Druna Skass Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 I just got back from Toronto a few days ago, and while I was there I came across a comic book shop that had Blue Frame Second. When I got this guy I was expecting something along the lines of the HG 1/100 Strike Gundam, this thing totaly blew me away. I was so articulate (more than my MG Ingram) that I had to go call up Dat Pinche Haro and ask him what grade this was in, and I was just damn near speechless when he said it was just an HG kit. I've messed around a bit with his MG Gouf Custom and this thing is by FAR more posable, it's also more posable than his MG GP03. The thing that impressed me the most was the way it's legs are. Instead of using a ball and socet joint, it uses a peg and swivel, making it more posable. Along with the double jointed knees, I can make it's heel touch it's butt and I can make it do the splits. The only draw back to this guy is that the arms aren't stiff enough to holed it's heavy-ass sword all that great so it's a bit hard to post this guy with his sword. Sorry if the pics look a little low quality, I took it with my camara phone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druna Skass Posted August 16, 2004 Author Share Posted August 16, 2004 I was just at a loss for words when I completed this kit, and I thought I was impressed with the 1/100 HG Strike... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynx7725 Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 The latest Gundam Fashion is having a huge-@ss weapons which models simply do not have the armature resistance to handle. Nonetheless Bandai engineering has improved steadily over the years. While these do not have the heft and durability of die-cast models, they give die-cast a damn good run for the money. As for whether this is HG or MG, I'm not really sure.. by convention HG kits are 1/144, but 1/100 MG boxes are very clearly marked. I have both the MG and HG of the Red Astray unbuilt (so that I can have a Daisho.. ), but I can't remember the 1/100 grading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeo-mare Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 yea it is a awesome kit.I consider it High Grade i have always veiwed HG in 2 sets HG 1/144 and HG 1/100, it is not master grade, though the sword seems like it Bandai has gotten good over the years at this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohsho Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 Out of all the SEED and Astray Gundams that have come out, for some reason I've liked this one since when I first saw it in Hobby Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynx7725 Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 yea it is a awesome kit.I consider it High Grade i have always veiwed HG in 2 sets HG 1/144 and HG 1/100, it is not master grade, though the sword seems like it Bandai has gotten good over the years at this Heck no. The more I look at it, the more I dislike the chrome on the swords.. anyone has any idea how to strip those off? I think I'll start picking up NMM techniques to use on the Red Astray. Back to the point here.. the articulation on these kits are probably inherited from the MG kits, particularly the err.. whatyoucallthem series.. Master Gundam and all? Can't remember the series names. They are quite posable, and one other positive offshoot is that the RX-79[G] Ground Gundam benefitted from the experience Bandai gained from the earlier kits. As for the Blue Astray.. yeah, I sort of like the colour scheme, but the big-@ss shield/ sword/ weapon/ it puts me off. I know from experience that it is highly unlikely that the armature can actually hold the weapon up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfx Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 I thought my pictures were good enough to demonstrate its articulation. But in any case, people who hate the big ass sword can leave it in backpack mode. It also looks nice in backpack mode so I'm quite at a loss to what mode to leave it in. But yeah....the Astrays have very different skirt armors and the frame is unique allowing for very nice articulation. Anyway, Just wondering does anyone know how BANDAI makes MG and HG kits? Like....do they probably get a few people to design the mecha....and the better one gets a MG label and the worse one gets the HG label? Or is it just that by default the 1st release is a HG followed by a better version which is the MG? Because by default I'd assume they'd try to make a mecha model as good as possible....so maybe they dumb it down to HG to make a cheaper alternative? *clueless* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynx7725 Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 There's really no correlation as far as I can observe.. The only visible correlation is this -- if there is a MG kit out, the HG kit that comes out later will likely incorporate scaled-down mechanics of the MG kit. (It's a matter of size. MG kits being larger can incorporate more doodads.. the HG kits being smaller tends to clump these doodads together for simpler stuff.) AFAIK, the decision to release MG or HG kits are often due to market demand, rather than availability of other grades.. the technologies used in the grades often interchange, and Bandai made great strides in standardization of parts (especially polycaps), but other than these things there's no real "testing the waters" kind of approach with the grades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfx Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 MG and HG are both 1/100...there is no immediate size difference. The articulation and detail however is a starking difference if you put 2 models of the same type next to each other. However from pictures i saw on 4chan, of HG vs MG freedom...on 1st appearances, they both look almost the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynx7725 Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 Sorry, still in the mindset that MG = 1/100, HG = 1/144. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrance Wong Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 In a matter of speaking, all the HG Astrays are MG. Their color frames can be considered internal bits But there's an MG Astray on the way out anyway. Hmm, anyone intrepid enough to convert it into the Blue Frame Second L? Wouldn't take that much work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stamen0083 Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 But there's an MG Astray on the way out anyway. Where? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dat Pinche Haro! Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 But there's an MG Astray on the way out anyway. Where? yeah...where? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfx Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 But there's an MG Astray on the way out anyway. Where? yeah...where? I doubt an MG Astray would come out before say...an Aegis or a Justice or any other non-side story mech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikuro Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 You never know, I would suspect ASTRAY is probably one of the better side stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druna Skass Posted August 16, 2004 Author Share Posted August 16, 2004 I doubt an MG Astray would come out before say...an Aegis or a Justice or any other non-side story mech. Considering the amount of work Bandai put into Blue Second, I wouldn't be surprised if an MG Astray came out before any of the other Gundams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dat Pinche Haro! Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 BTW...you forgot to mention my MG Wing Ver. Ka it's almost as possable as my Wing Ver. Ka... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anubis Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 I'd love an MG Astray Red Frame. That would make me double dip and replace the 1/144 I'm building. Give it a G-Gundam type frame, and oh that would be sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynx7725 Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 Uhm, actually I just took a closer look at my boxes, and found that my 1/144 Red Astray is a HG Gundam Seed line, while my 1/100 Red Astray, this, is technically a No Grade. The tooling is good though. And I compared the 1/144 and 1/100 sword side by side -- it's perfect as a Daisho set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfx Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 Uhm, actually I just took a closer look at my boxes, and found that my 1/144 Red Astray is a HG Gundam Seed line, while my 1/100 Red Astray, this, is technically a No Grade. The tooling is good though. And I compared the 1/144 and 1/100 sword side by side -- it's perfect as a Daisho set. I consider all 1/100 a HG by default if they didn't say its an MG. There needs to be a distinction for HG 1/144 Seed line because there are the no grade 1/144s which are pretty crap compared to the HGs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikuro Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 You can tell pretty easily by the price by the Non Graded and the HG, not too mention the box types. For example in the picture, any 1/144 regular HG kit is done in a landscape style box with pretty good art on the cover, not too mention it's got the seal approval for being HG versus the other.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeo-mare Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 some of those gundam seed 1/144 are freekin horrible the detail is a joke, it requires so much painting and skill to make look good it is not even funny. that is mainly why i stick only to 1/100 or bigger stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druna Skass Posted August 17, 2004 Author Share Posted August 17, 2004 The HG 1/144 are pretty decent, it's those non graded ones that are horrible, they're good for nothing more than something to screw around with and for experimenting with paint jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynx7725 Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 Gee you guys are hard to please. HG 1/144 as only pretty decent? I take it you guys never worked on the early 80s 1/144 kits? Compared to those, HG kits are excellent in terms of colour, ease of assembly and quality. Also, in generally, HG kits are only in 1/144. There are very few 1/100 HG kits -- I can't think of any offhand actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stamen0083 Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 There are very few 1/100 HG kits -- I can't think of any offhand actually. The Wing and X 1/100's were explicitly marked as HG's. The 1/144 Astray looks much better than the 1/100 counterpart. Give me that anyday. Screw non-MG 1/100's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druna Skass Posted August 17, 2004 Author Share Posted August 17, 2004 Gee you guys are hard to please. HG 1/144 as only pretty decent? Nah, just spoiled by the newer 1/100 kits... Though when I first got it, my 1/144 HG Titans Gundam MkII sure as hell impressed the hell out of me. And I just picked up a 1/144 Calamity which, save for a botched paint job, I'm quite pleased with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynx7725 Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 There are very few 1/100 HG kits -- I can't think of any offhand actually. The Wing and X 1/100's were explicitly marked as HG's. The 1/144 Astray looks much better than the 1/100 counterpart. Give me that anyday. Screw non-MG 1/100's. Hmm, that will explain things. I'm not a big Wing or X fan. My Astrays are both still in box, so I can't say which looks better. Nah, just spoiled by the newer 1/100 kits... Though when I first got it, my 1/144 HG Titans Gundam MkII sure as hell impressed the hell out of me. And I just picked up a 1/144 Calamity which, save for a botched paint job, I'm quite pleased with. Yeah, those old 1/144 HG are REALLY good. I had a Mk II too, it was really good for its time. So good, I now have a MISB of it still. Comparatively, I think the new HGUC are not as good, but certainly more affordable and have a greater range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfx Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 1/144 astray red frames better than 1/100? Explain. Do you have both to compare? Anyway back to original question, how do they make models anyway? They make a lousy 1/100.....and maybe spend a little more on R&D and come up with an MG? Or is it backwards? Make a kick ass model MG....and repackage a lousier non-MG one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anubis Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 (edited) Bandai can make a perfect HG 1/144 kit. They are just inconsistent with it. some kits have "lit" beam saber blades, some don't. The Providence kit was awesome. Even at 1/144 it had like two stickers, one for the eyes, the other for the green lens on the shield. The Head antennae had the parts it was supposed to, the shield had all the little parts molded in different colors. Lit beam saber blade. Very well done. The Freedom 1/144 on the other hand, was a piece of crap. They didn't even include stickers to make the upper halves of the wings black. The 1/100 could also have had perfect molding, but instead had stickers for the black wing parts. The quality sculpting was obviously saved for the MG kit purposefully. The Astray 1/144 isn't bad, but there are parts they could have easy molded properly, but included nothing, such as the white parts of the tricep area, and the red piece that's supposed to be behind the head. Not a bad 1/144 though overall. The 1/100 kit looks awesome though. I have been very impressed in general with the HGUC kits. Thay have been packing a lot of detail, and very cheap. I'm beginning to really want a Gaplant kit as well. Edited August 17, 2004 by Anubis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stamen0083 Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 1/144 astray red frames better than 1/100? Explain. As previously mentioned, the 1/144 LOOKS better than the 1/100. For one thing, it doesn't have the pinhead syndrome. For another, the knee armor isn't rounded off and made ugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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