HG 1/144 Lightning Z Gundam

This is the High Grade 1/144 Lightning Z Gundam. :) This mobile suit comes to us from Gundam Build Fighters Try, and is piloted by Yuuma Kousaka. This customized Zeta Gundam Gunpla is Yuuma's winning entry for the Meijin Cup Open Course (an artistic Gunpla competition). Besides the Gunpla's artistic merit, it also displays high combat capabilities during Gunpla Battle. The transformation ability of the original Zeta Gundam has been removed in favor of the Phoenix Burst System, a weapon system whereby the back binders are attached to the arms and used in conjunction with the handheld mega particle cannon equipped shield. To compensate for the loss of the transformation system, Yuuma increased the Lightning Zeta's base specs and this allows the non-transformable unit to carry out high speed movements.

Not everyone knows it about me, but I really dig the Zeta Gundam. It’s just a really sharp and really cool looking mobile suit. Knowing that, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this kit caught my fancy. I have to say, I found myself very impressed with this kit. The color separation is surprisingly good, and the kit itself requires very little added paint. Even if you don’t add paint, the few color correcting stickers pick up the slack pretty well. The articulation in the shoulders is a bit iffy, but you can still get this kit into some pretty cool poses.

For the most part, this is a pretty solid kit, but I do have a couple of small issues with it. First, the top parts of the hands fit on by one very small peg, which makes the piece very loose. Second, the wings fit onto the polycaps on the backpack a bit loosely. This can be easily fixed by either swapping out the polycaps, or by applying a coat or two of clear nail polish to the polycap, though.

Overall, I do really dig this kit. As I said, I’m a big Zeta Gundam fan, so I couldn’t resist this one. If you’re looking to add to your Team Try Fighters collection, or you just want something really flashy to display in your collection, this kit is definitely worth having. 🙂