Friday, October 21, 2016

Hobby Talk: Model Kit Review, MG MSN-06S Sinanju Anime Version

Link to revised review here.

The red comet of Zeon.  One of the most highly rated model kit.




















Why this kit
I have long heard about the awesomeness of this kit.  But I have not been paying much attention to mono eyed MS until recently when I built the legendary Zaku II.  And just like that, I have had it in my backlog.

Originally I intended to keep this after completing the Freedom 2.0.  But 2 weeks before the new kit arrived, on a long weekend where my fiber broadband was down, I opened the box and started sweating.



Kit Details
The Sinanju kit was released in March 2013, a huge D4 box kit with 23 runners and 477 parts. You also get an option of 1 sheet of black gold stickers or gold water slide, 1 sheet of sticker decals and 1 sheet of dry transfer decals .  This kit is priced at RM 270.

Build / Difficulty
(Score: +2)
Building this kit is a lot of fun.  The kit is not that complicated but contains a lot of curves and rounds, adding challenges to the build.  Panel lining is on the minimal side as most of the curves and angles are well detailed with vents, thrusters and gold Zeon stickers.

This kit is pretty sticker heavy.  I used the gold Zeon stickers instead of the water slide (the latter is way better) because I'm too lazy to work on the water slides.  The kit isn't too heavy on decals.  If you're keen on decals, you can opt for the ver Ka which is essentially the same kit but with a lot more decals.

















Looks / Details
(Score: +2)
Sinanju looked fantastic.  One of the best looking kit I ever built.  It is also very well detailed.  Separate yellow vents throughout the body, lots and lots of thrusters and the red looks magnificent.

Accessories
(Score: +1)
Weapons department.  If you get the Anime version, which I did, you'll get an additional bazooka on top of a beam rifle with grenade launcher, a huge shield, 2 beam saber and 2 beam axe.  There's a bunch a playability with the weapons as you can combine 2 or more weapons to become a super weapon but from the looks department, the weapons are a bit lacking in color choices.  Just all grey to be honest.













Articulation / Pose ability
(Score: +1)
Big and bulky is the first impression.  But the sheer size doesn't stop the pose-ability of this kit.  The movements are excellent.




















When building this monster, I can feel every part of this MS is rock solid.  But things started to go a bit wrong when everything is put together.  As a complete MS, several part of the kit feels shaky and does want to fall apart.  The spring loaded pipes at the waist pops up a lot.  And several other connections like arm to shoulder pops up a lot.

This is among a few kit that does not have policap joints.  That makes moving the joints a bit hard.  Yes, if you like posing then the pose will stick but the joints feels too tight at hips, knees and shoulder makes it difficult to pose.  And you'll need to apply more force trying to move these joints and once you do that, things started to pop off.  Other parts like ankle or wrist, on the other hand feels too soft.




















One major complain about this kit is the waist connection.  The waist is weak... extremely weak for a rock solid kit like this.

The kit is well balanced right until you slap the big backpack on and it started to feel a bit back heavy.  And having a weak waist doesn't help at all.

Shelf presence
(Score: +2)
One, this kit is big.  A regular master grade kit typically measures around 17 cm in height.  The Unicorn Gundam in destroy mode measures 20 cm.  This kit towers all of them at 21 cm.  Only Nu Gundam ver Ka can match it in size but the Sinanju also has bulk and huge ass weapons.  This kit is a Shaquille O'Neal to all other MG kits.  But probably just Yao Ming, cause there are kits like Sazabi or The O that is more Shaq.

Two, it's red, black and gold.  The colors of destruction is really eye catching.

Bonus
(Score: Neutral)
Not much to add for this kit.


Summary and Rating
(Total Score: +8)
If you're looking for a  kit that looked good and badass straight out of the box, this is the kit.  It is well detailed, but requires a lot more effort to build and to pose.  There are a few weakness such as some small parts tends to pop up a lot, when you move the really tight joints the red armor tends to pop up a lot, disturbingly weak waist considering this kit is quite back heavy.

But despite that, this is a very good looking, fun to build, a joy to look at kit.

Gundam: Sinanju
Code: MSN-06S
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn
Pilot: Full Frontal
Faction: Neo Zeon
Weapons: Beam Saber, Beam Rifle, Beam Axe, Rocket Bazooka
Release: March 2013
Box: D4
Runner: 23
Parts: 477
Price: 7500 yen

Pundit: I can't forgive how Sinanju was defeated in the anime but for the MG kit, it is absolutely recommended for serious builders.

Variants
Two other variants of the Sinanju to choose from.
1) Sinanju ver Ka (2008) - exactly same as this one but with lots more decals.
2) Sinanju Stein (2013) - a white gundam-ish looking Sinanju.

















Dalong's Review
Dalong's Score: 112

Up Next: Freedom 2.0

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