Gunpla Review: 1/144 RG Strike Freedom

Yeah, I've been sitting on this for awhile. It takes time to figure things out, so let me share my wisdom with you here.

For the most part this is a straightforward, but time-consuming build, so as long as you take your time and you are careful with the parts that look fragile you should not have any problems.

That said, this is my second RG kit, and the second one to end up with something breaking on the right articulated hand. This time it was the index finger and the break happened away from the joint.

My other problem is that this model is so extremely backheavy that the only way to get anywhere close to Full Burst Mode was to cement the RG stand adapter into place after removing the blue bit at the crotch and sliding it in -- otherwise it just sort of rolls off. But that's okay because I'm most likely to pose it on the action base. Before I did this, the model rolled right off my desk and broke one of the black covers for the wings. I cemented that back together, so it's fine, but I wish that hadn't happened at all. I'm very careful with my models, but somehow still not careful enough this time.

Another issue I've had is with the shoulders. Besides liking popping off, I can't seem to get the left one to open for Full Burst Mode. I can get the right one when I have it off the model, but when I push it on? You guessed it.

But other than that the model looks fantastic and all of the gimmicks work brilliantly so far. I've been warned about putting pressure on the railguns, so I do try to be careful when I move stuff. The waist often pops out since the connection isn't the usual ball joint. What can you do?

I decided to use my gold gundam marker on the exposed flat gold parts that do not move. The result, I would like to say, enhances the look without jeopardizing any joints to being made brittle.

But you can be the judge of that too.

I recommend this kit to intermediate builders, and those with a good deal of patience, as this is essentially a 2-day build with many gimmicks that require many small and delicate parts. I would also recommend having some plastic cement and gold paint on-hand to enhance the look where necessary. My small file was my most-used tool for the decal placement, after my baby nippers... for clipping pieces off their runners.