1/100 MG Force Impulse Gundam with Excalibur
This is the review for 1/100 MG Force Impulse Gundam (ZGMF-X65/α) from Gundam Seed Destiny piloted by Shinn Asuka and later LunaMaria Hawke.
From Wikipedia;
Just like Aile Strike Gundam, the core Force Impulse Gundam is the Impulse Gundam itself. It is a multi-role unit similar in concept to the Earth Alliance's old GAT-X105 Strike Gundam.
In its basic configuration, the Impulse is lightly armed, with only chest-mounted CIWS, two "Folding Razor" knives, and a beam rifle.
It is also equipped with a dual-mode mobile shield, which is reinforced by a beam-deflecting energy barrier in its expanded mode.
Most of the times, Impulse Gundam typically goes into battle using one of its three Silhouette packs (Force/Sword/Blast).
The high-mobility α Force Silhouette adds only a pair of "Vajra" beam sabers to the armament, but greatly enhances Impulse's speed and allows it full atmospheric flight capability.
The close combat β Sword Silhouette adds two "Flash-Edge" beam boomerangs and two "Excalibur" anti-ship swords, and supports short-range flight.
The long range fire support γ Blast Silhouette includes two large "Kerberos" beam cannons, two "Deluge" railguns, and two 4-tube missile launchers, as well as a pair of "Defiant" beam javelins for short-range defense, and supports hovering and jumps when not on land.
In addition to adding weapons and equipment for different mission profiles, these packs also reconfigure the Impulse's Variable Phase Shift armor.
To further improve endurance, ZAFT also introduced the new Deuterion Beam Energy Transfer System, which allowed a properly equipped battleship to remotely recharge a mobile suit's battery. The ZGMF-X56S Impulse is one of these new suits.
In other words, Impulse Gundam is an improvised version of Strike Gundam.
In Gundam Seed (CE 71) Strike Gundam become so popular that leads to the fact that Bandai created so many products out of it. In fact, Strike Gundam is the most commercially successful Gundam from the Cosmic Era universe.
In GunPla they have 1/144 FG, HG and they also have the 1/100 HG (or NG) and of coz the popular 1/100 MG as well as the brilliant 1/60 PG. Bandai also made few variety in their figures division for Strike Gundam and the latest one is the expensive GFFN Aile Strike Gundam - but surely this figure is the best you can get so far from Bandai.
And thus probably, I think that is the very reason why Kunio Okawara (and after further consultations and instructions from the big boss in Bandai) designed this Impulse Gundam to commemorate or to pay tribute to the successful Strike Gundam and for Bandai they hope that the Impulse Gundam can gain the same success like Strike as well...
It turn out to be - NOT REALLY...
Well, don't get me wrong, it is popular but not as popular as the Strike.
I personally dislike Shinn Asuka (the pilot) but professionally, I do admire the great concept of Impulse and all those Silhouette packs... it is basically the same as those Striker Packs of Strike Gundam.
Same but different...
What I mean with NOT REALLY... well, obviously Force Impulse and Sword Impulse made it to the 1/100 MG GunPla kit line up, Bandai also produce some figures in the MSIA and GFF line up but all those thing cannot compare to what Strike Gundam had...
One question remain, where is the 1/100 MGBlast Impulse? More importantly.
Strike Gundam (Strike Rouge is included as well) is certainly the star performer when it comes to popularity and sales total... trust me on this.
Just like the least popular Launcher Strike... the Blast Impulse is certainly not the crowd's majority favorite... but for the sake of having it to complete the Striker Weapon System of Strike Gundam, people still don't mind to buy the Launcher Strike Gundam. Bandai is smarter though as they include both Sword and Launcher Striker Pack in 1 MG Kit - the 1/100 Launcher/Sword Strike Gundam... they knew that if they sell it separately... the stock wont move as fast as they would hope for.
I'm sure the fan of Force Impulse people would like to get the complete set of the Silhouette packs as well...
And you can ask those online hobby shop or local main distributors and retailers and in fact Bandai for that matter... which of these is the most popular in term of sales?
a) 1/100 MG Aile Strike Gundam
b) 1/100 MG Launcher/Sword Strike Gundam
c) 1/100 MG Force Impulse Gundam
d) 1/100 MG Sword Impulse Gundam
I give you the benefits of doubt...
And oh... Strike Gundam have the PG but Impulse Gundam? Not yet, at least as at March 2010... not yet for sure...
So let's get on with the review;
The articulation and action pose is never a problem... Bandai certainly have improved the inner frame or the skeleton a lot and thus it can do several things that the MG Strike Gundam cannot do...
"Folding Razor" knives...
Force Impulse with the basic armaments... beam rifle and the dual mode shield...
And quickly now some photos with the Force Silhouette which add another weapons - the beam saber...
The Gundam with beam saber always looks cool...
And if one is not enough... you can grab both of them...
Last but not least, one of the main reason for me wanted to have this Gundam is probably because of this long heavy sword - the Excalibur....
I think Bandai purposely give this Excalibur to convince us that we are not just buying an improved Aile Strike Gundam... we also will get some extra weapon... a very nice one... Excalibur...
Oh yeah... I didn't bother to show you the separated Flyers pack (Chest Flyer, Core Splendor and Leg Flyer) because I'm sick looking at it plenty of times when I watched Gundam Seed Destiny anime last time... I guess if you watch the anime as well... you have seen it plenty of times as well... why on earth they opponents just wait and see till the 3 units combined together... why don't they just shoot it before those 3 units merged and transformed into the Gundam... at the end, it is the thing that we will always say - because the director/producer of the anime wanted it to be so... screw logic, they just try to fill in the time gap in the anime...
Probably if the pilot is Kira Yamato, maybe I don't mind to show it... but Shinn Asuka? No thanks...
So this is the transformable core fighter and the pilot is in there of coz...
Additionally Bandai also give this special extra core block or whatever it is which will enable this Impulse Gundam to use all of the backpack from Strike Gundam's Striker Weapon System. Now this is cool... I really love it...
This is how you attached it...
See, now it is exactly the same as the backside of Strike Gundam....
So bring em on... first, the Aile Striker...
So now it become Aile Impulse Gundam?
And instead of Blast Impulse, now we have Launcher Impulse Gundam...
How about Sword Impulse Gundam instead of Sword Impulse Gundam? hahahahaha.... it's not an error... but Sword Striker + Impulse Gundam = the only answer I can think of is Sword Impulse Gundam...
Or if you want it to be more powerful... you can also put in the IWSP... So now we Impulse Gundam with IWSP.
Last but not least, please be informed that unlike many other 1/100 MG kits, for this particular model - and maybe also the same with Sword Impulse Gundam (not so sure coz I don't have it yet), if you open the pilot cockpit cover on the Gundam's body, you wont be able to see any pilot... it doesn't matter if you use the transformable core fighter or the second one (Strike backpack converter)... both are the same... you wont be able to see any pilot...
That's all what you will see...
Overall, this MG Force Impulse is certainly an improved version of MG Aile Strike Gundam, it has nice proportion, nice long legs and overall looks far more sexier and slimmer than Strike Gundam. In terms of articulation, not much to highlight but somehow still much better than Strike Gundam, more dynamic than ever.
Complaints? I have issue with the armor parts that tend to fall down here and there... as always, to solve this problem I super glue them to the inner frame so they will stuck there permanently. I do appreciate the inner frame skeleton but it's not that I wanted to see them any way. I really hate those loose and falling down armor parts...
The Excalibur is nice... but it's kind of heavy and the wrist joint seems to have problem to cope with the weight... I'm not sure why... but Strike Gundam can lift that heavy sword using one arm without any problem what so ever... thanks to it's solid and firm state.
If you are a big fan of Shinn Asuka and Force Impulse Gundam, I'm sure you would want to have this kit. I don't fancy Shinn Asuka but I do respect the goodness of Force Impulse Gundam.
From Wikipedia;
Just like Aile Strike Gundam, the core Force Impulse Gundam is the Impulse Gundam itself. It is a multi-role unit similar in concept to the Earth Alliance's old GAT-X105 Strike Gundam.
In its basic configuration, the Impulse is lightly armed, with only chest-mounted CIWS, two "Folding Razor" knives, and a beam rifle.
It is also equipped with a dual-mode mobile shield, which is reinforced by a beam-deflecting energy barrier in its expanded mode.
Most of the times, Impulse Gundam typically goes into battle using one of its three Silhouette packs (Force/Sword/Blast).
The high-mobility α Force Silhouette adds only a pair of "Vajra" beam sabers to the armament, but greatly enhances Impulse's speed and allows it full atmospheric flight capability.
The close combat β Sword Silhouette adds two "Flash-Edge" beam boomerangs and two "Excalibur" anti-ship swords, and supports short-range flight.
The long range fire support γ Blast Silhouette includes two large "Kerberos" beam cannons, two "Deluge" railguns, and two 4-tube missile launchers, as well as a pair of "Defiant" beam javelins for short-range defense, and supports hovering and jumps when not on land.
In addition to adding weapons and equipment for different mission profiles, these packs also reconfigure the Impulse's Variable Phase Shift armor.
To further improve endurance, ZAFT also introduced the new Deuterion Beam Energy Transfer System, which allowed a properly equipped battleship to remotely recharge a mobile suit's battery. The ZGMF-X56S Impulse is one of these new suits.
In other words, Impulse Gundam is an improvised version of Strike Gundam.
In Gundam Seed (CE 71) Strike Gundam become so popular that leads to the fact that Bandai created so many products out of it. In fact, Strike Gundam is the most commercially successful Gundam from the Cosmic Era universe.
In GunPla they have 1/144 FG, HG and they also have the 1/100 HG (or NG) and of coz the popular 1/100 MG as well as the brilliant 1/60 PG. Bandai also made few variety in their figures division for Strike Gundam and the latest one is the expensive GFFN Aile Strike Gundam - but surely this figure is the best you can get so far from Bandai.
And thus probably, I think that is the very reason why Kunio Okawara (and after further consultations and instructions from the big boss in Bandai) designed this Impulse Gundam to commemorate or to pay tribute to the successful Strike Gundam and for Bandai they hope that the Impulse Gundam can gain the same success like Strike as well...
It turn out to be - NOT REALLY...
Well, don't get me wrong, it is popular but not as popular as the Strike.
I personally dislike Shinn Asuka (the pilot) but professionally, I do admire the great concept of Impulse and all those Silhouette packs... it is basically the same as those Striker Packs of Strike Gundam.
Same but different...
What I mean with NOT REALLY... well, obviously Force Impulse and Sword Impulse made it to the 1/100 MG GunPla kit line up, Bandai also produce some figures in the MSIA and GFF line up but all those thing cannot compare to what Strike Gundam had...
One question remain, where is the 1/100 MGBlast Impulse? More importantly.
Strike Gundam (Strike Rouge is included as well) is certainly the star performer when it comes to popularity and sales total... trust me on this.
Just like the least popular Launcher Strike... the Blast Impulse is certainly not the crowd's majority favorite... but for the sake of having it to complete the Striker Weapon System of Strike Gundam, people still don't mind to buy the Launcher Strike Gundam. Bandai is smarter though as they include both Sword and Launcher Striker Pack in 1 MG Kit - the 1/100 Launcher/Sword Strike Gundam... they knew that if they sell it separately... the stock wont move as fast as they would hope for.
I'm sure the fan of Force Impulse people would like to get the complete set of the Silhouette packs as well...
And you can ask those online hobby shop or local main distributors and retailers and in fact Bandai for that matter... which of these is the most popular in term of sales?
a) 1/100 MG Aile Strike Gundam
b) 1/100 MG Launcher/Sword Strike Gundam
c) 1/100 MG Force Impulse Gundam
d) 1/100 MG Sword Impulse Gundam
I give you the benefits of doubt...
And oh... Strike Gundam have the PG but Impulse Gundam? Not yet, at least as at March 2010... not yet for sure...
So let's get on with the review;
The articulation and action pose is never a problem... Bandai certainly have improved the inner frame or the skeleton a lot and thus it can do several things that the MG Strike Gundam cannot do...
"Folding Razor" knives...
Force Impulse with the basic armaments... beam rifle and the dual mode shield...
And quickly now some photos with the Force Silhouette which add another weapons - the beam saber...
The Gundam with beam saber always looks cool...
And if one is not enough... you can grab both of them...
Last but not least, one of the main reason for me wanted to have this Gundam is probably because of this long heavy sword - the Excalibur....
I think Bandai purposely give this Excalibur to convince us that we are not just buying an improved Aile Strike Gundam... we also will get some extra weapon... a very nice one... Excalibur...
Oh yeah... I didn't bother to show you the separated Flyers pack (Chest Flyer, Core Splendor and Leg Flyer) because I'm sick looking at it plenty of times when I watched Gundam Seed Destiny anime last time... I guess if you watch the anime as well... you have seen it plenty of times as well... why on earth they opponents just wait and see till the 3 units combined together... why don't they just shoot it before those 3 units merged and transformed into the Gundam... at the end, it is the thing that we will always say - because the director/producer of the anime wanted it to be so... screw logic, they just try to fill in the time gap in the anime...
Probably if the pilot is Kira Yamato, maybe I don't mind to show it... but Shinn Asuka? No thanks...
So this is the transformable core fighter and the pilot is in there of coz...
Additionally Bandai also give this special extra core block or whatever it is which will enable this Impulse Gundam to use all of the backpack from Strike Gundam's Striker Weapon System. Now this is cool... I really love it...
This is how you attached it...
See, now it is exactly the same as the backside of Strike Gundam....
So bring em on... first, the Aile Striker...
So now it become Aile Impulse Gundam?
And instead of Blast Impulse, now we have Launcher Impulse Gundam...
How about Sword Impulse Gundam instead of Sword Impulse Gundam? hahahahaha.... it's not an error... but Sword Striker + Impulse Gundam = the only answer I can think of is Sword Impulse Gundam...
Or if you want it to be more powerful... you can also put in the IWSP... So now we Impulse Gundam with IWSP.
Last but not least, please be informed that unlike many other 1/100 MG kits, for this particular model - and maybe also the same with Sword Impulse Gundam (not so sure coz I don't have it yet), if you open the pilot cockpit cover on the Gundam's body, you wont be able to see any pilot... it doesn't matter if you use the transformable core fighter or the second one (Strike backpack converter)... both are the same... you wont be able to see any pilot...
That's all what you will see...
Overall, this MG Force Impulse is certainly an improved version of MG Aile Strike Gundam, it has nice proportion, nice long legs and overall looks far more sexier and slimmer than Strike Gundam. In terms of articulation, not much to highlight but somehow still much better than Strike Gundam, more dynamic than ever.
Complaints? I have issue with the armor parts that tend to fall down here and there... as always, to solve this problem I super glue them to the inner frame so they will stuck there permanently. I do appreciate the inner frame skeleton but it's not that I wanted to see them any way. I really hate those loose and falling down armor parts...
The Excalibur is nice... but it's kind of heavy and the wrist joint seems to have problem to cope with the weight... I'm not sure why... but Strike Gundam can lift that heavy sword using one arm without any problem what so ever... thanks to it's solid and firm state.
If you are a big fan of Shinn Asuka and Force Impulse Gundam, I'm sure you would want to have this kit. I don't fancy Shinn Asuka but I do respect the goodness of Force Impulse Gundam.
Well, personally I don't like any S-Destiny MG kit anymore due to its poor plastic toughness, easily broken, & I mean my FBM SF, how heartache seeing that happen, & now my MG Destiny also share the same problem..gosh...no MG IJ or Legend if it will released..I had enough !
ReplyDeleteBut, I might get the Strike ROuge though,kekekekeke..
Evaritus... Ok, I give u my still in the box MG Strike Rouge plus some Figma and you give me your black Sinanju... deal? Meet in Centre Point Pizza Hut hahahaha...
ReplyDeletehmm between those four I choose aile strike cheaper and nice ^^
ReplyDeleteimpulse just strike ripoff for me
@John,
ReplyDeleteOh ? Unfix Rouge ?? What some Figma ? Got pic kah ? I want to see since my gf interested on this too.
=)