Model kits: A hobby involving putting together robots, boats, planes, and more out of small plastic pieces. How often do you meet a person who actually builds them though? The word has a certain connotation to it. Most people view model kits in a negative light, along with the people who build them. But model kits are also viewed as a form of art; people can spend hours cutting out the parts, sanding off the nubs, and sometimes even painting and panel lining it. Other people even take it a step further, building complex dioramas and even making stop motion animations or photography. People pour their souls into these small little plastic robots, and this review will cover one of the most popular.
These aren’t your run-of-the-mill model kits; these are Gunpla. Gunpla is the term for Gundam plastic model. Gundam was a Japanese TV show from 1979, during the peak of mecha anime.
The show inspired dozens of spinoffs that continue to this day, but more importantly, the model kits. To learn about model kits, it might be best to start off with basic terminology that will be said in this review:
- Grades
- Gundam model kits come in a ranking stage known as grades ranging in complexity and scale. Starting off, we have High Grade, followed by Real Grade, Master Grade, and then finally Perfect Grade. The rules aren’t set in stone. A Real Grade can be more complicated than a Master Grade, but generally you should expect more complexity the higher up the list you go.
- Scale
- Usually coinciding with Grades are Scale. In universe the Gundams are massive, usually a few meters tall. Obviously that cannot really be replicated in the real world, so the model kits are scaled down. High Grades and Real Grades are mostly 1/144 scale, Master Grades tend to be 1/100, and Perfect Grades are 1/60. Obviously outliers still do exist as with the grades, but most of the scales will line up with their respective Grades
- Inner Frame
- Most modern kits have something called an Inner Frame, it basically acts as the Kits skeleton, housing all the joints and necessary mechanical detail, but you’ll typically only find these in Real Grade and above
- Panel line
- Sometimes model kit pieces are molded with grooves inside of them, to add some depth and detail. Some model builders like to color those in to make the finished piece pop more
To start off, this will be a review of the Master Grade Barbatos. The Barbatos is one of the most popular kits of all time, initially releasing in December of 2019, the kit was widely praised for its impressive engineering, and is regarded as one of the best Gunpla kits of all time. The Barbatos is from the Gundam spin off anime Iron Blooded Orphans which released in 2015, and had several kits released based off the show. The Barbatos measures in at roughly 7 inches at 1/100 scale when standing straight, making it one of the larger kits. One of the kits main selling points is its insanely detailed inner frame. There are pistons, pipes, cables, and panels all molded into the plastic; joints have musculature that moves when you bend a knee or an elbow. Some people choose to leave the inner frame exposed on this kit too because of the aesthetics.
Asides from the inner frame, the outer frame is also very luxurious and detailed. The colors used for the plastic are bright and vibrant and have many canals for panel lining. The joints on the kit are also incredibly solid, meaning that the kit can be bumped and shaken around, and it will retain its integrity. Due to this, the kit can hold many dynamic poses while staying steady. The kit also comes with a small variety of accessories, primarily weapons and alternate hands for holding said weapons. The stickers that come with the kit are also a nice touch and help spice up some of the blander areas of the kit.
Overall, the kit is very high quality in all aspects, aesthetics, stability, accessories. The best part of all this is that the kit is only 50 dollars. For something of this level of quality, it is a very good price and a great Master Grade kit that will appeal to most collectors.
