January 12th 2022: NEW THING! Gunpla!

Today my 1/144 scale "High Grade" Gundam Barbatos arrived and I spent about an hour and a half assembling it. And based on nothing more than this one kit, here are my views on Gunpla!

It comes in a nice box. The seller (I got it from eBay) had blacked out the original price ($12.99) ... probably because he sold it to me for more! But, it was a fair price compared to other figures it seemed.

Opening it, there are sprues and an assembly guide.

The parts are well-cast, with few mold lines (and those that are there are mostly hidden when you assemble it).

The body came together very easily.

The sprues are not as closely packed as GW ones, and the sprues themselves are more delicate.

Even with the words being in Japanese, it is easy enough to follow the instructions.

So, what do I think?

Well, the kit is very nicely made and it is inexpensive; I paid $22.95 including shipping - that is $10 more than the kit is apparently "worth" but who knows what that "comp est value" really is; the prevailing exchange rate of the Yen at the time? This is an import from far, far away ... I'll pay $10 to have it delivered to my house.

I am certain that if this were a GW kit of comparable complexity and detail, it would be considerably more.

The articulation is very cool - it is a tiny action figure once assembled - and the different colored plastics are also very fun. The thing is immediately "done" once you have assembled it.

The process is quite unlike building a GW kit - it is snap-fit, of course, but there is something else. It is delicate and small (even though at just over 5" the model is quite tall). It moves as you assemble it - it has a "living" quality unlike a wargaming figurine.

Many people have suggested using Gundam figures in 40K - as Knights, perhaps. The 1/144 scale are too small - but the extra 40% size of a 1/100 would be a different matter, I think. The 1/144 models would work as a slender Armiger, but not a Knight.

(Edit; added a photo showing a size comparison between the Gundam and an Armiger)

All in all, it was very enjoyable and different. I could see how someone could easily get very into this hobby - although I don't think it is for me. My interest is in wargaming figures that tell my stories, and Gunpla is about collecting figures from a franchise I am not interested in. But, the models are cool and I think I will enjoy building some others.

=][= Danforth Laertes