The Dragon Momoko Metal Build ZGMF-202 Strike Freedom. This is a reprint of Dragon Momoko’s (DM) Master Grade Strike Freedom plastic kit, but this time it comes with a pre-built metal internal frame and a absolutly massive amount of accessories. This post will focus on the main body of the kit.
Short version of this review: 3rd party kit, needs work, looks awesome, has a ton of extras, internal metal frame not really a good thing, and the kit overall has good and bad features.
Long version:
As third party kits go, DM is definitely one of the better companies. The entire design is very unique and well thought out, though I am not sure if they are ripping off a metal build figure. The plastic is a good quality, though I still suggest a pin vice and appropriate drill bit sizes to get parts to fit vis drilling out the peg holes a little. Even then, test fit everything. Several pegs were too long on a couple of parts.
Panel lines and part separation really good, though you still get a lot of stickers for a bunch of the gold bits. I just painted in the gold that was missing. You get a much better set of gold plated runners than what was provided with the P-Bandai version of the kit and I also feel that the gold plating is better. However, I have not bought a modern gold plated Bandai kit for comparison as I hate plated parts.
The vast majority of the kit is under-gated which makes cleanup easy, but can make nub removal a challenge. When assembling the kit it is important to have the DM MG Strike Freedom instructions as there are some missing steps for the instructions provided with this kit. Since this is a port from their purely plastic model kit. There are also several runner and part number reference errors. So pay attention when building this kit.
Most finicky parts/sections to assemble were the waist and the first beam rifle. The waist had these two very tiny useless parts that had to go in a specific way and they just would not fit correctly in order allow me to get the waist to join together properly. Ended up tossing those parts out. Second big issue was the sliding mechanism on the first beam rile you build. The white outer casing of the gun had the ridges on the inside to help lock the gun in place once you slide out the part that moves. It was a bad design idea. The ridges actually jammed and I had to sand/file them down in order to get the gimmick to work. Nearly lost my mind working on that part.
The hands are cool and you gets lots of variety, but go together in a weird way. This is especially problematic when it comes to the hands that hold the beam rifles. I had to do weird stuff to get things to work correctly.
Probably the biggest part of the kit that I am undecided on is the metal internal frame. Very hefty and has super tight joints in some places like the hips. It is not really necessary though as it lends nothing to mobility and I worry about snapping joints from trying to get the kit posed. Though I will say the kit can stand with the backpack on without having to do a Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal lean. Thankfully, except for two parts on the shoulder, everything fits onto the frame with a basic amount of TLC you would expect of the third party kit.
The looks of this kit are stunning. It puts the MG Strike Freedom to shame and makes the MG Freedom look muted. The proportions are very nice, including the head, which Seed and Seed Destiny mobile suits are known for blowing out of proportion. If I ever find the regular full plastic kit of this, I will buy it.
In the next post I will discuss the accessories.
