Gunpla Review: 1/144 HGBF Gouf R35

This is my first, and probably only, mono-eye model, considering most of them do not have as good articulation, or their accessories are incomplete or do not fit will. If there is one thing you can say about the Blue Giant, it is that it has great articulation for something so bulky, and its accessories fit it to a tee.

The build was fairly simple and straightforward, and although the construction is different from the gundam-based gunpla I have built until now, I think I caught on to how things were supposed to fit together fairly quickly. Still, because I painted all the thrusters it took me about 4.5 hours to complete this build.

There are two impressions I get from looking at the Blue Giant other than its bulky, very solid presence: he reminds me of the cyclops of Greek legend, and the hoses on its exterior remind me of a TIE pilot's flight suit. The Gouf gives the impression of being very solid, while also being able to achieve many different combat poses.

The Gouf R35 stands stably on its big feet, and I appreciate having the boot-like soles. It is also useful that you can sheath the swords in either the boots or the shields, although I think the former make more sense, considering if you lose the shields and that is where you have left the hilts, you also lose the swords.

Unusual as well in my experience, the frontskirts connect to the sideskirts instead of to the crotchpiece, which is interesting. There are also the hoses that run from the backpack to the front, and are flexible so they do not restrict side to side motion as much as you might think. The skirts move out of the way fairly well, allowing for some great leg movement.

And I love the gimmick that allows you to move the eye from side to side, which when combined with the head's articulation, can allow you to put the R35 into some very expressive poses.

All is not sunshine and rainbows, however, as there are some awkward bits to this. Mind you, they are more minor quibbles than any real issues with the model: If you want to have the swords in hand, you have to position the hands in some very specific ways to avoid having the pommels collide with the arm canons and shields. As well, the pods on the high-manoeuvrability pack fall off easily because there is nothing on the back. This lets you rotate the jets, but it can get tiresome having to put them back in all the time. Bandai could have included a cover piece easily if they had wanted to.

One more issue is with the arm articulation: with the shields and arm canons as the centerpiece, it is a challenge to move the arms in a way that looks good if the model is holding the swords and the arms are fully equipped -- a challenge, but not impossible. You can even be using the heat rod and the swords at the same time if you do not mind only attaching the heat rod to its slot in the forearm.

One thing to keep in mind as you build is that with the nice blue of the plastic it is easy to end up with lots of visible nub marks. No matter how you sand them down, the best thing might be to just paint over them as best you can.

I also wish the kit had come with four sword hilts instead of two, so you could have two in the boot sheaths and two in the shields. You only need the two included blades because the model only has two hands. But this is extremely minor, especially if you consider that the Dom R35 doesn't come with any swords -- I think Bandai expects that you get both of Ramba Ral's models if you get the Dom. I will not be doing that, because I prefer the more complete and angular appearance of the Gouf to the Dom.

The heat rod is fairly malleable, although it likes to curve in certain directions more than others. If you can work with that, you can hit some good poses. I would have liked it more if you could set it into a smooth curve to try to hit the spiralling pose that Ral uses in the finale for GBF.

The hands were interesting to put together, since I have never seen this kind of assembly before: what are hand covers on other kits go on the back of the hand, which already has material. Then a third piece with the thumb and foreknuckles go on the front. Construction is the same for the closed fists and the holding hands. The kit does not come with any open hands.

Considering the design, the accessories, and the articulation this is a fantastic kit that I can recommend to anyone. If you are a fan of Gunpla and you want a representative of the mono-eyes, but are not a fan of any particular unit, this is one to get. On the other hand, if you are already a fan of certain units, such as Char's Zaku II, then I do not need to tell you what to get.

Build level: Anyone
Build time: 4.5 hours
Tools used: Baby nipper; reverse tweezers; blue, silver, and gold gundam markers.