Eye Spy peers at... Master Grade Sengoku Astray.
Cheers for:
Foreword:
Full disclosure I love the Sengoku Astray (SA)! While the original Red Frame (RF) did little to peak my interest it's Build Fighter mod immediately captured my attention with it's blending of old Samurai elements and futuristic Mobile Suit elements. Of course it also helps that the operator (Build Fighters ain't pilots) is of African descent but that's enough of my mobile suit crush, it's on to the review!
The Box and Innards:
The SA's box art is quite fetching indeed and composed in a way that focuses on the mobile suit more so than the background. The eye is instantly drawn to the particle explosion and led in a circular path across the face and down the tip of the sword. The box itself harbors 23 runners including red poly-caps - which I love. Be warned there will be many left over parts as Bandai included a number of parts from the original RF, although not enough to reproduce the suit - or its weapons - in it's entirety. There's also two sticker sheets one foil, one on blue paper - which I initially mistook for water-slides - and of course a manual.
Part Quality:
Originally this kit comes in white, red, black and dark grey (pewter?). Since I'm not a fan of white as a primary shade and in honor of Nils Nielsen being black, I painted the white parts black but more on that in a bit. In regards to the parts themselves I found no real issues with warping, discoloration or anything of the sort. However, I would have liked Bandai to excercise some consistency in regards to undergating. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to when they undergated the parts, it's a missed opportunity really, as this kit - as are all the Astray models - is perfect for custom color schemes. That complaint aside part quality is A Ok.
Accessories:
Taking a cue from Bandai this is going to be short. Sengoku Astray comes with two shiny Katana and that super awesome shield, that is all. Those who value accessories look elsewhere.
Integrity's:
Despite some ankle looseness and pose-able toes the SA stands up fabulously and is capable of a number of posses, although you'll need a stand to recreate the box art. Posing the kit with the shoulder mounted arms have excellent range of motion and can be posed in nearly any position desired. More importantly however they won't droop if extended horizontally away from SA's body.
Despite this pose-ability you should take care when posing the SA, as parts will regularly throw themselves from the kit as if allergic to your very touch. While constructing this kit I had the back of the head fall off a few times while trying to connect it to the ball joint, the left arm popped off while I was posing it and a piece of armor has mysteriously vanished. However all of those pieces are made to look like bastions of security in comparison to the V-fin. For those with short attention spans I offer a single word: Glue. For the rest I make the same recommendation, the plug used to attach the V-fin to the head is ludicrously short, which means that the V-Fin will fall down with only the suggestion of gravity. Again Glue.
Presence:
Straight up, no jive this kit looks good and that's the case whether or not you paint it. That red frame simply glows and separates it from the traditionally colored mobile suits, even in poor lighting. As I mentioned before I did paint this kit, white is a boring tone and in my opinion is best suited as an accent. That said painting is a personal preference and this kit would look good if you kept the original scheme and simply added a top-coat.
Final Word:
Worth it? Not worth? Immaterial?
For my money this falls in the worth it category. I enjoyed painting, building and posing the kit, how much did I enjoy it? Enough to confidently say I'd eagerly jump into a second build, but first this massive backlog of Gunpla!
eL Out
- Awesome Red Frame mod
- Cool swords
- Even cooler shield
- Great pose-ability
- Parts that fly off
- Boring default colors
- Few accessories
- Wimpy joints/joint connections
Click the jump for more the full review.
Foreword:
Full disclosure I love the Sengoku Astray (SA)! While the original Red Frame (RF) did little to peak my interest it's Build Fighter mod immediately captured my attention with it's blending of old Samurai elements and futuristic Mobile Suit elements. Of course it also helps that the operator (Build Fighters ain't pilots) is of African descent but that's enough of my mobile suit crush, it's on to the review!
The Box and Innards:
The SA's box art is quite fetching indeed and composed in a way that focuses on the mobile suit more so than the background. The eye is instantly drawn to the particle explosion and led in a circular path across the face and down the tip of the sword. The box itself harbors 23 runners including red poly-caps - which I love. Be warned there will be many left over parts as Bandai included a number of parts from the original RF, although not enough to reproduce the suit - or its weapons - in it's entirety. There's also two sticker sheets one foil, one on blue paper - which I initially mistook for water-slides - and of course a manual.
Part Quality:
Originally this kit comes in white, red, black and dark grey (pewter?). Since I'm not a fan of white as a primary shade and in honor of Nils Nielsen being black, I painted the white parts black but more on that in a bit. In regards to the parts themselves I found no real issues with warping, discoloration or anything of the sort. However, I would have liked Bandai to excercise some consistency in regards to undergating. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to when they undergated the parts, it's a missed opportunity really, as this kit - as are all the Astray models - is perfect for custom color schemes. That complaint aside part quality is A Ok.
Accessories:
Taking a cue from Bandai this is going to be short. Sengoku Astray comes with two shiny Katana and that super awesome shield, that is all. Those who value accessories look elsewhere.
Integrity's:
Despite some ankle looseness and pose-able toes the SA stands up fabulously and is capable of a number of posses, although you'll need a stand to recreate the box art. Posing the kit with the shoulder mounted arms have excellent range of motion and can be posed in nearly any position desired. More importantly however they won't droop if extended horizontally away from SA's body.
Presence:
Straight up, no jive this kit looks good and that's the case whether or not you paint it. That red frame simply glows and separates it from the traditionally colored mobile suits, even in poor lighting. As I mentioned before I did paint this kit, white is a boring tone and in my opinion is best suited as an accent. That said painting is a personal preference and this kit would look good if you kept the original scheme and simply added a top-coat.
Final Word:
Worth it? Not worth? Immaterial?
For my money this falls in the worth it category. I enjoyed painting, building and posing the kit, how much did I enjoy it? Enough to confidently say I'd eagerly jump into a second build, but first this massive backlog of Gunpla!
eL Out
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