HG 1/144 Rising Freedom Gundam

This is High Grade 1/144 Rising Freedom Gundam. This mobile suit comes to us from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom, and is piloted by Kira Yamato. Using all previous operational data from the Strike Freedom Gundam, the unit was designed incorporating transformation technology acquired by Orb through the Murasame. Also, its weapons are developed and manufactured from PLANT, and latest technologies from various countries and organizations are used to develop this unit. Unlike its predecessors, the Rising Freedom Gundam is battery-powered, necessitating the use of various measures to conserve power for its energy-intensive loadout.

This kit has gotten a lot of mixed reviews since its release. Some people, like me, love it, and some people seem to hate it. Personally, I find this to be a very stellar High Grade kit. When I saw this kit for the first time, I was worried that the design of the shoulders might block for of the articulation at those points, but surprisingly, thankfully, that proved not to be the case. The flight mode transformation is very similar to the HG 1/144 Immortal Justice Gundam, but I actually find myself liking the flight mode of this one a lot more than the Immortal Justice Gundam.

This isn’t a perfect kit. I will admit that. It has an insane number of color correcting stickers for a High Grade kit; a whopping 49! I was able to avoid using half of them using paint, but that’s still crazy for a modern High Grade kit. Also, you’d think with that number of color correcting stickers that you wouldn’t need to paint a thing on this kit, but that is not the case. In fact, I found myself surprised by some of the parts that they didn’t include stickers for.
All in all, I can see why some people like this one and why others don’t. The detail work in a monumental pain, but damn does this thing look sharp! If you’re up to the challenge, I feel that this is a kit worth having.