MG GAT-102 Duel Gundam Assault Shroud (Daban)

Hi folks, long time huh ;) I've been busy with work, plus there's a delay in custom clearance :P

Presenting now, the newest addition to Daban line of Master Grade, MG 6609 Duel Gundam Assault Shroud from the SEED series ;)

Manufacturer: Daban
Scale: 1/100
Grade: MG
Origin: Gundam SEED
Price: RM85 (Contact me at duelmasterng@yahoo.com for latest pricing and availability)

Let's start ;)

Section 1: Runners

The detailing are very nicely done! I would say this is close to 97% of the original ;)

The plastic quality, however, is a bit disappointing as it still comes in the usual of Daban glossy finishing, which is quite troublesome for coloring and not to mention, felt cheap!

To top off my dissatisfaction, the supposed-to-be semi transparent beam sabers have been made into some cheap pink colored parts instead!

Section 2: Decals

This kit comes with a dry-sticker decals, dry-transfer decals and foil sticker. 

The quality of dry-transfer and dry-stickers are excellent and closely rival the original from Bandai. 

The foil stickers are actually pretty decent too and I did use them ;)

Section 3: Skeleton Build

As usual, the skeleton build ;) 

The Legs

Detailing are fantastic! Articulations are great too ;) This is replicated perfectly from the original.

The Waist Unit

Pretty straight-forward :)

The Chest Unit

The pull-out mechanism would allow the shoulder joints to be pulled out for more dynamic posing.

The abdomen can also be tilted to all direction at some minor degree for posing ;) An improvement from the older Strike inner frame.

The Shoulders

Seems pretty similar to the old Strike shoulders!

The Arms

Straight-forward, but excellent articulations for the arms!

Section 4: The Legs

Pretty solid build with good articulations :) Parts separations are nicely done and articulations are fantastic. Just wished that the detailing on the tight were separated instead.

Section 5: The Waist Unit

Straight-forward build and looks very much like the Astray Red Frame except the side skirts :) The short front skirts are actually individual moveable, which causes some problem attaching the Assault Shroud front skirt armor :P

Section 6: The Chest Unit

Very nicely replicated ;)

Section 7: The Shoulder Unit

The standard Strike shoulder unit ;)

Section 8: The Arm Units

Parts separation is excellent with credit goes to Bandai, and Daban replicated this pretty nicely ;)

Section 9: The Head Unit

Once again, excellent parts separation credit to Bandai ;) However, the Daban finishing is causing the nub mark pretty visible on the back of the head...

Section 10: The Backpack

Very nicely done with excellent parts separation.

Section 11: Weaponry

Shield

Standard shield for SEED MS ;) Very good parts separation.

57mm High-energy Beam Rifle

Well, I added some gold and metallic red :P

Hyper Bazooka

This weapon does not appear in the anime :P

Section 12: Duel Gundam, Ready to Engage

Completed Duel Gundam ;)

Section 13: Duel Gundam, Engaging

Action posing ;)

Section 14: Assault Shroud System

The Assault Shroud armor and additional armaments ;)

Leg Armor

The leg armor is actually made into clip-on mode so there's no hindrance to the articulation at all. A little lost of detailing spotted but not major ;)

Skirt Armor

The skirt armors are made into slot in mode where it can be slid into the 2 slots on the front and back of the waist unit ;)

Back Skirt Armor

No issue slotting in and they are tight enough ;)

Front Skirt Armor

This is actually a design flaw by Bandai and Daban have replicated it :P The 2-piece front skirts are individually moveable so most of us would have issue slotting in the Assault Shroud front skirt armor.

The can be 2 solutions...

1. Modify using magnet;
2. Take out the Duel front skirts, slot them into the Assault Shroud front skirt armor, then fit it back to the waist unit.

Of course, you can always glue them :P

Chest Armor

Pretty nicely done "clip-on" armor ;)

Right Should Armor with "Shiva" 115mm Rail Gun

Additional armament for the Assault Shroud. The Rail Gun can also be detached and use as beam rifle ;)

Left Shoulder Armor with 5-Barrel Missile Pod

Excellent parts separation ;)

Arms Armor

Another set of "slot-in" armors that does not hinder the articulations ;)

Stabilizer and Additional Thrusters

Attached to the existing backpack :)

Section 15: Duel Gundam Assault Shroud, Ready for Action

Section 16: Duel Gundam Assault Shroud, Action Posing

Section 17: Size Comparison

A little shorted then RX-78-2 v2.0 ;)

A sneak-peek of my upcoming review ;)

Quick Review

Plastic Quality and Detailing

Detailing for this kit is very nice done and my evaluation is as close as 97% to the original ;). The plastic quality, however, is a bit disappointing as it comes in the usual of Daban glossy finishing which is quite troublesome for coloring and make me feel cheap!


Articulations

Articulations are excellent, credit to Bandai.

• Head/Neck: Good, but the Assault Shroud armor is somehow affecting the neck articulation by certain degree :P
• Shoulder: Pretty Good :)
• Arm/Elbow: Excellent!
• Wrist: Good.
• Hand: Good. This kit comes with fixed hand so some might not like it :P
• Waist: Bad... can only turn by a little due to the back skirt armor while in its basic form, and by the Assault Shroud armor when fully loaded :(
• Skirt Armour: Very good in terms of movability, but the front skirt design is flawed (Bandai) and difficult to attach the Assault Shroud front skirt armor.
• Hip/Tight: Excellent.
• Knee: Excellent.
• Ankle: Good.
• Feet: Good.

Looks and Feels

The detailing is very good and come close to 97% of the original! The plastic quality is disappointing as it comes in the usual of Daban glossy finishing which is quite troublesome for coloring, and it makes me feel cheap, not to mention the pink beam saber :P Well, a layer of flat topcoat should remove the cheap feel ;)

The decals are in superb quality to make this kit look even nicer.

The snap-fit is very nicely done as I do not have any issue at all snap-fitting the whole kit. The articulations and pose-ability is pretty awesome too despite some design flaws which is not Daban's fault.

Overall, this kit is still very nice and a viable replacement of the original if you are at a budget constrain! As usual, for those of you who can afford, do buy and support original ;)

Fin ;)