Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Detail shots

Outer armor removed

Internal frame

MG Dwadge - Frame detail shots. Quite a few things have been changed from the original MG Dom. (1/4)

MG Dwadge - Frame detail shots. Quite a few things have been changed from the original MG Dom. (2/4)

Frame detail shots.
Quite a few things have been changed from the original MG Dom.

The arms in particular have been completely redesigned from the internal frame all the way to the outer armor.

Frame articulation

A hip slide gimmick has been added that wasn't on the original MG Dom.

MG Dwadge - The hip joints have also been upgraded from ball joints to a side-swinging type. The problem is that the join

The hip joints have also been upgraded from ball joints to a side-swinging type.
The problem is that the joint locking pins in that area are incredibly stiff — they're a pain to assemble and hard to move,
and since they're made of PS rather than ABS, the pins can break easily.

MG Dwadge - The easiest way to fix this is to lightly sand the hip pins on both sides with a few passes of sandpaper befo

The easiest way to fix this is:
lightly sand the hip pins on both sides with a few passes of sandpaper before assembling.
If you don't have sandpaper, you can carefully shave them down a bit with a hobby knife — either way, assembly becomes much easier and movement gets a lot smoother.
If you just build it as-is without doing this, there's a 90% chance those locking pins will snap during posing..

MG Dwadge - The shoulders have also gained a forward/backward swing joint that wasn't on the MG Dom. This joint is just a

The shoulders have also gained a forward/backward swing joint that wasn't on the MG Dom.
This joint is just as stiff as the hip joints — tough to assemble and hard to move.

MG Dwadge - Same deal with the shoulder pivot pins — give them a few passes with sandpaper before assembling and everythi

Same deal with the shoulder pivot pins — give them a few passes with sandpaper before assembling,
and everything goes together much more smoothly and moves freely.

Waist articulation on the frame

The cockpit hatch opening and mono-eye rotation gimmicks are the same as the MG Dom.

Weapons loadout

The new-style Giant Bazooka.

MG Dwadge - Comparison shot with the original MG Dom's Giant Bazooka (top). The Dwadge version has the scope removed, and

Comparison shot with the original MG Dom's Giant Bazooka (top).
The Dwadge version has the scope removed, and to suppress barrel overheating in high-temperature environments,
a thermal jacket and smoke discharger have been added.

Another new weapon included is the Heat Tomahawk.

Individual finger articulation.

Each weapon has a locking pin on the grip, so the connection with the hand stays nice and secure.

Leftover parts

Improved articulation compared to the MG Dom

Upgraded hip and shoulder joints

The ankle joints have also been improved, allowing for more natural lateral tilting.

Giant Bazooka action

Heat Tomahawk action

Heat saber action

Together with the MG Dom.
The main body features redesigned shoulders, entire back, legs, and more.

MG Dwadge - Together with the vintage 1/144 Dwadge released in 1986. The old Dwadge kit is actually based on the Dwadge C

Together with the vintage 1/144 Dwadge released in 1986.
The old Dwadge kit is actually based on the Dwadge Custom design.

This kit is the MG Dwadge, released as a Club G (Premium Bandai) online exclusive. The Dwadge never even got an HG release after the old 1/144 kit back in 1986, so it's finally made it to MG. It's based on the 1999 MG Dom/Rick Dom at its core, but Bandai must have felt a bit guilty about reusing a 20-year-old kit structure wholesale — a good portion of the internal frame has been upgraded with new tooling.

Starting with the looks, the Dwadge's signature backpack, rear skirt, whip antenna, propellant tanks, and drop tanks are all faithfully reproduced. The newly tooled Giant Bazooka also turned out nicely, with the thermal jacket getting its own color separation. These design changes are a given, of course, but the real highlight of this kit is the changes to the frame and joint structure.

First off, the arms have been completely retooled from the internal frame to the outer armor, and the shoulder, hip, and ankle joints have all been renewed. The shoulders gained an internal joint that swings forward significantly, and the hip joints were upgraded from ball joints to a side-swinging type, along with the addition of a hip slide gimmick. Articulation is noticeably better as a result, but the shoulder and hip joints have a problem where the locking pins are way too stiff — they're hard to assemble and very uncomfortable to move after assembly.

Beyond just being difficult to assemble or pose, the stiff joints create a real risk of snapping the pivot pins. I actually broke mine on the hip joint without doing any modification first T_T. I moved the stiff hip joint up and down a couple of times with some force, and sure enough, it snapped clean inside.

Looking into the cause carefully, there's a design flaw where the locking pins fit way too tightly into their holes — and on top of that, they're made of PS instead of ABS, which makes things worse. It's a lot like the fragile hip pins on the MG Freedom Gundam 2.0: a joint under a lot of stress, but made of a softer material, so breakage is basically inevitable. That's why, as shown in the review above, sanding the shoulder and hip pins down with a few passes of sandpaper before assembly is pretty much mandatory — skip that step and there's about a 90% chance they'll snap during posing. (Apparently a huge number of people, myself included, have already broken theirs and are absolutely furious and heartbroken..)

On the plus side, individually articulated fingers are included for natural-looking hand poses, and the joint retention feels improved too — they don't pop out easily, which is a relief. Each weapon also has a grip peg for palm locking, so you shouldn't have to worry much about the kit dropping its weapons.

To sum it up, the Dwadge's distinctive look is well realized at MG quality, and the internal joints are overall improved over the MG Dom, allowing for more dynamic poses. As long as you sand down the shoulder and hip pins before assembly, there's really nothing to stress about in terms of articulation or stability. (Flip side: just build it straight out of the box and you're asking for trouble.)

Anyway, there are some design flaws in certain joints, but they're not hard to work around with a little bit of prep. If you're an old-school fan who's been waiting for a 1/100 scale Dwadge, this is definitely worth picking up. :-)

MG Dwadge | 2019.4 | ¥5,400

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.