By Loran
Well, another kit in the Unicorn buildathon has been completed! I now have another “star” Gundam to add to my shelf, and he certainly is worthy…
After much, much frustration with the shiny blue paint on Unicorn Destroy, he’s all done. I have to say, he’s an impressive kit. But one issue I had was with the “skeleton”. It was obviously meant to not be painted, and I learned that the hard way. When attaching the white parts on top of them, it sometimes causes the paint to peel off. It’s really frustrating, and that’s mostly due to how many coats I had to put on because it’s difficult to get this color to adhere to the translucent plastic. Also, I’ve NEVER seen paint scratch as easily as this in my life, especially on a PRIMED SURFACE. I guess it has something to do with the metallic flake in the paint…
His poseability is nothing to write home about but again, does nothing particularly wrong. No double-joints outside of the neck, but thankfully, he isn’t the articulation disaster of the Master Grade kit thanks to the lack of a transformation gimmick. Some might have preferred a single kit that can transform, but honestly, I like it more as two separate kits. No transformation gimmick means better stability, and I’d rather have two stable kits than one unstable one.
My favorite feature of this design has got to be the beam sabers-he’s got FOUR, and can use all of them at once. Only one problem… remember that complaint I had with the Full Armor 7th Gundam way back? Yep… Bandai skimped us on Saber blades. AGAIN. FOR A KIT THAT USES FOUR SABERS. Only Unicorn Mode has the saber blades, and even that only has TWO. Yeah, I do have a huge supply of them, but I shouldn’t have to dip into them because Bandai’s too cheap to include a runner that’s come with almost every other kit in the past 5 years!
The shield included with the kit is pretty cool, and clips onto the arm using a clip system that doesn’t damage the paint as much as it looks. I haven’t built the beam rifle yet (that’s going to Unicorn mode), but I did build Unicorn Mode’s bazooka, and I have to say it’s pretty nice. Unfortunately, getting it to hold the bazooka over his shoulder is kind of difficult, and it becomes a tight fit, but it uses the Master Grade-style palms, with a peg that lets it hold its guns easier.
Most importantly, he’s REALLY tall. I knew the suit “grew” when it transforms but I didn’t realize it got THIS tall-he’s a head taller than the ReZel and MUCH taller than the RX-78. I’m curious to see the height difference between this and Unicorn mode when I have that done.
Yeah, Unicorn Destroy is great. Highly recommended, which is made only better by his partner, Unicorn Mode Unicorn…
..whom I’m not too far into right now. Whoops. Thankfully, he’s not going to take me half as long as Destroy Mode because a) it’s all white, and b) there’s no skeleton. I don’t expect any real surprises, but I made sure to trim down the excess plastic on the horn to make it pointier. I’m also going to cut the skirt armor in half like the other kit.
I’d wholeheartedly recommend these two kits, even with Unicorn mode still being in the beginning stages. Remember, we’ve got both of them in stock! I’ve got a bit of extra plans for my two…
