Hey builders,
today I decided to finally unbox and build my AGE-3 Orbital that I bought way back in November from Hobbywave. I regretted buying it after building all the other kits I bought in that order, mostly HGUCs. It had been a very long time since I had finished watching Gundam AGE and even though I enjoyed the protagonist suit designs, it felt very distant from me. However, once I actually started building this guy, my attitude began to change.
Let's dive in!
Here are all the stickers included for the AGE-3 Orbital. There are a lot of them, but they actually add to the overall design of the suit! Many of them accent areas that you will see on the suit, and I actually don't think they detract from the build at all. They look great. I ended up using them all.
Here is the main chest area. I love the contrasting blue, white, yellow, and red all in the chest, with the AGE symbol shining through the middle.
Here's something new: The V-fin is made of 3 different parts, the blue, red and yellow come together very nicely to give it a unique look. and again you can see the shiny green coming out in the head camera too. It looks sleek and slim right now, but it'll bulk up very soon.
My favorite part of the build was the shoulders/arms. Here are most of the pieces included. I was surprised with the different colors of plastic that came together to make the arm.
Here are the pieces put together. You can see the yellow vent pieces sticking out of the red, and the white parts layered over the red.
Here is the forearm piece, with the beam saber tucked behind the arm guard.
And the entire arm together, with all the colors coming together.
The legs are very bulky, but actually provide areas for detailing. The foot was very different from what I've experienced. It is just one flat piece with a connector. This actually makes it harder for the suit to stand up. But that's okay because it comes with its own action base.
Another unique facet was that they included stickers to put on the bottom of the feet. It adds a nice touch to an area that I rarely ever paint or detail.
The waist skirt is also very interesting, with thrusters all over the place. Again it is a nice example of layering different colored plastics to give it good contrast.
Finally, here are the extra parts for converting it to the G-Viper
Here is the AGE-3 Orbital completed and detailed.
Verdict:
I have to say I regret not building this guy sooner. I was wrong about it. I thought it would be a very dull build, but Bandai definitely got it right when they put this kit together. People may argue that the AGE suits are too kiddy, and look too cartoony, but in the case of the models, the colors really pop out, and it is a definite strength of the AGE-3. The colors contrast and complement each other very well, and this is surely to pop out on your shelf.
Unfortunately, this is a pretty bulky kit. The various thrusters, for example, will get in the way of posing at times. It is difficult to rotate the arms without those shoulder thrusters getting in the way. And it will be difficult to get it into a good standing position with the flat feet. The large red Long Cannon is fairly dull, and gets in the way.
Should you get it? If you liked the AGE designs, this kit will surely not disappoint. Even if you dislike stickers, you can always use paint instead. This guy was really fun, has a lot of cool gimmicks, and just looks amazing when you're done.
If you're interested in seeing some final shots, you can check it out here!
This is the same album from my Reddit account.
Thanks for checking this out. If you'd like, you can always follow this blog to see what I'm up to!
(also I'm officially out of HG kits...)
Till next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment