Quick Review: 105 Dagger + Gunbarrel

It is finally here: The second and final piece to the puzzle! I had a kitbash concept in my mind since January and I finally have the components I need to try it out. But before I jump into the kitbash, I decided, like the Gundam Astray Red Frame, to do a quick review of the kit. So without further ado, I present to you an out-of-box straight built 105 Dagger + Gunbarrel!

For the full imgur album, click here!

I came across this kit when looking through the catalog of Robot4Less in January. I was hoping to find a unique kit that not many people know about. At the time, /r/Gunpla was saturated with everyone working on a Nu Gundam Ver Ka, Sazabi Ver Ka, a variant of Sinanju, or Tallgeese.

The eye-catching component of the kit, without a doubt, is the Gunbarrel Striker. Similar to the Moebius Zero, the Gunbarrel Striker is a mobile armor with four wire-operated gunbarrel pods. This mobile armor, however, can transform into a Striker Pack, similar to Aile Striker: the flight unit for Strike Gundam

Each Gunbarrel pod can detach from the mobile armor and have the components to deploy its rail gun, though try to do so with a little caution. I was not rough playing with the Gunbarrel Striker, and one of the tabs that held the Gunbarrel to the mobile armor snapped almost immediately after assembling. It still holds together to a great degree, but it is only a matter of time before I start breaking the rest of the tabs if I am not careful.

In striker pack mode, there is an adapter that fits on the front after the nose has been folded upward (articulated by a double joint). The adapter is a single piece of plastic that is connected to a poly cap in the striker pack and can be inserted to the upper back of the 105 Dagger, which is received by another poly cap.

The stand is very specific to this kit and the lower stem is used to mount the Gunbarrel in mobile armor mode and rests at the back end of the Gatling gun, though relatively loose I would point out. Because the Gunbarrel Pods have two modes and optional pieces, the stand has slots to stow these tiny pieces under the stand and on the stem. They are somewhat loose for my taste, but they are still relatively secure.

Overall, the Gunbarrel Striker is a great simple piece, and worth every penny, even if it were to be displayed as a stand alone mobile armor.

Now on to the part that was, with some prediction, disappointing: 105 Dagger.

Understandably, this kit was released in 2004. Compared to the 2013 HG SEED kit I just reviewed, this kit pales - i mean pasty white sort of paling - in comparison. Granted, there is almost a decade's difference in engineering, and the Red Frame was designed to be articulate, even relative to kits of the same year. Even so, it is hard to review this kit without bias right after playing around with one of the best HG SEED kits ever created.

The build was overly simple with very few moving components. Shoulders are attached to fixed pegs on the torso, and the connection to the legs do not have a center-rotation piece. The abdomen is attached by a peg and polycap rather than a ball joint, so rotation is the only articulation. All in all, articulation is not 105 Dagger's strong suit

Color separation is relatively okay, though there are strips of black sticker that are for the arms and legs. It should not be a big deal if done right, similar to the 2001 MG G Gundam, it is just a factor that I wanted to point out. I believe there are also supposed to be some gray on the shoulders, but to get that color, Bandai gives the builder no choice but to paint.

Accessories, other than Gunbarrel Striker, include twin beam sabers, a rifle and a shield. The beam effects are not included in a way modern kits do as separate runners - they are attached to the 'A' plate - I am not certain how similar they are to the HGUC beams, but they certainly look like they are the same. There is nothing special about the rifle, and the color separation of the shield is just bad - the center is supposed to be yellow, but there is no sticker, let alone color separation by plastic. Without the yellow, the shield is really dull.

Overall, this kit's saving grace is the Gunbarrel Striker: Nothing else about the kit is in any way is appealing. If I did not have a kitbash in mind, the only two ways I would display this kit is the Gunbarrel Striker in mobile armor mode, or on the back of the Strike Gundam to replicate the mobile suit that Mu La Flaga pilots, named Gunbarrel Strike, in a Gameboy Advance game (as a non-canon bonus playable character), Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Tomo to Kimi to Koko de.

I might do a custom paint job on the 105 Dagger. I'll have to avoid the dull colors of the Slaughter Dagger, so maybe I'll try out Tamiya JA Green with touches of Olive Drab and JA Gray. As for the Gunbarrel, as I stated in the beginning, it is the second and last piece of the puzzle for a custom project I have been thinking about since January: MBF-PV01+AQM/E-X04 Gundam Gunbarrel Astray.

The image above is a preliminary attempt to complete the kitbash. Unfortunately, the adapter to the Gunbarrel is a little smaller than that attachment point of the newer Astray kits, so the Gunbarrel Striker is very loose - to the point of falling out. I also had to remove the beam saber holster for the Striker pack to fit. There will be a lot of tweaking needed to be done before I even think about painting. I also plan on taking Gunbarrel Striker's nose off and using the Gatling gun as a stand-alone weapon, fusing one of the existing weapons to it for the handle.

An update on this project may not come so quickly, since there were unexpected, but almost predictable, problems with the compatibility of these kits. The biggest issue is fixing the Gunbarrel Striker without simply gluing the component to the back of the Red Frame.

Let me know what you think about the kitbash, until next time, thanks for reading!

Quick Review: Gundam Astray Red Frame (Flight Unit)

The following is a quick review: My thoughts on the 2013 HG Astray Red Frame. Because I plan to use this for a custom project, I did not apply any stickers and kept panel lining to a minimum. Click Here for the full Imgur album.

From the very beginning of my hobby reboot, I had my eye on a Red Frame. It is an eye catching design with sleek, smooth curves in harmony with hard cut corners, the poses I have seen the Perfect and Master Grade pull off are simply amazing, and who can deny a mobile suit with katanas? I knew I would pick one up, but I did not know I would be getting a High Grade version.

I have always regarded High Grades as economy kits with poor articulation, but kit after kit in the High Grade line, I find that these cheap 1/144 scale Gunpla are still very good, especially for kits that lack an inner frame.

The Astray Red Frame (Flight Unit) is no exception. In fact this High Grade kit is an exception of the opposite: its articulation is amazing relative to many High Grades. There are double joints on the feet, there are four different articulation points on the arms, and the waist is made up of two different articulation points. With so many articulation points on the Red Frame, the poses one can pull of is unbelievable, especially for a High Grade.

To top his kit off, there are quite a few accessories included: Two beam sabers, using the long flat blades introduced in either 00 or AGE, a beam rifle and shield that can be stored on the flight unit, the iconic katana, and a BuCue head with HGUC effect beams coming out on each end.

Though there are many amazing features on this kit, there are also some disadvantages alongside the features. Because of the Red Frame's articulation and slender body, there are some loose parts to the kit. The two pieces that stand out as loose are the side skirts and the white pieces on the back of each calf. The side skirt armor tends to fall out easily, causing posing the sheeth attached to the skirt armor frustrating. 

The calf piece tends to fall off when the leg is bent, blocking the leg from going straight again. This can be solved with a little glue, but that should never be a solution if Bandai just made the piece better.

Another problem I was having is the articulation. Yes, its a good thing to be have a good range of motion to pull of some really good poses, but it is double-edged sword: the amazing range of motion also makes getting the pose perfect really frustrating, since you're fiddling with 2 or 3 joints rather than just 1. It is not a deal breaker, but it is definitely an aspect that needs to be addressed for anyone interested in the kit.

Overall, the kit is great and I highly suggest it to anyone who is even slightly interested in this Gunpla to get it. Yes, some pieces would look better if painted, and there are quite a few stickers, but even without the stickers and paint, Red Frame as a lot of detail in the plastic, and looks amazing.

Thank you for reading (or skimming) my quick review. If you're looking for a more in-depth review, check out rrobbert184's video review series. My general overview does not cover nearly as much as rrobbert does.

Eventful

It's been quite a day today, I am quite excited! Where do I start?

The GP Base from Santa Village JP via Amazon finally came in

The story of this HGBC GP Base is one that involves three other different group purchases I made with some friends. Placed orders ranged from January to last week. For one reason or another, none of the orders were coming in. Needless to say I became quite frustrated, especially because of the fact that the only kit I could work on at this point was the GoodGuy Competition Nemo.

It was late March or early April. After getting some Amazon cash from SocialSci, I decided I could pass the time waiting for these orders with a GP Base: maybe spend some time trying to wire some LEDs. Unfortunately when it started shipping, the estimated time of arrival was early May, so that plan fell through.

As the 2014 GoodGuy Competition came to a close, and the first order came in (Gundam Astray Red Frame w/ Flight Unit and Zaku I Sniper Type Yonem Kirks Custom), I was quite happy that I was finally able to start building something else. That is when I hear my brother is due to come back from his adventure on the high seas on Friday. On the day he arrives, the postman comes with this package. So while anticipating my brother's arrival, I also receive the GP Base.

It's quite a simple stand, and I hope to still do some custom lighting, since the plastic leaves a lot of play room and it would be fun to incorporate my very basic knowledge of circuits into this hobby, but that will probably be put on the back burner since I have the base kit for the Gunbarrel Astray and Jegan Sniper Type to work on.

More Box Photos!

Speaking of Jegan Sniper Type, my brother's arrival came with laughter, sea stories, and Gunpla: lots of Gunpla. Right before he left he asked our circle of friends for Gunpla requests. I had parts for the Jegan Sniper Type, but I did not actually have a Jegan, so I decided to trade my Zaku I Sniper Type (Yonem Kirks Custom) for any version of Jegan he could find. I'm happy he was able to find one at the local hobby shop so I did not have to make another online order.

Better Content to Come!

Next Time on Gundariumsmith: with the Red Frame complete, it is time to do a quick review. Though a photoshoot exists, I kept using the wrong settings through the excitement of today's events, became frustrated, and decided to redo on another day. I am hoping the other orders come in soon: this project I conceptualized in January is finally catching some moment, and I do not want it to become a back burner project.

So stay tuned, more content to come soon!

EDIT: I even forgot to title it. I think I just need a little sleep before continuing.

Welcome

Welcome to Gundariumsmith (again). I hope you mostly enjoyed the content in the original blog. As I stated in my post, 'Moving!' There were features I wanted that were missing in Wordpress, so I decided to play around with Blogger and see what I can do with it. Though Blogger has some disadvantages, especially for a service affiliated with Google, there were too many features I could not pass up, mainly with tweaking the template to my liking (which only exists for a price on Wordpress). I am happy to make the switch, and I hope you, the reader, will enjoy the new format!

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For my first post I just wanted to post my final photo set (this and more in the Gallery) for the GoodGuyCompetition that ended last night. I had some fun with photography, my first "real" hobby, right before the due date.

Bonus Photo: 'Heavily Armed' Nemo

I'm sort of upset at myself: I did not deliver the best photos as possible going into this event. Right before I took the photos, I was stealing my brother's borrowed, with granted permission, my brother's Gundam Ground Type to clean up and re-paint for practice on my upcoming projects.

Original paint job with re-painted M.S.G. hand guns.

Torso work.

Because of this, I had a tiny bit of paint on my fingers. Though I washed my hands, the remaining paint on my hands ended up sticking on to my contest entry. I started using latex gloves to make cleaning up easier, but I cannot undo for the contest at this point. In a way I am sort of glad the contest is over: I can finally stop worrying about deadlines and work at my own pace.

Projects to look forward to,

• As seen in this post, RX-79(G) Gundam Ground Type: Revisited
• I will do a more in-depth post about this kit soon
• I want to finish by week's end: before my brother gets back from his adventure on the high seas.
• MBF-PV01+AQM/E-X04 Gundam Gunbarrel Astray
• RGM-89SP ‘Jegan Sniper Type’ (part of a larger project known as 'Space Mercenary: Specter GM')

For more details on the latter two projects, please visit my "Projects" page.

Once again, Welcome to the new location of Gundariumsmith. Please stay tuned!