HG 1/144 Acguy

This is the High Grade 1/144 Acguy. To be honest, I never had much interest in this kit until I watched episode 3 of Gundam Build Fighters Battlogue. After watching that episode, I just felt so bad for these guy that I just had to buy one (watch the episode. You’ll get why). The Acguy has a very strange kind of look to it, but I’ll be honest, it’s actually starting to grow on me. It’s actually kind of cute in it’s own way. If you’re looking at the kit and thinking that you’ve seen a very similar kit to it, you would be right. The Beargguy, from the Build Fighters line, was designed using the Acguy as a base for the build. The only real differences between the Acguy and the Beargguy are their heads, hands, backpacks, and the fact that the Beargguy has a tail. Everything else is the exact same. Same body, neck, arms, legs, and feet, just different colors. In fact, I’m pretty sure that when Bandai came out with the Beargguy that they used the same molds for most of the pieces that used to make the Acguy. Most people prefer the Beargguy to the Acguy, which is kind of sad since it’s caused many Acguys out there to go unbuilt (as mentioned in episode 3 of Gundam Build Fighters Battlogue). So I bought one. And I have to say, I’m glad that I did, because I actually really like this kit.
Given it’s kind of stubby looking design, you may have already guessed that the articulation isn’t too amazing. The head can look forward, down, and can rotate a full 360 degrees, but it can’t look upward. It makes up for that with the gimmick in the monoeye, though. The monoeye is on a kind of track inside the head, so it can move almost all of the way around the head, as well as about halfway up the head. A clear cover piece goes inside the head, so to move the eye, you’ll need to remove the top half of the head. The fit in a little tight, and getting the hang of correctly popping it off and back on will tack a little practice. The arms each rotate a full 360 degrees at the shoulder, and move fully outward (about 90 degrees I think that would be?), and bend slightly at the elbow. The design of the arms greatly limits their articulation, but they both feature an interesting gimmick that lets you give them a gentle pull at the elbow to extend them a small bit to add a little farther of a bend. The hands don’t rotate at all, but the talons on the claw all move inward and outward to let you open or close them. The legs move outward all the way, as well as forward and backward. The legs each have a double bend at the knee, and the feet can pivot and swivel.
In terms of accessories, you don’t get too many with this kit, you get an interchangeable hand piece to make the claws look like they withdrawn, another missile pod hand piece that you can swap out with the claw hand piece, a repair cover for the arm to give the appearance that it’s been repaired after losing an arm, and two articulated extension sets to make the arms stretch out. That’s it, really. If you’ve built the Beargguy before, you know how the arm extensions work, but if not, each extension is made of three pieces connected by balljoints. You can either add one to either (or both) arms, or you can even put the two extensions together to make one long arm extension piece.
This kit doesn’t have too many issues, really. I do wish that the head had a bit more upward movement, but the upward movement of the monoeye makes up for that, I feel. Getting the top of the head to pop off or back on can be a little annoying because it takes practice to be able to do it without the cannons in the head getting in the way. I’m still practicing that myself. The only other issue this kit has is that the talons for the claw like to close back up if you don’t open them out enough, which can be get a little annoying while trying to pose or photograph this kit. Other than those things, it’s pretty solid.
All in all, I’ve found myself liking this kit much more than I thought I might before. It’s well engineered, and the way the monoeye moves is very cool fora High Grade kit. Plus, if you’re collecting amphibious mobile suits, you’ve gotta have an Acguy in your collection, right? This kit is a lot of fun to build and is very good for builders of all skill levels. Whether you’re looking to add to your Zeon forces, or you’re just looking for a fun Gunpla to build, I definitely recommend picking up this kit. 😊