Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Various angles (1/6)

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Various angles (2/6)

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Various angles (3/6)

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Various angles (4/6)

Various angles

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Detail shots (1/5)

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Detail shots (2/5)

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Detail shots (3/5)

Detail shots

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Weapon lineup — the top two are reused from the original Barbatos, while the short sword and long sword at t

Weapon lineup — the top two are reused from the original Barbatos,
while the short sword and long sword at the bottom are newly added weapons for this kit.

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Be careful when assembling the C-joint used for the neck area. It's not very durable, so if you're not gentl

Be careful when assembling the C-joint used for the neck area.
It's not very durable, so if you're not gentle when fitting it in, it can snap. (Mine already broke. T_T)

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - The black parts at the top of the two rear binders are handled with stickers, which gives them a bit of an o

The black parts at the top of the two rear binders are handled with stickers, which gives them a bit of an out-of-place look.

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Leftover parts. For reference, the 7 KPS material joint parts in the bottom left can be used in other kits i

Leftover parts.
For reference, the 7 KPS material joint parts in the bottom left can be used in other kits in place of polycaps.

Limb articulation

Hip joint slide gimmick

Excellent ankle tilt range

The waist is flexible too.

Forward/backward shoulder articulation

A joint is provided that lets you raise the shoulder out to the side by a wide margin.

Binder articulation

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Dual-wield pose (1/3)

Dual-wield pose

Two-handed long sword pose

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - A dynamic pose with a fist slammed into the ground. It's a fairly tricky pose to pull off, but it comes toge

A dynamic pose with a fist slammed into the ground.
It's a fairly tricky pose to pull off, but it comes together quite naturally.

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt - Dual-wield aerial pose (1/3)

Dual-wield aerial pose

Kick pose

Together with HG Gundam Barbatos & Barbatos Lupus.

This is the HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt, released as a Club G (Premium Bandai) online exclusive. It's the unit that appears in "Interlude Wedge," the short film screened alongside the theatrical anime Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt ~Trajectory of a Small Challenger~. In terms of lore, it sits between the Season 1 Gundam Barbatos and the Season 2 Gundam Barbatos Lupus.

Two runners are reused from the existing kit, but since a lot of those parts end up as leftover parts, the kit is effectively over 80% new tooling. The biggest highlight is that the soft polycap parts from the original have been replaced with KPS material. In other words, the joint structure of the Barbatos frame itself is nearly identical to before, but the polycap parts have been swapped out for KPS plastic parts of the same shape — so in that sense, you could call it a polycap-less joint system.

With the switch to KPS joints, the joint strength is significantly more solid compared to the original HG Barbatos. Combined with the excellent articulation that the Barbatos frame is known for, you can pull off all kinds of dynamic poses while still holding them nice and steady. On top of that, 7 spare KPS parts in the polycap shape are included, so you can freely use them in other HG kits to improve their joint strength as well.

That said, there's one important thing you need to know before building — the C-joint neck part issue. In my case, the C-joint snapped the moment I tried to connect it, which caught me completely off guard. Apparently the C-joint has a subtly asymmetrical design, and you're supposed to align it precisely in the correct front/back orientation before pressing it in... but maybe it's my aging eyes, because even after carefully looking at the manual and the part itself, I honestly couldn't tell the difference between front and back. T_T Either way, please take your time and follow the manual closely when building yours — this honestly feels like a design oversight to me.

For weapons, a long sword (tachi) and short sword (kodachi) are newly included. Both can be stored in holders mounted on the binders, though the long sword is so long that it makes the overall height of the kit feel a bit excessive. Beyond that, the mace and tachi from the original HG Gundam Barbatos are also reused and included here. One last thing — you're supposed to apply black stickers to the upper portion of the rear binders, but since that area has a lot of curves, the stickers look pretty out of place, which is a bit of a shame.

All in all, this kit delivers a fresh new look through a large amount of new tooling, and the polycap-less structure gives it improved durability with a new frame. It's a clear step up in stability compared to the slightly loose feel of the previous HG Barbatos series. As long as you're careful with the C-joint neck part mentioned above, this is a pretty satisfying HG kit. :-)

HG Gundam Barbatos Adapt | 2026.5 | ¥2,200

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.