HGBF Mega Shiki

Hey Builders!

Another review for you today. As you might know, Gundam Build Fighters Try has concluded with its 25th episode this past week. I'm currently in the process of acquiring all the kits that I loved from this series. Bandai is really making a killing with all these redesigns, and HG releases. Yes the series itself has become almost just an excuse to release and sell kits, but I'm not complaining. Some of the designs are just amazing and I don't mind purchasing them. 

My last review was of one of my favorite designs, the Amazing Red Warrior, but today, I have for you, a mobile suit that I wasn't actually too fond of, until taking a look at the kit later. If you didn't know, I already have an HG Delta Plus, and in my mind, the Mega Shiki was just a Delta Plus with a huge cannon on its back. As I continued to research this kit, I realized its popularity suffered with its limited screen time. You only saw glimpses of it in two episodes, and as a Gunpla and Gundam fan, you most likely couldn't stand that that the pilot was cocky, ruthless, and also didn't build his own gunpla. (sorry Sekai). 

But in all honesty, this suit is pretty bad ass, for one reason: beam katanas. Without further ado, lets take a look at this kit!

Parts

Interestingly enough, this kit does not come with a multicolored A plate, or any A plate at all for that matter. It starts out straight with the purple B plate, purple C1 and C2 plate, no D plate, no E plate, grey F plate with internal armor parts, purple G1 and G2 plate, white H plate, white I plate, grey J plate with most parts for the mega launcher, purple K plate, a manipulator plate, beam saber effect plate, and a poly cap plate. 

All in all, it looks like it comes with a ton of parts, which it does, however there are a lot of pieces that are unused, and actually borrowed from the Delta Gundam's runners. 

Size Comparison

Well there you have it, they are definitely not the same. Though you can see some similarities in their designs, the Shiki stands almost a head taller than the Delta Plus. Not to mention, with the launcher on its pack, its even taller. 

Weapons and Manipulators

This kit comes with 3 sets of hands:

Fists, open hands, and holding hands. I was pretty surprised, the closed fist consists of 4 parts, the main hand section, the 4 fingers, the thumb actually pops on separately, and the top of the hand. 

This kit comes with few weapons: 1 beam rifle, and 2 beam sabers. It actually comes with 2 more beam saber handles, but they're leftover from the Delta Gundam.

Articulation

The elbow in the arm doesn't allow for much folding. This is the most you'll get from that joint. 

The leg doesn't offer much articulation either. The foot sits on a ball joint, so you'll get some decent ankle movement. However, the side skirt extends over the front of the thigh, so even if you fold the front skirt up, the leg can't really move forward all that much. When you bend the leg back, the foot will get caught on the launcher. 

Color and Quality

This kit is mostly that pastel-ish purple, with white on the chest, and then grey internals popping out in various places. There are also white parts that are on the arms, the back of the legs, waist, and feet. The color separation is decent, with enough white pieces cutting through the purple all over this kit. This really reminds me of how bland the Delta Plus was. 

After building the Amazing Red Warrior, even though that kit was all red, there were still two tones that they used. I'm wondering if they used some deeper purple in some areas, would this kit look even better?

In general, it's hard to complain. This kit is very sturdy, and the plastic comes together very nicely. You can definitely feel the HGUC engineering as it does not feel as flimsy as some of the other HGBF kits have felt from other universes. However, there were some areas where the gating was very thick, and I again had a hard time removing it without large nub marks that took some managing. But since this kit borrows a lot of pieces from the Delta Gundam, it actually is undergated for most of its pieces!

Pros and Cons

This kit is a great redesign on the Hyaku Shiki. I was actually very excited building it, and seeing how many parts it came with. As I continued to build, its look really caught me. It was menacing and ruthless. It comes with a lot of parts, and some good engineering, which will leave you satisfied after the build. There is enough color separation in which it won't just be a purple blob sitting there. It is very sturdy, and actually can stand with the huge launcher on its back if you position it correctly.

Unfortunately, it is mostly purple, and I wish it came with some more color separation. It also does not come with a lot of weapons. The articulation is fairly poor, however you can do some cool twisting and turning poses with its waist joint. It does suffer from back weight issues, so if you don't position it correctly, it will fall back. It also comes with a ton of extra parts that you'll probably end up storing, or tossing out anyways. 

Verdict

This kit doesn't have a lot of weapons, but it really makes up for it with the variety of play options included with the Mega Ride Launcher. The Launcher itself is like building another kit included. At under $20, this was a great purchase, with the amount of parts that you could build. For an HG, it was a fun build, and again, building the mega launcher was a great bonus. It suffers from articulation issues, and also could call for more color separation. In the end, at its price tag, I think its definitely worth it. However, with its weight issues, you'll want to get an action base for it as well. 

BONUS: MEGA LAUNCHER

You heard me mention that the Mega Launcher offers even more play opportunities, so here you go. I included some images and thoughts based around the different poses you can do with the mega launcher. The launcher itself can transform into various modes, such as flight mode, backpack mode, and launcher mode. 

Here you can see that the Mega Shiki can hold on to the bottom of the launcher, in a mid-air flight pose. However, this is difficult to do without an Action Base 1. The Action Base 2 is too short, and you'll have the Shiki dragging its toes on the ground. 

 Flying into battle

The Mega Launcher connects to the Mega Shiki by three points on the back. This ensures a secure fit. That grey part on the back of the Mega Shiki can be removed, and connect to typical two point connections on the back. I connected it to the Red Warrior with no problems. 

And of course, you can have it in the Launcher mode.

I absolutely love the beam katanas....

Until Next Time!