Kit Review

Straight build + seals/waterslide decals

MG Gundam Mk-V - Size comparison with a cigarette pack. Since the left arm's shield is heavy, there's no avoiding the bod

Size comparison with a cigarette pack
Since the left arm's shield is heavy, there's no avoiding the body leaning slightly to the left when viewed from the front.

MG Gundam Mk-V - Detail close-ups. The white areas on the body are achieved through 100% color separation with no seals n

Detail shots.
The white areas on the body are achieved through 100% color separation with no seals needed.
(Only the D-shaped marking on the left leg uses a waterslide decal)

Outer armor removed

Inner frame shot

MG Gundam Mk-V - Frame detail close-ups. The molding and sense of depth on the full-body frame are quite solid. (1/4)

MG Gundam Mk-V - Frame detail close-ups. The molding and sense of depth on the full-body frame are quite solid. (2/4)

MG Gundam Mk-V - Frame detail close-ups. The molding and sense of depth on the full-body frame are quite solid. (3/4)

MG Gundam Mk-V - Frame detail close-ups. The molding and sense of depth on the full-body frame are quite solid. (4/4)

Frame detail shots.
The molding and sense of depth on the full-body frame are quite solid.

The backpack's inner frame

Separate detail parts are provided on the inside of the shoulder, front skirt, and side calf armor.

Most of the other armor pieces have no molding on the inside.

MG Gundam Mk-V - Oddly enough, only the leg and side skirt armor interiors have a little bit of molding. (Feels like they

Oddly enough, only the leg and side skirt armor interiors have a little bit of molding.
(Feels like they started and then gave up??)

Frame articulation

The legs spread out quite a bit to the sides.

MG Gundam Mk-V - The shoulder joint structure bends a generous 90 degrees upward and 90 degrees forward, though the range

The shoulder joint structure bends a generous 90 degrees upward and 90 degrees forward,
though the range of motion drops significantly once the armor is on.

MG Gundam Mk-V - At the waist, there's a joint that lets the chest section hinge downward around the central cylinder of

At the waist, there's a joint that lets the chest section hinge downward around the central cylinder of the upper body,
so the torso can lean forward quite a bit.

MG Gundam Mk-V - When you bend the knee back, there's a linked gimmick where the rear verniers fold further toward the le

When you bend the knee back, there's a linked gimmick where the rear verniers fold further toward the leg to maximize the range of motion.

A comfortable kneeling pose.

A deep squat pose — haven't seen one of these in a while!

Opening the cockpit hatch

Weapons loadout

The body with all weapons removed

A beam rifle with clean, solid sculpting

MG Gundam Mk-V - The shield looks chunky and cool, but the surface area is so narrow it doesn't seem like it'd actually b

The shield looks chunky and cool, but the surface area is so narrow it doesn't seem like it'd actually block much.
The white sections along the shield's sides are neatly color-separated too.

The shield can also be mounted on the center of the backpack.

The missile pod's movement and hatch-open gimmick

MG Gundam Mk-V - The missile pod can be detached from the shoulder, and when not in use, the armor can be closed up neatl

The missile pod can be detached from the shoulder, and when not in use, the armor can be closed up neatly as shown on the right.

The backpack houses 2 incom units,
and you can recreate a launch scene using the 2 included wire parts.

Arranging the backpack as shown above lets you recreate cannon mode.

MG Gundam Mk-V - You get a set of swappable hands that can accommodate three different finger configurations, plus one ad

You get a set of swappable hands that can accommodate three different finger configurations, plus one additional solid fist.

MG Gundam Mk-V - The connection between the internal pin on the swappable hand and the weapon's peg hole is extremely sol

The connection between the internal pin on the swappable hand and the weapon's peg hole is extremely solid.

The included stand joint parts lock firmly into the back of the hip joint via a horizontal slide.

The only leftover parts are 2 spare head antennas.
Handy to have around in case you lose or break one.

Excellent limb articulation.
The hip joint swings all the way up to chest level.

The side skirts can be spread outward to avoid interference when raising the thighs.

MG Gundam Mk-V - The front skirts are connected via a two-stage joint part on a ball joint, giving them an almost excessi

The front skirts are connected via a two-stage joint part on a ball joint,
giving them an almost excessively(?) wide and flexible range of motion.

MG Gundam Mk-V - The thruster gimmick on the sides of the calves can be spread out slightly to the sides, minimizing inte

The thruster gimmick on the sides of the calves can be spread out slightly to the sides,
minimizing interference when bending the knee deeply.

MG Gundam Mk-V - The shoulder joints that showed an impressive range of motion on the bare frame end up being quite restr

The shoulder joints that showed an impressive range of motion on the bare frame
end up being quite restricted by the armor.

Using the rounded waist section as a pivot, the upper chest armor can be tilted forward quite a bit.

The beam saber mount and backpack can also be positioned freely.

Movement of the tail section below the backpack

MG Gundam Mk-V - Poses on the stand. The body is big and heavy, but the stand joint parts hold it firmly so it feels very

Poses on the stand.
The body is big and heavy, but the stand joint parts hold it firmly so it feels very stable.

MG Gundam Mk-V - Incom launch pose. The wires are actually longer by default, but they felt too floppy and dangly, so I c

Incom launch pose.
The wires are actually longer by default, but they felt too floppy and dangly, so I cut them down to about 1/3 of their original length.

MG Gundam Mk-V - Incom launch + beam rifle firing pose (1/4)

MG Gundam Mk-V - Incom launch + beam rifle firing pose (2/4)

Incom launch + beam rifle firing pose

Beam saber poses

Cannon mode pose

MG Gundam Mk-V - Size comparison with the MG Gundam Mk-II v2.0. With a design height of 25 meters, it's a seriously impos

Size comparison with the MG Gundam Mk-II v2.0.
With a design height of 25 meters, it's a seriously imposing kit even at 1/100 scale.

Alongside the MG Ex-S Gundam.
The body size isn't far behind at all.

This kit is the MG Gundam Mk-V, released as a Club G (Premium Bandai) online exclusive. As the main unit from Gundam Sentinel, there are probably plenty of old-school fans out there going "It took THIS long to finally get a kit of this?!" It seems like it could've done just fine as a regular retail release, but somehow it ended up as an online exclusive. Given the nature of the unit, it's actually more of a RE/100-type item than an MG, but apparently Bandai initially had RE/100 in mind during early planning before deciding to go the MG route to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Sentinel.

It came out through Club G, but the packaging — with a full-color box and color manual — feels very much like a standard retail release. There's been a lot of debate over why this ended up as a Club G exclusive, though it's also the kind of kit where you think "well, at least it got made at all." That said, for ¥8,000, the box is smaller than you'd expect and the parts count doesn't look all that impressive either. If it had been a regular release, ¥5,500–6,000 would've felt about right for the volume you're getting. It's hard to shake the suspicion that the price got inflated along with the decision to make it an online exclusive.

Whatever the backstory, MG is MG! Building it yourself, you can definitely feel that MG-worthy quality. The large, imposing frame befitting its 25-meter design height, the well-sculpted full-body inner frame, and the impressive color separation all stand out. In particular, I expected the white sections on the shield and various parts of the body to be handled with seals, but nope — from head to toe, it's all done through perfect parts separation. Since the parts themselves are on the larger side, clean color separation was probably more achievable, and that makes the building process all the more enjoyable.

With a big kit like this, durability is usually the biggest concern — but that's been handled brilliantly here. The joints throughout the body hold with a smooth yet "solid" firmness, keeping everything locked in place whether it's standing upright or holding any pose. The swappable fingers also have weapon-locking pins, so there's absolutely no grip issue when holding the beam rifle or beam saber. The stand joint parts also press-fit horizontally into the hip joint nice and tight, so there's no worry at all about putting it on an Action Base for aerial poses. Personally, this was my biggest concern given the large and heavy build, but I was able to pull off all kinds of stable aerial poses without any trouble.

In terms of articulation, the front skirts move so freely you almost wonder if that's intentional, and the side skirts can spread outward too, giving the hip joints a nearly 180-degree range of free movement. In many ways, despite the large frame, this kit strikes a great balance between wide articulation and solid durability — it really feels like a textbook example of how a large action-figure-style plastic model should be done.

On the accessories side, you get the signature incom launch gimmick along with wire parts to pull it off, which opens up some more dynamic posing options. That said, the wires do tend to droop a bit over time and shake around with even the slightest vibration, so in my case I cut them down to about 1/3 of their length for a more stable look. As for decals, being a Club G release it only comes with waterslide decals — but the quantity isn't huge, so taking your time over 2–3 hours is more than enough to get them all on. (Compared to Ver.Ka decals, it's practically nothing.) I don't usually bother with decals on limited releases, but since the quantity was small and this is a 100% new-tooled kit, I made an exception this time.

All in all, this is a kit that delivers in a very MG-worthy way, and the standout merit is how solid and stable it feels from head to toe despite its large and heavy build. The clean 100% color-separated white accent colors are also worth praising. The price does feel a little steep relative to what you get in the box, which is a bit of a shame — but it still feels like you're getting your money's worth. If this had been a standard retail MG release, it would've scored quite highly — it's a model-example of a large-scale MG kit. :-)

MG Gundam Mk-V | 2021.4 | ¥8,400

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.