Back to gunpla reviews. The godlike Kira Yamato's original MS, now remastered to become even better than before. Remaster is..? I think it's like 1.5 or 1.75?
Why this kit
A gunpla kit has a lot of variants for a reason. One, it's a very popular kit. Two, it's highly customize-able. And three, imagination... Strike Gundam kit is the modern representation of the classic RX-78-2. The remaster of an already strong Strike kit, it's a yes.
Kit Details
The Aile Strike ver RM kit was released in May 2013, a D0 box kit with 15 runners and 370 parts. You also get 1 big sheet of stickers and 1 big sheet of dry transfer decals. This kit is priced at RM 150. You also get 1 huge archangel launcher action base included in the box.
Build / Difficulty
(Score: Neutral)
This build for this kit is very straight forward. You'll know what you're building unlike some transformable Gundam which kept you guessing what parts you are building.
This kit takes me 2 weeks to build. It has quite a lot of detailing needs to be done plus massive amount of decals needs to be put on. But applying the stickers and decals are easy as there's no difficult angle, insane curves or even unreachable area where the decals should go.
Looks / Details
(Score: +1)
This kit looks great as it is. It has a lot of details, massive improvement from the original strike. Not much color separation as all you get is the classic Gundam colors. This kit looks clean, not overly complicated.
Accessories
(Score: Neutral)
You get a beam rifle, a shield, 2 armor schneider, 2 beam saber and an aile striker pack + battery pack. Oh, haven't I mentioned the big @$$ action base? There's not much colors to the tools, but I'm glad the armor schneider gets a white blade. Take that PG strike.
But the plus side is, you can get the RM 175 sword/launcher strike kit to get additional weapons. And the grand slam is sold separately (RM25), in case you need the PG exclusive chrome blade.
Articulation / Pose ability
(Score: +2)
Strike Gundam kit probably has the best internal frame among all 191 MG kits out there. Even bested the RX-78-2. Thanks to this, the kit has the best movement and can do any imaginable pose without a problem.
And also thanks to that, this kit is very balanced. No weight issue at all, even with the aile striker pack slapped on. The feet are well planted to the ground. No problem at all.
And this kit is solid AF. I had never seen such a rock solid kit before. In all my previous MG builds, something will feel lose, parts will fall off. But not on this kit. Every joint, every armor piece is strongly connected. With the exception of the V-fins which falls off more that I thought it would and the aile striker pack which has the classic gunpla flimsy feel to it. Nothing is perfect I guess.
Shelf presence
(Score: Neutral)
This kit most likely won't stands out too much as other kits. It looks great, no doubt about it but lacks of "Look at me, I'm f**king awesome" kind of feeling. But there's a way to fix that. Look at the bonus section.
Bonus
(Score: +2)
This default look is great, but not explosive. Being a popular kit, the accessories and add-ons are widely available. To make this kit shines a little bit more, you can get the sword/launcher strike kit and slap everything on to create the perfect strike.
Not fancy enough? You can even slap on the universal booster and give this guy some clear wing effects. Or you can choose to mix any of this kit's variant's accessories to this kit. Damn, the Lego feeling.
Summary and Rating
(Total Score: +5)
This kit has the best internal frame that provides excellent pose-ability and is a very balanced kit. However, what comes in the box are the most basic of a kit. But it provides you the perfect platform for expansion. And I'm thinking of completing the perfect strike some time in the future.
Gundam: Aile Strike Gundam
Code: GAT-X105, AQM/E-X01
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam Seed
Pilot: Kira Yamato, Mu La Flaga
Faction: Earth Alliance
Weapons: Beam Saber, Armor Schneider, 57mm High Energy Beam Rifle
Release: May 2013
Box: D0
Runner: 15
Parts: 370
Price: 4200 yen
Pundit: Must have! And buy the perfect strike "expansion" kit if you have the extra cash.
Variants
There's too many strike variants available. I'm just picking a few newer and more popular ones.
1) Build Strike Gundam + Universal Booster (2014) - From Gundam Build fighters and are based on the remastered frame. I've built the HG version and the MG is definitely worth to get.
2) Astray Blue Frame D (2014) - Blue framed variant, color and armor variation + lots of toys.
3) Sengoku Astray (2014) - Red framed samurai variant of strike.
4) Strike Rouge + Ootori (2013) - Cagalli's pink strike with lots of add ons + toys. Bug fixes in the striker pack. Kind of version 1.8 of this kit.
5) Buster, Blitz and Duel (2012) - The other 3 bad guys from the original Gundam Seed. Based on the 1.0 strike frame.
6) Astray Blue Frame 2nd, Red frame (2009/2010) - Original 2 astray based on the 1.0 frame.
7) Sword/Launcher Strike (2008) - Expansion pack for the perfect strike.
8) Many many more...
Dalong's Review
Dalong's Score: 105
Up Next: Wing Gundam Fenice
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