Hi folks, how's everybody? Presenting now, the newest addition to Gao Gao Gundam W line of Master Grade, MG 032 Heavyarm Gundam ver. EW ;)
Manufacturer: Gao Gao
Scale: 1/100
Grade: MG
Origin: Gundam W
Price: RM75 (Contact me at duelmasterng@yahoo.com for latest pricing and availability)
Let's get it on ;)
Section 1: Runners
The detailing are very nicely done! I would say this is close to 99% of the original ;)
The plastic quality is the usual of Gao Gao quality which is proven quite good!
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 so I am using them actually ;)
Section 3: 1st Batch Premium - Metal Belt & Metal Thrusters
Bundled as the 1st batch premium item, there is a metal belt and 4x metal thrusters.
The quality is pretty nice and I love these additions and I urge those who are interested to not miss these ;)
Section 4: Skeleton Build
Let's move on to my usual skeleton build ;) Just for your information, I did minor coloring on the missiles with metallic red.
The Legs
Detailing are fantastic! Articulations are great too ;) This is replicated perfectly from the original.
Waist Unit
This is the most complicated waist unit among the 5 Wing EW kits ;)
Lower Torso Unit
The 1-piece thingy that allows a little movement at the torso area ;)
The Chest Unit
The pull-out mechanism would allow the shoulder joints to be pulled out for more dynamic posing of the arm but not much this can do due to the big shoulders.
The abdomen can also be tilted to all direction at some minor degree for posing due to a use of ball-joints ;)
The Shoulder and Arm Unit
The arms are pretty straight-forward, but the shoulder is quite a complicated build due to the missile pods ;)
The Head
Excellent parts separation (credit to Bandai) and detailing. I actually used the foil stickers this round for the eyes and cameras ;)
Naked Heavyarm :P
A Little Size Comparison ;)
Section 5: The Legs
Pretty solid build with good articulations :) Parts separations are nicely done and articulations are fantastic. I did some minor coloring on the missiles with metallic red.
Strangely, among the 4 new EW kits, I actually found the hip joint towards the tights and the ankle joints are a little bit loose with Heavyarm...
Section 6: The Waist Unit
Easily the most complicated section of this entire Heavyarm Gundam :P All 6 skirt units are moveable individually ;) Excellent parts and colors separation. I did some minor coloring on the missiles with metallic red.
Section 7: The Chest and Abdomen Unit
The thickest chest among all EW kits ;) Excellent parts and colors separation. I did minor coloring with gold on the Chest Gatling Guns.
Section 8: The Arms and Shoulder Unit
The arm and shoulder is actually connected as 1 piece but it does not affect pose-ability ;) I did some minor coloring on the shoulder armor and missiles with metallic red.
Section 9: The Backpack
Pretty straight-forward backpack. The metal thrusters actually a very nice addition to this piece of equipment here ;) The mounting arm at both sides are moveable. I did some minor coloring with gold color.
Section 10: Weaponry
Shield
Just a simple shield ;)
Assault Army Knife
Close combat weaponry when ammo is depleted :P
Beam Gatling Gun
The main weapon of Heavyarm :) In this Gao Gao version, a metal belt is bundled as 1st batch premium, and it looks excellent mounting it with the Beam Gatling Gun ;)
Section 11: Heavyarm, In Action
Quick Review
Plastic Quality and Detailing
Detailing for this kit is very nice done and my evaluation is as close as 99% to the original ;). As for the plastic, the quality is the usual of Gao Gao which has been proven quite good :)
Articulations
Articulations are excellent, credit to Bandai.
- Head/Neck: Excellent! ;)
- Shoulder: Pretty Good, consider it is mounted as 1 piece with the arm.
- Arm/Elbow: Good.
- Wrist: Good.
- Hand: Good. This kit comes with fixed hand so some might not like it :P
- Waist: Good. No hindrance ;)
- Skirt Armour: Very good. All 6 skirt armors could move individually.
- Hip/Tight: Excellent. (A bit loose...)
- Knee: Excellent. (A bit loose...)
- Ankle: Good. (A bit loose...)
- Feet: Good.
Looks and Feels
The detailing is very good and come close to 99% of the original! The plastic quality is the usual of Gao Gao so no issue at all :)
The decals are superb and make this rather plain 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 are pretty awesome too. As to posability, I found that the hip, knee and ankle is a little weak as compare to the other EW kits from Gao Gao so it makes it a little challenging for ground posing...
It is also challenging to mount and hold the big Beam Gatling Gun on the left hand... It does not have any mechanism to lock the Gatling Gun to the arm, but rather just holding with the fixed hand and clipping it with the shield. The Gatling Gun is also pretty heavy some you might have some challenges in posing :P
The premium items of Metal Belt and Metal Thrusters are actually a very thoughtful addition to this kit. You can choose to save these for other usage as the ordinary belt and thrusters also included, but as you can see from the pictures on top, Heavyarm did looks nicer with them ;)
Overall, this kit is VERY nice and a very viable replacement of the original, especially Gatling Gun freak! As usual, for those of you who can afford, do buy and support original ;)