience on the 1/144 HGUC kits... 1/144 HGUC Nu Gundam is way much better than this model.... in fact even the Hazel Custom is far more interesting than this model.

Nonetheless this is really the first ever HGUC kits created from the 1/100 MG of "Ver. Ka"

So I guess, I am now looking forward to see the HGUC Sinanju.... I am pretty sure that Bandai already have the prototype by now... it is just matter of time and I hope they will release it by this year of 2010 as well....

Really look forward to it but I don't expect anything spectacular as well....