In Commemoration: SD Kshatriya

Hey Builders, 

As many of you may know, the great OVA saga for Gundam Unicorn came to an end today as the final episode: Over the Rainbow was released.

I decided to rent it on the Playstation Network and stream via my laptop connected to my biggest TV. Well worth it. Gundam Unicorn had long been one of my favorite series, though the novel ending left me a little disoriented. If you haven't watched SPOILER ALERT!!!the endings are different!

 The finale that I had long waited for has come and gone...The episode was great. If you had followed along through the whole OVA, this finale definitely does not disappoint. It had me feeling so many feels and it was filled with intense mobile suit action. 

In any case, today I have the SD Kshatriya for ya'll. Many fans of Gundam Unicorn love the design of the Kshatriya but so far there are only two releases, the HG 1/144, and the SD. I opted for the cheaper option, plus it looks great for an SD.

In honor of my personal favorite series, here are my thoughts on this kit.
I would've done something a little more cliche, like the Full Armor Unicorn but I don't have one of those yet... Gotta break up some of my backlog first!

This kit was fairly simple to build, with tons of detail to be added on. At first glance, you can tell you need to put in some TLC to get this guy looking good. The black chest piece right in the center is a foil sticker. It wrinkled on me when putting it over the round surface (the sticker itself is split into sections to be folded)

The circles on the binders are also stickers, but those can be easily painted. I don't have the appropriate colors to do so.

The beam sabers came in a plain white plastic, so I painted up the beam sections with a metallic green marker. I left the handles for now, because I'm not sure if I want to get a similar green to the Kshatriya to paint it. 

The four cannons on the chest are in all yellow plastic, and require using a thin white sticker that wraps around it. I wasn't too sure about that, so I painted it white. The front skirt also needs white stickers, as do the knees and the leg vents. I painted the leg sections, black for the knees, and white for the vents. 

All in all, it was a simple build, but putting in the extra effort made it a lot more fun. 

The wings were exceptionally fun to detail. Adding some panel lining really makes it pop. 

However, I found that it is pretty difficult to pose. The arms are actually two sections, that bend at the elbows, completely different from the SD Sinanju that I built recently. However the legs are just one piece, with polycap ball-joints that connect to the waist, and feet. The wings are a little cumbersome, though the suit does not experience weight issues. 

It is, however, difficult to get it into a cool pose. The wings are connected to the shoulders so when you rotate the shoulders/arms the wings move accordingly. The other thing is that the wings get in the way of the arm movement as well, and the beam sabers. 

The wings do, however come with the claws that can come out from beneath the wings. It doesn't have funnels though, which is a little disappointing.

Here he is with SD Sinanju posing together. The Sinanju looks a lot better, with that gold trim, and it even came with a clear piece for the beam saber/beam naginatas. 

Oh, did I mention the SD Kshatriya also comes with a Loto figurine? Its essentially a few pieces of plastic that you can piece together, and it goes from a standing position to its tread position if you fold its legs. 

Cute little guy, not sure if I'll paint him or what.

So there you have it. A cool looking behemoth with posing issues, lots of stickers, but no weight issues. Great to add to your Unicorn SD collection, and looks great just standing there. I advise putting in the extra effort to paint up some parts instead of using the stickers. 

What's next? Should I get the Unicorn, Banshee, and Neo Zeong to finish up my collection and reenact episode 7 in SD form?

Till next time!