MG GF13-017NJ Shining Gundam (Bandai)

Hi guys :) I have assembled this kit for some time already and here's the review for your viewing pleasure. This MG was in the market for quite some time but I only got it from the recent warehouse sales :p

Manufacturer: Bandai
Scale: 1/100
Grade: MG
Origin: Gundam G Fighting Century
Price: 2500 Yen

Part 1: Runners

Not a lot of runners for an MG, but the parts separations are quite nicely done ;) the only disappointment is the lacking of the Shining-Finga-Sword... it might not have appear in the anime yet during the time this kit is released :p

Part 2: Skeleton Build

Legs

Very well articulated :) Just wished that the hip joints were like the v2.0 kits.

Arms

Very nicely articulated too ;) Easily the best forearm skeleton design for my taste as the design allows the forearm to turn even with the outer armor for good posing options.

Body

Pretty standard for MG with pull-out mechanism for the shoulder. It uses a ball-joint to connect to the lower body so it added some degree of posing possibility as well. Wonder why the big "emptiness" in the middle? It for the core-lander from the back and also the body armor to be indented for the cross-arms pose ;)

Complete Skeleton

Except the hip joints (ball-joints), all are excellent!

Part 3: Legs

Parts separations are nicely done. The bending of the knees are hindered by the armor but not a big issue :) The thrusters comes in yellow color so I colored them using Gundam Marker - Gold instead.

Part 4: Arms

The articulation maintained with the outer armors ;) The inner parts of the shoulder and the forearm comes in yellow so I colored them to Gold as well. The forearm inner frame allow me to turn the forearm gauntlet to any position for very dynamic posing ;)

This kit comes with a pair of Shining Fingers, and 3 sets of rubber hands (open/posing, close fists, sword-holding) instead of the articulated-fingers hands from the recent MGs... I do not have any issue with this but hardcore fans would replace them with other options in the market :p

Part 5: Head, Upper Body & Lower Body

Once again, parts separation are done nicely. I am showing the head in hyper mode :p the face uses interchangeable parts where the rest have moving mechanism ;)

The upper body could be tilted forward and backward slightly due to the use of ball joint in the mid section ;)

Part 6: Core-Lander

Pretty straight-forward core-lander with pretty nice parts separations and transformation mechanism ;)

Part 7: Normal Mode

Well... pretty simple kit to build ;)

Part 8: Hyper Mode

Shining FINGAAAAAAA!

Kneeling? Not an issue ;)

The 2 samurai from different series ;)

Quick Review

Parts/Color Separations

Parts and color separations are very well done! It makes painting easy for pro and it looks good too in straight build ;)


Articulations

Articulations are nearly excellent for comparing to today's technology, and I believe it is one-of-a-kind when this kit is first launch ;)

• Head/Neck: Very good!
  
• Shoulder: Fantastic! Very highly pose-able with the pull-out mechanism.
  
• Arm/Elbow: Excellent!
  
• Wrist: Normal+.
• Hand: not articulated...
• Waist: Good.
  
• Skirt Armour: Good.
  
• Hip/Tight: Normal+!
  
• Knee: Excellent!
• Ankle: Excellent!
  

Looks and Feels

This is a nice kit but it looks like an ape to me when Hyper Mode is deployed... Most probably due to the red face :p This kit might be ancient but it still looks good and I prefer this over the newly launched HGFC Shining although that comes with the large Shining Finger effect and the Shining-Finger-Sword :)

I would highly recommend this kit to beginner to MG as this is pretty simple to assemble. With the price tag of 2500 Yen (about RM90), this is an excellent choice for both quality and economy.


Fin ;)