By Loran
oor Guntank. This guy has to be one of the most neglected designs in Gundam’s fiction. While it had a pretty prominent role in the original TV series, it was replaced by a second Guncannon in the third movie, and was completely absent from the novels. Now, sure, the idea of using a tank in space is downright silly, but hey, it worked on the surface of Luna II, so maybe they could’ve had it sit on top of the White Base? Still, the Mass Production type Guntanks from 08th MS Team were pretty cool, even if they all got the crap beaten out of them…
The Guntank is pretty “what you see is what you get”. It’s the Guntank, plain and simple-the V Project kid that the scientists kinda wanted to forget about. Still, it’s essential if you want to have the trio of First Gundam hero mecha, and it isn’t a bad kit by any stretch of the imagination, despite a few flaws.
The suit’s head sits the gunner, or on the upgraded design appearing later in the series, the cockpit. The canopy is molded out of that nice clear blue plastic, and it was actually the first HGUC to have any clear plastic parts aside from a beam saber. The somewhat-undetailed pilot sits inside the canopy and isn’t removable. The head attaches to the neck via a large polycap joint.
The torso is big and bulky, and houses the huge 180mm cannons on the shoulders. Both of which are attached via polycap joints, and as a result suffer from a huge problem-drooping. Because of their length, they’re actually too heavy for the body to support in the “firing in the air” position, so after awhile they start to droop and can only stay in the “firing forward” position. The torso movement is also limited, mostly due to the design, but the Guntank never really turned its entire torso around in the animation, so I guess it’s accurate. The arms are attached with peg joints-nothing special there. Lastly, the “backpack” (actually vents for the cannon) is made up of two pieces.
The arms for this are actually really cool. They’re nicely segmented and have a surprising amount of joints. The armor on the shoulders covers that joint really well and has a nice, simulated “segment” look. The elbow has two joints inside of it, giving it a really nice double joint. It doesn’t have the ability to put the forearm up to the shoulder, but the design doesn’t quite allow it. The uh, “hands” have four rocket launchers on each of them, of course.
Now of course, this thing has no legs. You get some nice, sturdy tank treads. The treads are made of rubber, which is a really nice. All of the wheels are individual pieces, too! Only one problem… THE TREADS DON’T MOVE! You put all of that stuff together, and you get treads that can’t even move. What the hell. The original kit from the 80’s had them, if I remember correctly, so why couldn’t this one? Oh well, maybe it had something to do with the budget. Regardless, they look really nice. Would’ve been nice if they went the extra mile, though…
Overall, the Guntank is a sturdy little kit, aside from the lack of moving treads and the droopy cannons. It’s a worthy kit to have in your collection of Federation suits, be it with the White Base crew or on its own. Heck, buy a few and act out the last episode of 08th MS Team. I don’t see Bandai giving us the Mass Production Type any time soon…
