Greetings! It's been two months since the last time I posted here on my blog! Well, I've been pretty lately busy at work and I've been finishing up some things since I was planning a career change. Actually this post was supposed to be up 2 months ago but life happened so I had to focus on some other stuff. But the great thing is I can now freely run my blog!
Maybe in the coming months there'll be lots of new stuff that I'll post. Maybe it's old, or new but for me I think it's great to share my thoughts on these figures for good times sake. With no further adieu let's check out the Gundam Astaroth.
This is my very first Gunpla from the Iron Blooded Orphans (IBO) line. Since I haven't watched the anime yet since it's quite long and I'm busy, I was very curious about it's "inner frame" and how the kit will handle it's weight. Recently we have RGs that have inner frames and somehow shows MG-like tech. But almost all of the mobile suits from IBO seems to have one. What made me buy this kit was (of course not just the bad taste that I got from the sort of disappointing Gunpla Expo), but it's overall look. The asymmetrical style and simplicity and that cool weapon caught my eye. And not to mention that pilot looks kinda familiar.
First up we have the standard IBO box cover looking really badass. One of the things to mention about HG IBO box arts that it has the pilot's face on the cover. And I would like to make a shout out to these great artists who draw these epic covers for our Gunplas.
Moving on, we have the instruction manual and it looks really simple. Looking at some unboxing photos from bloggers from Japan made me think that the manual is big but it was smaller than I thought.
Another cool thing about the HG IBO like is you can customize your own Mobile Suit by swapping some parts from other IBO kits. It seems Bandai is really going through with Meijin Kawaguchi's "Gunpla is Freedom!" thing. A potential appearance on future GBF series? Why not!
Now let's go to one of the things that I was curious about, the inner frame. The inner frame looks fantastic. Not bad for a HG kit. Aesthetically it looks nice but the parts of the leg is quite disappointing. Well, it happens that the parts connecting the foot to the leg requires another piece to stay in place which is the armor part. But because of patience and luck, I was able to make this guy's skeleton stand for a few shots.
I like the amazing details on the arms and chest part. If you're skilled at painting using a brush (or like me using a marker) you can paint the pistons and other parts with a hint of bronze or silver to make them stand out even more. Just make sure the parts that you are painting are still visible after attaching the armory.
Now we have here the parts for the armor and the weapons. With 24 parts of armor it seems that this'll be a quick build for you. (That is if you're a rush builder and don't want to paint the details)
And now here it is fully armored, fully stickered (if that's even a word), and fully equipped. With the weapons. For me it is aesthetically amazing looking. It looks like this mobile suit has that unfinished state because of it's asymmetrical design.
This kit can quite stand up on it's own even though it has a really huge weapon attached to it's back. But wait later on when this mobile suit is using it.
Lots of panel lining should be done with this one. If you're one of those people who loves panel lines you might like this. The stickers weren't a problem with me but I hope the right leg part should've had a dark grey piece instead of a foil sticker, it ruins the vibe.
Compared to the upcoming Gundam Astaroth Rinascimento, this kit only has three weapons and all in one color. Adding detail is up to you but I think it's a great idea to dry brush that Demolition Knife (yup, that huge sword is called a knife).
Another feature of this Mobile suit is the "Arm Sub-Knuckle".
Nothing much on the inside.
But either way, if you bought two Gundam Astaroths, you have the option of putting the thumb of this knuckle to the other side.
Articulation wise, this kit is really articulated, I think it might be more articulated than the HG 00 Gundam. But I think these two are way apart when it comes to Gunpla tech.
Now for some poses! (and side notes)
This ridiculously looking big sword knife has great features as well. You can fold it and store it on it's back and you it has a handle on the other side for holding purposes.
Here it is equipped with the knife. Based on this MS' wiki page, it is stored inside of the big side skirts. Maybe if we'll get a 1/100 version of this one, I think we'll get that feature.
CONS
- One piece inner frame, and weapons.
- HG hands are always weak.
PROS
- Fun to panel line
- Excllent articulation
- Amazing asymmetrical design
- Less is more
- Few, yet badass weapons.
There you guys have it, the Gundam Astaroth. The HG IBO line seems promising and this one makes me want to buy another one from their line. Somehow, I guess I need to watch the series first to fully appreciate the mobile suits. I heard there's lots of killings drama with every episode so I guess that's really interesting. I'm happy that this MS will have another release in HG and it seems it's fully armored this time, I hope I'll still have funds for that one. Right now, I'm praying that a 1/100 scale with be released too, because this one is just to beautiful to skip.
What do you guys think about the Gundam Astaroth? Hit your thoughts on the comments below and I'll be glad to reply and answer your questions. See you in my next post and stay tuned because I'll be covering this month's Gundam Model Kit Contest this Saturday so stay tuned.
See you on my next post!
See you on my next post!
またね
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