Hobby Talk: Model Kit Review, MG ZGMF-X56S/B Sword Impulse Gundam

Kit Details
Gundam: Sword Impulse Gundam
Code:  ZGMF-X56S/B
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny
Pilot: Shinn Asuka, Lunamaria Hawke
Faction: ZAFT
Weapons: MMI-710 Excalibur Anti Ship Laser Sword, RQM60 Flash Edge Beam Boomerang, M71-AAK Folding Razor Anti Armor Knife, MMI-RG59V Mobile Shield, MA-BAR72 High Energy Beam Rifle
Release: April 2009
Runner: 24
Parts: 394
Price: 4500 yen

Build / Difficulty
(Score: +1)
Good: Build was OK.  Quite easy and not a lot of surface details to work on.
Bad: Build can be a bit confusing due to transformation.  Default steps in the manual starts with all the flyer units.
Difficulty: Easy.
Panel Line: Easy.  Quite minimum considering kit is almost 10 years old.
Decals: You get 1 sheet of stickers, 1 sheet of dry transfers, and sticker foils for the eyes and scopes.

Looks / Details
(Score: +2)
Good: Amazing looking kit.  Red shade for a Gundam is always a plus.  Dual tone whites and oversized weapons.
Bad: A bit plain on the white armor.  Some part feels a bit out of proportion.

Accessories
(Score: +2)
You get: A beam rifle, a transformable shield, a huge boomerang backpack and 2 huge beam saber.  Lots of additional parts for flyers and sword silhouette flyer as well.

Articulation / Pose ability
(Score: +1)
Good: Good.  On par with all the good articulating seed kits.
Bad: A bit back heavy.  Quite restricted ankle articulation prevents a lot of good poses.  Shoulder joints is a bit weak and will have trouble holding up those huge swords.  And the chest unit disconnects a lot.

Shelf presence
(Score: +2)
Good: Superb.  First, the red accent on a Gundam is really a looker.  A very good included weapons makes this kit looks much larger than it is.
Bad: I was hoping to get a chest block to be used to put in the Impulse so I can display the core splendor side by side.  Sadly it doesn't happen, unlike the grand daddy Gundam.

Bonus
(Score: Neutral)
All the separate flyers are a novelty which I don't think I will ever pose this kit with.  Insert crying chest flyer joke here.

Summary and Rating
(Total Score: +8)
X Avoid
X Consider
X Shortlist
O Buy

This is a definitely must buy kit if you're looking for something easy to build, looks great and has a lot of gimmicks and toys to pose with.

Variants
Few variants of this kit that you can also consider.
1) Force Impulse (2008) - Copycat of Strike with standard Gundam colors.

Dalong's Review

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