I was annoyed with the new site design at first but quickly realized its WAY more convenient and easy to do pretty much everything. As seen in the post right above in the case of quoting.

 

I never linger on this board long enough to be bothered by the changes one way or another, it's just more changing things for the sake of changing things.

Actually the most significant thing I'd look forward to in a Revive Ground Gundam is improved posablity. Yes the original is fairly good in it's own right, but the limitations of the shoulders, waist, hips, and ankles really become obvious when compared to the EZ8. It may not seem like much to anyone else, but as a stop motion animator that likes to focus on ground unit battles I can tell you that these things add up, and especially so in the case of pulling off the signature stance of kneeling down with the 180mm cannon perched over the shield. The old model CAN do the pose, but it's incredibly specific and looks very static rather than dynamic.

 

The lack of three knuckle guards is annoying, in the 'they couldn't add a tiny drop of plastic for that because...?' department, I'll admit, but frankly it wasn't a problem for me as I never intended to display mine not holding a gun, so the non-trigger right hand is still in the box.

Plus, all you gotta do is put in a good amount of elbow grease and some paint to make the Ground Gundam look good:



And then compared to Forever Gundam a.k.a. Full Armor HGUC RX-78-2 Ver. G30th,


Arguably the G30th - a 2009 release, the Forever Gundam release is that full kit (sans Core Fighter I think, haven't looked in the box in years) in slightly more blue-gray tones and new armor pieces - is the slightly better core Gundam with a cut-swivel right below the thigh joints, whereas the Ground Gundam lacks these. Admittedly, this is a big detriment given how restrictive the lack of those swivels in the upper hips impacts pose ability. However, in contrast, despite being only two years behind in the capability of engineering, Ground Gundam also doesn't have any problem with limbs falling off at the sockets and the shield mounting is rock solid in any configuration.

As much as I love Forever Gundam...he literally splits at the waist if I don't pick him up from the hips. And yes, his left arm can't hold itself up on that ball joint with the shield attached by tab (the peg is useless as the socket it was meant for instead is part of the Funnel 'backbone' connection). And the Funnel arms fall off ALL THE TIME.

Ah, thank you!

The site is much more mobile friendly now. That was probably the main reason for the upgrade.

Then you need to utilize the camera angle to make up for limitations. For instance, here's my GG taking a kneeling pose.



Here's the Ground gundam sans shield, same pose, from the OVA


Of course the kneeling pose is going to be static - the 180mm is pretty much a light howitzer made for quick repositioning. But it isn't going to be something whipped out and fired with ease or accuracy in the middle of battle. But as the gif above shows, to make something static by nature interesting, the job falls to camera angle and how far you want to try and mimic the small but critical motion of the suit reeling from recoil, despite not changing the pose itself.

 

I'm aware of the angles and whatnot, and I have done it before, it's just when handling the EZ-8 in the same pose it honestly doesn't take nearly as much fiddling.

 

I'd rather ask for an MG Ez8 2.0 as that kit is really showing its age. A really dated kit with features that either don't work or are substandard compared to the newer MGs.

 

Yeah I'd like an MG Ez-8 before a Revive Ground Gundam, but even with paint and clever angles, it doesn't change the fact that proportions and articulation are lacking, which imapcts how it feels and looks in person, which is what counts. I want something instantly recognizable as on par with the Ez-8, not something that takes futzing.

BTW, the Dom Test Type is sweet. The beam launcher is so badass I'm actually not that miffed about the lack of any sort of machien gun like Char's Zaku did. I think because a beam launcher is more versitile than a rocket launcher and shell firing sniper are to fats moving mobile suits and ships. Heat saber is still a weird weapon to me. Not quite a beam saber, not quite a regular sword.

 

I could see a new EZ8 as they have come very close with the MGBF ez8's

but I'd be all over a new MG ground gundam. I love my EZ8 kit but wow is it dated compared to the others in my collection.

 

At my trip to Midtown Comics yesterday I picked up a RG RX78-2. Just started building it this morning, got the head assembled. Going to tackle more of it tonight when I get home from work.

To those of you who've built this kit before, is it as bad as everyone says? I hear the hip armor and shoulders are extremely fragile and pop off with slight movements. I also hear the inner structure does not hold together very well. Any personal experiences?

 

Be extremely wary of the hands. "Disintegration" is a word often used for them for good reason.

 

Halfway done the MG Unicorn, and I really like it. The upper body at least way more solid than people said it was, which I guess is good as it gave me such low expectations. The transformation is finnicky but fun, though sadly the right side of the torso doesn't sit flush and I don't know why. I've been festidious with nubs and now I'm worried I may have gored something inside.   Otherwise, yeah I like it. Man is it bigger than Wing MGs.

 

That's good to hear. It could be a number of reasons. Either the shoulder parts aren't tucked away all the way or the chest flaps aren't seated properly.

And yes they dwarf the Wing MGs.

 

Found out when I put the shoulder/torso part into the rail it slids on, I de-nubbed the grip in the rail, hence why it was loose. A little superglue and it seems good.

The weird thing is, while one of the leg thrusters clips on rock solid and holds just fine during transformation, one doesn't, and I don't know what's different.

All in all, a super finnicky kit, but actually fairly solid (as in little if anything falls off) and very impressive

 

I've had similar issues with mine. I came away unimpressed.

 

*cough, dusting off my access to this forum since the upgrade*

I just saw the promo video for the RG Build Strike. I've always noticed there was something different from the original Strike about it, and it turns out that Bandai's given it bulkier leg armor. It makes a difference.



I'm sure it still uses the same MS frame obviously.
Now to wait and see if they make a Universal Booster as an add-on kit or I'll be going broke on P.Bandai Exclusives....

 

So after roughly 7 hours, most of was just fiddling with the sometimes confusing instructions, here is the grand daddy RX78-2 in Real Grade


It was a fun build, especially for my first Gunpla. Going to try to get some stickers on later today. His articulation is awesome although I dare not try to get too fancy less something break off. His shoulder pads are floppy and the tabs on the outside love to fall off. He's definitely a shelf queen. The hands are also a terrible design. Too bad there isn't a 3P addon for Gunpla.

I think I'm going to attempt a Zaku II, and the MK II Gundam next.

 

the only thing I hate about mine is the tab to keep the lower torso locked. it tends to come loose and while it looks cool for some poses it can be a little annoying.

I found the size to be striking as well. In Unicorn mode is a little taller then an RX78 and much thicker... but in Destory mode it just towers above even my Hi Nu.

Anyways I asked this before the site update but what's the general opinion on the MG Z'gok and AcGuy? I want to try doing a full custom paint job and these two seem like good starting points.

 

But there are several first party replacemant hands. Though I don't know if builder's parts hands would fit on an RG, I'd be kinda surprised if they didn't.

Yup, that tab acts up for me too. What annoys me most is how it doesn't unab easily whenever I want to transform it, but it will when I'm just posing it. Other than that, the only transformation aspect I don't like is how the very tips of the shoulders don't have anything to rest in place on, they're just free moving. Everything else, whether it locks or not, has something that stops or holds it in destroy mode. Luckily it's a minor thing and I have I don't bump them out of place much when posing.

It's hefty, too. It feels dense, I guess because it is. It is pretty damn sweet how much bigger it gets, something I never noticed from the animation.

EDIT: Also, I have a question for anyone who owns the Banshee. I was looking at the runners online and noticed it has new inner lower leg parts cast in trans orange (they should be gold though) and are more complicated, the vernier thrusters on them being seperate pieces. Why is that? They're the same trans orange, it just seems needlessly more complicated. It'd actually look like it'd make more sense to just paint the grey pieces used for the Unicorn gold than use the translucent replacements.

 

I am not sure what parts you are talking about, but the kit is basically the same as the Unicorn with the exception of different parts. If you are talking about the calf pieces that are gray on the Unicorn and Phenix but trans orange on the Banshees then I am pretty sure they just got lazy and put it together with the trans orange psycho frame runner than on its own gold runner. Same thing for the VN Claw parts which are trans orange when they should be gold. But nothing else has changed. The build for the main body is exactly the same except for a few minor parts.

 

Not Gunpla but the NXEDGE 00 Qanta. I really wish the kits came with a green ring for the shield bits.

 

Well my big box of stuff from hobbywave came in today, rather stealthily. First order of business was to assemble the HG Deathscythe Hell since it was bound to be awful, but... wow this thing is so bad that the wings don't even have proper fold around joints, they just peg in and out from closed to open. I'm not sure weather or not to use stickers or just pull out the gundam markers either, but the scythe blade is DEFINITELY going to need paint because as is it just looks like a banana on a stick. I also almost forgot these old things came with alternate torsos, I was worried for a moment that I got a majorly warped set of parts.