Review: MG Aile Strike Gundam Remastered

Hey Builders!

I'm on a roll lately. I've finished my third kit in 2 months, and finally knocked my backlog down to 3 kits left. I'm really excited to have finished this kit because of a theme and trend I've been working on lately. If you saw my last post for the MG Aegis you would notice that I'm starting to do collection builds and nemesis/duo builds. This is my first completed nemesis build, with the MG Strike Gundam finished to complement my MG Aegis. 

The Strike Gundam is one of my favorites. It might be one of the most iconic mobile suits since the original RX 78-2, and was featured in the polarizing Gundam SEED series, which is very popular in Japan. 

Parts

Size Comparison

I decided to compare the Strike with its nemesis Aegis and its Destiny counterpart, the Sword Impulse

Obviously, the Sword Impulse does not have the same width as the Aile Strike because of the added length of the wings, but I assume the Force Impulse would have been more comparable. As you can see, the Sword Impulse is actually taller than the Strike despite being a very similar mobile suit. The Strike stands at 17.72 meters tall, whereas the Sword Impulse stands at 19.37 meters. 

If you watched the anime, you would also know that the Aegis at 18.86 meters is taller than the Strike. But again, with the Aile Striker Pack, the Strike takes up much more horizontal space than the Aegis, even with its pointy shoulders.

Weapons and Manipulators (and equipment)

This kit has the same type of hands as the Aegis (which I believe all the GATX series of mobile suits has) where it is a palm with a thumb with a slot for interchanging the other four fingers. This kit comes with 2 open hands, 2 fists, 2 trigger fingers, 2 holding hands with pegs, and 2 open hands without pegs (that are meant to hold the anti-ship sword that would come with the Sword Striker Pack)

This kit comes with the standard weapons for the Strike Gundam. It comes with 1 anti-beam shield, 1 beam rifle, and two beam sabers with effect parts. These beam sabers are stored on the Aile Striker Pack. 

The kit also comes with 2 folding Armored Schneider knives which are stored in the side skirts. 

Of course, it wouldn't be the Aile Strike without the Aile Striker Pack. The pack connects to the suit through a flat hard-point connection in the back, which has a polycap slotted behind it. The pack can also slide back, and the wings can slide back separately as well. 

By doing so, you can reveal another connection point, where you can connect the batteries for the Perfect Strike

Articulation

 This kit has good arm articulation. It can extend all the way out to each side horizontally, and bend almost flat at the elbow. The shoulder armor is separate from the arms, so they can rotate freely.

There is articulation in the torso unit, where the upper part can shift separate from the lower part, which can rotate on the waist. The head also sits on a ball joint which can tilt forward and back from the lower connection.

The leg articulation is typical of a Master Grade. The knee cap separates from the leg when you bend it, and there is extreme movement of the toes. However, the thigh joint is very rigid. This causes the leg to pop off from the waist when trying to move the legs into splits. It also knocks the side skirts off, frequently. 

Color and Quality

This kit is very beautiful. The standard red, white, and blue are vibrant, showing off a very accurate looking Strike. As per most Master Grades, it requires no seals for detailing, aside from the eyes, the head cameras, and the rifle sight. Every other accented color comes from different colored pieces of plastic. I'm very impressed with the amount of inner frame that peeks out behind the legs, shoulders, and torso. I'm also very impressed with the construction of the shield. The yellow, red, and white contrast beautifully. 

The Aile Striker Pack is also looking great. The red and black, with peeking sections of grey, white, and yellow make it look awesome. It also sits stably in the back. It doesn't suffer from significant weight issues, and can actually stand on its own. 

Pros and Cons

This kit looks magnificent. I can't stop raving about it, nor can I stop obsessing over how great it looks, and how fun the build was. This is a more traditional Master Grade build, without any crazy gimmicks, but it definitely left me feeling satisfied with it. Plastic quality is great, and I didn't have any trouble cleaning up gauge marks. It doesn't suffer from significant weight issues, and it also comes with a lot of play opportunities. 

However, I have issues with the legs. They are really rigid and a pain to move around to get into good poses. This is the biggest issue I have, since it always causes the side skirts to fly off, and the leg to pop out of the waist mechanism. I also don't really like the hand design. I would rather have the standard Master Grade hands which are more versatile. I don't enjoy swapping out the fingers every time I want to switch out weapons. It makes more sense for a kit that may have larger weapons that need sturdier hand, but for these standard weapons I would've preferred the normal Master Grade hands.

Extras

This kit comes with an action base which also doubles as a launch pad. I was really excited when I got this kit, because it came with the base, which you would usually have to pay extra to get. Needless to say, the fact that it was a launch pad as well, really caught my attention.

The launch pad can fit any normal sized Master Grade Gunpla, but it comes with a power cable which can plug into the back skirt of the Strike. This adds some stability to the kit when it stands in the slots provided. The construction is very easy, and it does the job of an action base very well. You can easily swap out other kits if you want them to be in a launching pose.

In the action base form, it fits the Strike in that the adapter that connects to the base only fits in the back skirt of the Strike (same slot as the power cable). The free flying cable adds the effect that it had just launched and separated from the power cable as well.

If nothing else, you can have the kit just standing on the base as well. It is a little long, so it could take up some space depending on which way you orient it in your shelf. 

Verdict

At its price range, typically around $45, this is easily the best bargain, especially with the equipment, and the action base. I would say this kit is a must have for anyone who loves the Strike. Besides this, it is an all-around amazing kit. It was fun to build, not frustrating or difficult, but still satisfying. As a builder, I found myself enjoying every second of building this kit. Seeing each part completed motivated me to keep going and keep giving my best effort. 

This kit is also compatible with the old Master Grade Launcher Strike/Sword Strike kit, in that you can attach the packs to this kit in any combination, or to create the Perfect Strike. The instruction booklet gives you directions on how to do so. I would definitely recommend this kit to anyone looking for a good Master Grade to build, and pose. This kit comes ready for you to build it and stick it on your shelf and be a real eye catcher. Its a great piece to add to your collection. 

It also comes with two sets of pilots for the kit. You can choose whether you want Mu La Flaga or Kira Yamato. 

Until next time!

NG 1/100 GNY-001 Gundam Astraea

Hey Builders! 

I just got back from a short weekend trip to New York City. I decided to spend a bit of my time searching for Gunpla stores. When I was younger, I used to pick up a few kits while visiting Chinatown with my family. That is how I ended up getting my HG 1/100 Altron, NG 1/144 Collector's Blaze Zaku Phantom, HG 1/144 08th MS Team GM, and NG 1/100 Strike Freedom. 

Most of these broke...

I haven't been back since 2009, and I heard a lot of the stores I used to visit had closed down. I ended up finding two stores, Da Shop and Image Anime based on references from Reddit. 

Da Shop was located in Chinatown, across from the Elizabeth Center (where I used to get my kits). Their prices were pretty marked up, so I didn't pick anything up. I picked up the Astraea from Image Anime which was closer to my hotel, and I could walk there. It was only a $3 mark up from the Amazon price, $6 including taxes. 

Parts 

The kit comes with  12 Runners, A, C, E, F, H, I, J, K, L, M, SB, and PC. Many of these runners draw from the NG 1/100 Exia and looking at the leftover parts, you may be able to turn this guy into its successor. It comes with one small sticker sheet as well. 

Weapons and Manipulators

Manipulators:

2x Open

2x Holding

Weapons:

1x GN Beam Rifle 

1x GN Launcher

1x Proto GN Sword 

2x GN Beam Sabers with 2x Short Blades and 2x Long Blades

1x Shield

Size Comparison

Here is the Astraea next to my other 1/100 Gundam from 00, the MG 00 Raiser. The 00 is noticeably taller, and also more slender than his No Grade predecessor. The legs on the Astraea are a bit bulkier, and not as sleek as the 00. 

Articulation

Arms:

The arms bend fairly nicely, but in the 3rd picture, the arm will pop out at the elbow if you bend it all the way 180. The shoulders are independent of the arms, similar to the MG 00, and can rotate freely from the arms. 

Legs/Ankles: 

The legs also have fairly good bend, but cannot achieve a full split. The knee has a double joint which allows it to bend farther. The ankles are on ball joints and has some side to side movement. The foot is in two pieces, where the toe can bend forward via polycap. 

 Color/Quality

The Astraea comes in White, Blue and Red plastic, with off white/purplish rubber pieces that accent certain parts. It provides you with green stickers for the rifles, the chest piece, and the head piece. It also provides gray stickers to detail certain areas. I opted to paint a few areas with silver paint and metallic green (like the chest) instead of using a sticker. 

Unfortunately, the white isn't true to the off white of the Astraea's line art. It looks very nice and clean, but the line art has hints of light light gray and maybe even slight purple. 

The GN sword is all gray, so I painted the outer edges with Tamiya Acryllic Titanium Silver. The sword guard also needs gray stickers as well. The shield comes in gray, blue and white pieces. 

The guns come in all gray, and use a clear piece with a green sticker on it to create the sight. They could use some paint. 

All in all, this kit is of very good quality for a NG. The joint pieces are definitely a step up from the NG SEED/SEED DESTINY line, and are much much better than the Wing line. Even so, the plastic still has that thin feel to it. Some of the armor pieces pop into place, like around the knees/thighs without any pegs and are just asking to pop off. Not sure why they would do that. Other pieces are meant to come off, like the spikes on the neck area, so you can mount the launcher. 

The kit offers a lot of panel lining and spots for detailing. If you don't, the kit can end up looking very plain with just the white plastic. The panel lining really makes it pop. However, the kit also has a lot of seam lines that need to be taken care of, especially around the ankles as well. 

Pros and Cons

This kit looks great. If you put in the TLC that it deserves (and needs) it'll look great on your shelf. With all the detailing that you can put in, you can really make it stand out. The weapons are really cool, and attach to the forearms so holding is much more secure. The multiple beam sabers are pretty unique, and you can have a bunch of play styles and poses. 

Besides that, this kit has a very awesome design in its own regard. There aren't too many color mistakes, and it looks very clean upon finish. It's not heavy, and it even comes with an action base adapter so you can pose it on an Action Base #1

Its not a difficult kit, but it still has a lot of parts and will take up a good amount of time to finish, especially if you put in all that effort to detail and make it look good. That being said, it is not a frustrating kit to build. Its easy, will take up a good chunk of time, and will look great when you're finished. 

Unfortunately this is still a NG 1/100 kit. It has similar problems to the other NG 1/100 kits. Even though it has some very nice improvements to its predecessors, I found some annoying pieces that might turn you off from this kit. 

Some sections that require a polycap clamped between two pieces won't fit together properly, or will take a lot of fidgeting to get it right, (hopefully before you crush one section of the polycap connection...)

The hands pop off fairly easily on the ball joints, and don't seem to flush deep enough into the wrists. 

The legs pose fairly well, but cannot maintain lower crouched poses without a lot of adjusting. 

The thigh joints are fairly loose and can cause the kit to split when trying to pose. 

Some armor pieces pop off because they don't connect well. 

Verdict

I would totally get this kit because of its design, and how unique it is. Until Bandai releases an MG Astraea this is the best you're going to get. With all of its problems, once you get it just right, it'll look awesome, and it gives you an adapter to alleviate some of its posing issues. If you like big swords like me, and the 00 line, this is a great kit to add. Once I finish my MG Exia I'll be looking forward to having my lineage up to the 00 Gundam. 

 Additional Comments/Photos

The Sword is probably my favorite thing, having an underslung blade is just too awesome.

The Beam rifle also deviates from the norm, and looks pretty unique attaching to the arm as well.

You can get some cool poses, but then you can also end up getting some derpy ones, bending joints in certain ways to try to reach weapons or whatnot. 

Here are the leftover pieces that I suspect you may be able to fashion together the Exia, only without its weapons. 

I'm glad I got this kit, but I'll be disappointed in it if they release an MG... But i'm very happy with my purchase. 

Until next time!