This is the first Master Grade Gunpla (that looks like an actual Gundam) I’ve built since the original MG Gundam Unicorn Destroy Mode years ago. It really helps to illustrate how much better MG kits have become, or how bad that particular kit I built was. Still, this was a cool experience. There are so many more moving parts, an intricate internal skeleton, and a lot of sprews. Like, as a guy who normally does HGs, when I opened this thing up I was a little intimidated…
The Good: This was very reminiscent of the original Build Fighters kits, only on a bigger scale. There were a lot of leftover parts, so it was easy to see just how much the sculpt has changed from the GM Dominance it’s based on. If you told me it started its life as a GM I’d need to ask for some side-by-sides to be able to tell.
The amount of minute moving parts in this kit astounds me. There are a ton of faux hydraulics all over it, some of which you can’t even see. Elbows, ankles, knees. The most obvious ones are the ones in the shoulder connections.
The Bad: Most of this kit’s issues come from materials and tolerances. The blue plastic they used scars very easily. If you’re not repainting the entire kit, you’ll probably end up with a few white spots where previous runner connections were. I had to glue the Beam Sabers together because they wouldn’t hold otherwise. Lastly, the ankle guards don’t want to stay together. I tried gluing them, but there’s just too much forcing them apart. Not even the promotional photos could get them to stay flush.
The only issue I found with the kit proper is the elbows. There’s a bit of plastic sticking out that sometimes catches the extensor/flexor armor and prevents them from straightening out. If you’re trying to get them flush straight watch for that.
The Details: Honestly, I did not do a lot. I used an ink pen for panel lining and a few small fill in parts, and painted metallic green over the sticker locations on the head, but that’s it. I probably should have done black fill, like I normally do, but my black’s been clumping and I didn’t get a new bottle until after I finished.
Good new is, if you’re more ambitious than me, the Stormbringer comes with a ton of water slide decals and a pretty detailed map for where to put them. Including these very choice ones that, well, I know it’s an English colloquialism, but they had to know what they were doing…
Overall, this was a great kit. I don’t know if it’s any better or worse than most MG kits, as I don’t build them, but I certainly had a fun time putting it together. This is a P-Bandai exclusive, however, so it might cost you a bit to get one.
