Kit Review

Snap-fit + Stickers

This kit comes with a whopping 36 hands.

Since they come in pairs,
there are actually 18 unique hand types in total.

HGBF Jigen Build Knuckles 'Kaku' - Looking at just the 9 right-hand types, they break down into 3 sizes (L, M, S) a

Looking at just the 9 right-hand types, they break down into 3 sizes (L, M, S)
and 3 poses: open hand, fist, and weapon-holding hand.

HGBF Jigen Build Knuckles 'Kaku' - The detail and proportions on the open hands are nice, though they're on par wit

The detail and proportions on the open hands are nice,
though they're on par with what you'd find in a standard HG kit.

HGBF Jigen Build Knuckles 'Kaku' - The detail on the fists and weapon-holding hands is solid too. The wrist section

The detail on the fists and weapon-holding hands is solid too.
The wrist section uses a rotating joint, giving you good wrist articulation.

HGBF Jigen Build Knuckles 'Kaku' - A sample build showing the smallest S size hands fitted onto the HG Build Strike

A sample build showing the smallest S size hands fitted onto the HG Build Strike Gundam.

HGBF Jigen Build Knuckles 'Kaku' - A sample build showing the medium M size hands fitted onto the HGUC Unicorn Gund

A sample build showing the medium M size hands fitted onto the HGUC Unicorn Gundam.

HGBF Jigen Build Knuckles 'Kaku' - The largest L size hands are best suited for bulkier HG kits like the HGUC Nu Gu

The largest L size hands are best suited for bulkier HG kits like the HGUC Nu Gundam.
Depending on the kit, they might even work for MG scale too.

This is the 24th kit in the Build Custom lineup — the Jigen Build Knuckles "Kaku." As you can see, it's an accessory kit that bundles together hands in various shapes and sizes.

The hands are divided into 3 sizes — L, M, and S — and each size comes in 3 poses: open hand, fist, and weapon-holding hand. These are then provided for both left and right hands, and every hand comes as a pair, so the total works out to 3×3×2×2 = 36 hands included.

Overall the proportions and detail are pretty good, though it's essentially just a collection of hands you'd find in recent HG kits — nothing particularly special beyond that. On the plus side, all the hands feature rotating wrist joints that bend through a 180-degree range, so swapping them onto kits that originally had stiff hands could actually be quite useful.

The manual's sample builds guide you on matching hand sizes to the appropriate HG kits — roughly speaking, S size works well for 18m-class MS, M size for 20m-class, and L size for 22m and above. That said, all the hand back parts are plain gray, so whether they actually look good on your particular kit is going to come down to personal taste.

Anyway, it's a pretty straightforward accessory kit that's just a big bundle of hands, so the target audience is pretty clear — this one's really only worth recommending to folks who've been wanting a variety of spare hand parts. A pretty average kit, all things considered. :-)

HGBF Jigen Build Knuckles 'Kaku' | 2015.7 | ¥600