Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Detail shots

Weapons loadout

HGUC Gundam Mk-III - Two beam rifles recycled from the HG Gundam Tertium are included, and the energy pack on each one can

Two beam rifles recycled from the HG Gundam Tertium are included,
and the energy pack on each one can be attached and detached.

Two additional energy packs are stored inside the shield.

Two beam sabers of different sizes are stored on the outer face of the shield and in the backpack.

The large beam saber/beam cannon mounted on the backpack can be angled.

There are two mounting holes on the top of the rear skirt.

They're there for storing the beam rifles.

Two types of hands are included in total.

HGUC Gundam Mk-III - The large beam saber locks onto a peg on the palm, so it holds nice and firm. The smaller beam saber u

The large beam saber locks onto a peg on the palm, so it holds nice and firm.
The smaller beam saber up top also has a hole, but that hole is meant for attaching it to the shield, so it doesn't fit the palm peg.
For the small beam saber, you just pop it into the regular open fist hand.

Leftover parts

Decent limb articulation

Forward/backward shoulder articulation

Binders with a pretty wide range of motion

HGUC Gundam Mk-III - Beam rifle action pose (1/5)

HGUC Gundam Mk-III - Beam rifle action pose (2/5)

HGUC Gundam Mk-III - Beam rifle action pose (3/5)

Beam rifle action pose

Firing pose with the backpack's twin beam cannons

HGUC Gundam Mk-III - Beam saber action (1/4)

HGUC Gundam Mk-III - Beam saber action (2/4)

Beam saber action

Together with the RE/100 Gundam Mk-III released in 2015.

Together with the HGUC Gundam Mk-II Revive.

HGUC Gundam Mk-III - Together with the HGBD:R Gundam Seltsam — which has ironically ended up being the "original" kit (?) d

Together with the HGBD:R Gundam Seltsam — which has ironically ended up being the "original" kit (?) despite the lore saying otherwise.
Look closely and you can spot shared design elements in the arms, thighs, feet, waist, and more.

This kit is the HGUC Gundam Mk-III, released as a Club G (Premium Bandai) online exclusive. It's the first time the Mk-III has been made into a plastic model at 1/144 scale, having previously only appeared as a 1/100 RE/100 back in 2015. That said, it's not an entirely new tooling — some runners from the HG Gundam Seltsam and Gundam Tertium, released in 2019 as part of the Build Divers: Re:Rise line, have been recycled into this kit.

In the lore, the Gundam Seltsam is based on the Gundam Mk-III — but the HG Gundam Seltsam actually came out before the "original" Gundam Mk-III kit did. In fact, the Seltsam's runners already had "Gundam Mk-III" markings on them, which was a pretty clear hint that the HGUC Gundam Mk-III was on its way. On top of that, the rifle-related weapon runners added in the Seltsam's variation kit — the HG Gundam Tertium — have also been carried over into this kit. So in the end, two HGBD:R runners have been recycled for the Gundam Mk-III.

Anyway, it's not an entirely new sculpt, but since it's the first time we're getting it at HG scale, there's still something fresh about it. It comes out as a mid-to-upper tier HGUC kit with solid articulation, joint strength, and overall sculpt quality. The shoulders do tend to pop off during posing due to the structural nature of the HG polycap system, but all the other joints hold firmly in place. The original Gundam Seltsam kit had a tendency to feel a bit wobbly overall, but the Gundam Mk-III's slimmer body seems to help — it holds its shape much more solidly and crisply.

For weapons, you get two beam rifles and two beam sabers in two different sizes (two of each), and the backpack beam cannons and binder articulation are both well implemented. A dedicated hand for holding the large beam saber is also included, so grip isn't really an issue. The footing is a bit iffy though, so you'll get much more stable poses by putting it on a stand rather than trying to pose it flat on a surface.

One thing that might divide opinions is the molded color. The design specs call for these colors, but they're the kind of shades that can end up looking a bit off when molded in plastic. Depending on how you look at it, it can come across as cheap-looking, or alternatively kind of soft and pastel-y — so it'll really come down to personal taste. Also, the plastic is generally on the harder side and the gates are fairly large, which makes cleaning up gate marks a bit of a pain and leaves more visible marks than usual. The gates on parts of the thighs and legs in particular are in spots that are just structurally difficult to clean up neatly. (Look closely and the marks are pretty rough T_T)

Anyway, web exclusive or not, the fact that the Gundam Mk-III has finally been given a clean 1/144 scale kit is what really matters here — and it's at least a much more stable and composed build than the RE/100 Gundam Mk-III, which was just too big and floppy for its own good. :-)

HGUC Gundam Mk-III | 2021.4 | ¥2,200

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.