HGUC 1/144 RX-93 Nu Gundam

The RX-93 v Gundam was designed and piloted by Amuro Ray during his last war against Neo Zeon in Char’s Counterattack. I heard the anecdote of the creation of this Gundam went something like this:

Amuro: “Hey, Can you guys pull the Zeta Gundam out of dry dock so I can stop Char?”

Feds: “F*** NO! WE DON’T TRUST YOU STINKIN’ NEWTYPES!”

Amuro: “Okay… screw you too then” *goes to Anaheim Electronics*

Amuro: “Here are my schematics of this Gundam I want you to build for me.”

AE: “F*** NO! WE DONT TRUST YOU STINKIN’ NEWTYPES!”

Amuro: *opens briefcase full of cash*

AE: “… deal”

Being Amuro’s ultimate machine, the Nu was able to easily lay waste to the unfortunate Neo Zeon troops who happened to exchange fire with it. Even some “top” pilots were blew away as if they were just an afterthought (HAHAHA Gyunei… seriously, I completely missed his death until I caught it during my second run). You see… it’s not so much that the Nu is more advanced than the competition that makes it deadly but that a good part of its destructive power comes from the fact that Amuro is a rather skillful and highly resourceful pilot, utilizing EVERYTHING the Nu provides. Wires, blow up dolls, mines,  grenades, vulcans, space-grade super glue, its bare hands… you name it. No main pilot up to date has been as resourceful as Amuro. In SRW, Amuro + Nu is a dodging god! Unless the enemy has sure-hit (100% hit), they literally have 0% of even grazing Amuro’s unit!

The Nu Gundam’s mechanical design is one of my top favorites- it is refreshingly different and unique while at the same time still managed to look completely “THIS IS NO DOUBT A GUNDAM”.

OUT OF THE BOX

For a 1/144 model, there sure are a lot of runners! 9 in total! Foil stickers and Amuro’s insignia are included. Lastly, damn awesome beam saber effect parts!

BODY UNIT

There are many tiny parts for the body and it feels like I am building something higher than a HG… but not an MG yet. I love the level of color separation for this section! I don’ think there are any parts that doesn’t have the correct color! After assembly, the body has a nice solid feel to it.

HEAD UNIT

What is unique about the head’s assembly is that the helmet and face/eye piece are both one piece… and the parts are very detailed. This is a sign of great advancement in the engineering department but then there are some minor things… good luck taking the head out once you slide it all the way in. That is no problem for regular builders but for someone who reviews this sort of stuff taking photos of the plain parts, that was almost shocking. One little thing I did was trimmed off the thick nub behind the v-fin that always plague 1/144 models and that made everything look so much sharper!

ARM UNITS

The arms practically have an inner frame even if it is a bit basic. The right arm lacks gimmick in and of iteself but the right has the sliding armor on the forearm that stores the backup beam saber. What you see above is the max the arms can bend… yes, the range kinda sucks.

LEG UNITS

The legs also have a pseudo-inner frame. Being molded mainly in three colors, the color separation is a bit poor and many details are lacking… particularly the yellow trims on the vents. This is excusable since this is a HGUC afterall. I actually did tried to paint the yellow in but my paint was bad even after multiple layers, and it just looked terrible so I removed it at the end. I forgot to take a shot of the finished legs… sorry ^^;.

WEAPONS

Hyper Bazooka and Beam Rifle. What you see is exactly how it is.

Shield and the ever-so-awesome custom beam saber.

Okay, I love Fin Funnels just as much as the next person but that doesn’t make their assembly process any less tedious ^^;. My nipper snipped a total of 336 times from cutting it off the runner to cleaning the nub. That’s quite some work! I didn’t bother with the yellow foil sticker and left the parts white (which I think looks better!), panel line wherever I need to and move on. Even though the arrangement of the funnels look arbitrary, there is actually a pattern you need to follow using the markings on the black side otherwise you can’t get that configuration! I don’t have it memorized so I had to keep referring to the manual to put the funnels back together… ^^;

COMPLETED MODEL – THE GUNDAM

Without the Fin Funnels first; after topcoating and putting the model together, everything looks just oh so much better!

The sharp angles! The sleekness! The proportions! This is, without a doubt, the best looking Nu Gundam model to date.

It is true it does look plain without decal markings and it could use some extra panel lines, but remember… this is a HGUC 1/144 model, not an MG. I find this level of detail to be forgivable given the decent level of color separation for most parts. I do wanted to use some ver. ka decals but sadly, I didn’t have any left >_<

COMPLETED MODEL- WEAPONS ON!

Even just standing there, the Nu looks like SERIOUS BUSINESS!  Honestly, I can just look at it in this pose all day… and take photos of it…

One eye lit up- badass! It looks so good just standing there, I can almost couldn’t care less if it can’t do anything else… it does my favorite pose extremely well, after all ;)

Yes, I seriously took this many photos of it just standing.

My collection of Nu Gundams.

BEAM RIFLE

v ガンダム！行きます！

Being a space-use mobile suit, I can’t really fault the model for not being able to do too much on the ground though it can hold its own even with the weight of the funnels on its back. Even without die-cast joints like the MG, the Gundam can hold itself up pretty well and I didn’t notice any sign of backheaviness… though it is a bit easy to knock it backwards.

The shoulders can raise really high thanks to the top part of the body being able to move up with the joints like the MG models.

I like how the dedicated trigger hand also has a peg on the palm for extra security!

Amuro and the Nu Gundam can dodge everything thrown in their way…

It’s so easy to take photos of this Gundam with his beam rifle…

One thing that left a little to be desired for is the range in the knees… I kept wishing it could just bend just a liiiiiiitle more then that would be perfect.

What you see is the maximum range of the arms and the legs.

Kneeling poses aren’t impossible but it will take some work. I don’t know why Bandai made the rear skirt armor in just one solid piece but that was a big obstruction to the lower leg.

The shield also comes with a mini beam cannon and missiles as well.

HYPER BAZOOKA

Or New Hyper Bazooka… either way, this is one devastating weapon.

This weapon is actually best used with wire traps ^^;

I like how the left arms can reach the bazooka and the handle can swivel so the weapon is not just fixed. Bazooka requires the same trigger hand as the beam rifle.

Kinda sad that there aren’t any weapon hands included for the left arm as well.

BEAM SABER

First up is the dinky one on the left forearm…

Painted the beam in my usual clear red…

Being a backup beam saber, the beam effect is shorter than normal.

Here’s the real stuff…

I love how the beam effect is actually accurate how the beam actually looks in the movie; the blade is not exactly smooth and seems a bit wild, spewing all over the place.

That red looks really good… I mean it looks like candy almost!

Could’ve used some more light to make the beam shine though…

“5 seconds… that is the time until your despair.”

GO! FIN FUNNEL!

 

Good thing I have enough display bases to set this up…

The whole thing looked a bit messy and it was kinda difficult taking decent photos with so many things going on but the overall scene is pretty crazy :D. I don’t mind that it doesn’t come with a display base for the funnels because it cuts down on the cost and I won’t end up using it at the end for display anyway. The setup was done with the Sould Stage Act 3 and I’m sure other bases will work just as well if not better.

行け！フィン・ファンネル！

Sic ’em!

PROS AND CONS

On the bright side

– Very aesthetically pleasing to look at right out of the box. Proportions, color, design, everything!

– Hands are very well designed; pegs in the palm helps secure beam rifle and bazooka from wobbling.

– Extra parts for the backpack that allows for Double Fin Funnel setup if you have two Nu.

– Cool beam saber

– Great color separation; the only color it is noticeably lacking is yellow.

– No weight issues.

On the down side

– Articulation seems like it could’ve been better… particularly the arms, feet and legs could really bend just a little more. Maybe a quick mod can fix this?

– Need more hands… only one trigger and saber hand for the right side only.

VERDICT

Hands down, this is the best Nu Gundam model to date. It has the best looks and arguably the best articulation… but the latter is true only because other models of it are rather outdated. The only parts you need to paint are the yellow trim on the legs and waist and that is about it. There are no other issues I can think of and I am very happy with this model. In fact, I am now considering picking up the HWS version as well because I like it that much and maybe put more effort into that model instead. To quote Amuro, “Nu Gundam is not just for show!”

REVIEWS FROM OTHER BLOGGERS:

Hobby Hovel

 

AMURO’S COUNTERATTACK

“Hey kiddies! Char Char has candies! :3”

“Seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same…”

*Newtype flash* “My Newtype senses are tingling!”

“CHAR!”

“So you’re still alive?! This time I’ll make Char-Siu out of you!”

“You won’t be able to break these hands of mine!”

“Some things never change! Not even after three decades!”

“UWAH!”

“maybe I’m getting a little too old for this…”

“Are you still 3x faster? I bet not!” *dashes away*

“Oh hell no you don’t!”

“Did I lost him?!” *Newtype flash* WHAT?!

“A Bazooka?!” *fires*

“Destroyed my shield?!”

“CHAR!” “AMURO!”

*And so the eternal hatred continues*

“Amuro! Remember the pain you felt when you killed Lalah! She could’ve been a mother figure to me!”

“And she could’ve been my girlfriend! I would’ve been your father figure! Now say DADDY!”

“Not to a loser like you! Your rose-throwing gig in a tuxedo got you captured and brainwashed more times than Mokuba!”

“Speak for yourself! Your Neo Zeon army turned against your final plan and later your gig as a chairman ended with you being shot by your own bishie son of a clone!”

“At least I didn’t have to live with the irony of being owned by some boy who thinks he IS Gundam!”

“YOU…!!!”

“Shield Fly!”

“He discarded his shield?!”

“CHAR!” “My saber!”

“Returning the favor!”

“二刀流!”

“Not even mythic cloths can save you now! I will slice you up into RIBBONS!”

“I don’t need it!”

“I kicked your ass with my Gundam’s bare hands once before!”

“WHAT?!”

“AND I WILL DO IT AGAIN!”

“UWAH!”

“DON’T FORGET THEY USED TO CALL ME KOTETSU JEEG!”

“まだ！まだ！まだ！”

“CHARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!”

*Drifts off into Lalah Land…*

“I won’t lose to a pathetic foot-licking math teacher who stalks their colleagues like you! FUNNEL!”

!!!!

“He’s faster than me?!”

“I am always the stronger Newtype… you are an exquisite fool to think you are better than me.”

“There you go with your god-complex again…”

“Hahaha! Don’t you feel like your soul is being held down by gravity now?!”

“Your Nu Gundam is nothing without these Fin Funnels!”

“I’ve told you this once before and I’ll say it again…”

ニューガンダムは伊達じゃない！

“Let’s see you try to push this back, Char!”

“The sky… is falling!”

“It’s getting dark…I WON’T GO DOWN LIKE THIS!”

“I’LL PUSH THIS BACK WITH MY BARE HANDS! SAZABI IS NOT JUST FOR SHOW!!!”

“UGH! COPYING MY PLAN! AND YOU DARE CALL YOURSELF AN INNOVATOR?! AMURO!!!!!!!!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMUUUUUUUUUUROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”