Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Decals

RE/100 Nightingale - Size comparison with a cigarette pack. This thing is absolutely massive.. Both the width and depth are a

Size comparison with a cigarette pack.
This thing is absolutely massive.. Both the width and depth are around 40–45cm.

Grabbed it with an adult hand to give you a sense of the scale (of all the places to grab it..)

Detail shots

All the verniers have separate color separation, which makes the rear view even more impressive.

Inside and outside views of the massive funnel binders

RE/100 Nightingale - The funnel binders simply plug into holes, so they can only rotate — you can't adjust the angle up or do

The funnel binders simply plug into holes, so they can only rotate — you can't adjust the angle up or down.
It's actually a smart connection design from a durability standpoint, and thanks to that, they don't droop down.

Five funnels on each side can be detached.

RE/100 Nightingale - The shoulder verniers also skip any articulation and just plug straight into the body to stay fixed. Thi

The shoulder verniers also skip any articulation and just plug straight into the body to stay fixed.
This is another aspect that shows the RE/100 series concept,
it seems like they're prioritizing durability over forcing in articulation gimmicks.

Nicely detailed underside of the feet (and they're huge too)

Surprisingly decent detail on the inside of the skirt armor.

RE/100 Nightingale - The sub-arms attached inside the front skirt are also just sculpted in for looks — there's absolutely no

The sub-arms attached inside the front skirt are also
just sculpted in for looks — there's absolutely no articulation.
It's clearly a different approach from MG kits.

The shield and rifle. The rifle is incredibly long too..

Inside detail of the shield.

You can remove the neck section and install a separately sold LED unit.

The eyes are so small that the light-up effect is barely noticeable..

These beam parts are carried over directly from the existing Sinanju.

The beam parts attach like this.

Two vernier leftover parts remain.

RE/100 Nightingale - Articulation. As you can see, articulation isn't really a priority here, and on top of that the polycap

Articulation.
As you can see, articulation isn't really a priority here,
and on top of that the polycap joints are too weak for how big and heavy this thing is, so it's hard to pose..

RE/100 Nightingale - The inner support bracket angle can be adjusted along with the skirt armor movement, so at least there's

The inner support bracket angle can be adjusted along with the skirt armor movement,
so at least there's no real trouble getting it to stand in display mode.

The toe sections(?) on either side of the feet also have some articulation.

RE/100 Nightingale - The hands are the same fully articulated one-piece molded hands as the MG Sazabi Ver.Ka, though they loo

The hands are the same fully articulated one-piece molded hands as the MG Sazabi Ver.Ka,
though they look a bit too small compared to the overall size of the kit..
The good news, though, is that the grip on the weapons is really solid.

RE/100 Nightingale - One thing — probably because the polycaps used at the hip joints are too small, the hips pop out for no

One thing — probably because the polycaps used at the hip joints are too small,
the hips pop out for no reason T_T
It's fine when you just leave it standing still, but the moment you pick it up by the torso or try to pose it, the joints dislocate easily.

The shoulder joints use the same polycaps, and they also tend to pop out during posing.

RE/100 Nightingale - Rifle action poses (one of the shoulder funnels made a break for it during the shoot — just roll with it

Rifle action poses
(one of the shoulder funnels made a break for it during the shoot — just roll with it ;;;)

Beam tomahawk action poses

Further action poses omitted
(Getting it into poses is seriously a pain -_-)

Alongside the MG Sazabi Ver.Ka.
The Nightingale makes even that big beast look compact..

RE/100 Nightingale - One shot with the MG Hi-Nu Ver.Ka as well. The Hi-Nu was already a pretty chunky guy, but standing next

One shot with the MG Hi-Nu Ver.Ka as well.
The Hi-Nu was already a pretty chunky guy, but standing next to the Nightingale.... ;;;

Straight build

2014 has been overflowing with new experiments from Bandai, and this time they went ahead and created a brand-new grade that never existed before — the RE/100 series. The concept behind RE/100 is to take 1/100 scale MS units that would be too much of a stretch to release as MG kits, skip the inner frame, and put out a product that focuses purely on nailing the exterior detail. And the first pick for this lineup was, surprisingly, the Nightingale.

The Nightingale had always been known for its grotesque design, famous mainly as a resin kit or a scratch-build subject for hardcore fans, so nobody could have imagined it getting an official plastic model release — let alone at this kind of scale. Given how massive it is in the lore, I figured if it ever did come out it might be a 1/144 at best, but good lord. 1/100!!!!

Sure enough, it came in a massive box the same size as the MG Sazabi Ver.Ka, and as I built it piece by piece, the sheer presence of this beast was a whole new kind of culture shock. Sure, there have been other oversized kits recently like the giant Yamato battleship or the 1/144 Neo Zeong, but unlike the Neo Zeong which felt more like a giant architectural structure(?), the Nightingale actually feels like you're building a "Gundam plastic model" — and that makes all the difference.

As you can see in the comparison photos in the review above, this kit completely fills up my mini photo studio which is over 50cm wide. The left-to-right width looks to be around 45cm or so, but what's even more absurd is that with the rifle attached, the front-to-back depth comes out to a similar 40cm or more. It's an absolutely monstrous size — the problem being that it's too big to fit in any display case I own ㅡ,.ㅡ

Anyway, building the Nightingale really helped me understand the RE/100 concept. The idea seems to be: take rare units that would be nearly impossible to release as MG kits, produce them in a large 1/100 scale, but strip out the inner frame and all the detailed mechanical gimmicks, and just focus on making the exterior look great. At least for everything visible on the outside, the goal is to deliver MG-level color separation and detail — and honestly, it's a brilliant concept. ^^

Because there's no mechanical inner frame and you're basically just attaching parts to a simple skeleton, the build process has a simple, HG-like feel to it — which gives it a uniquely fun building experience all its own. But above all, the massive presence you feel once it's finished is more impressive than any MG kit out there.. It's genuinely moving to think that a super-giant unit like this has come out in 1/100 with MG-level exterior detail.

That said, given the enormous size, the polycaps used are just too small, so joint strength isn't great.. The shoulders and hips in particular can't even support their own weight when you just pick it up and move it — joints pop out, and every time you try to get an action pose going, something keeps escaping, which is incredibly frustrating. On the flip side, if you just leave it standing still in display mode, there's no problem at all. The connections just can't hold up to the size and weight when you try to move or reposition it. And yet, oddly enough, the grip between the hands and the rifle is excellent. So excellent, in fact, that the rifle weight is what ends up popping the shoulder out ;;;;

So while a horizontal firing pose with the giant rifle is out of the question thanks to the weak shoulder joints, once you get it into a pose it does hold reasonably well. The hip joints that just slip out on their own for no apparent reason are a bit of a headache though -_- The saving grace is that the giant funnel binders — which would be the biggest problem — have no articulation gimmick at all so they never droop, and the shoulder verniers are fixed from the start, so the proportions don't fall apart easily.

All of this — boldly omitting articulation in favor of proportions unlike MG kits, sculpting the sub-arms inside the front skirt purely for looks with zero articulation, and even leaving out a cockpit hatch gimmick despite the massive size — clearly shows what RE/100 is going for. In a word, "Just build it quick and easy, and as long as it looks great, that's enough!"That's the cool, no-nonsense concept. On the exterior detail front, the panel lining actually took longer than the assembly itself — that's how much attention went into the looks. With a decent amount of seals included too, the appearance alone isn't far behind an MG at all.

Personally, I think this is a very welcome and exciting lineup. The idea that we can get popular units from side-story series — not just mainline anime suits — through RE/100 is something to look forward to. Being able to build the massive Nightingale in my lifetime was genuinely moving in its own way. And since there's no inner frame so it's easy to build, yet the exterior color separation and detail are MG-grade, this might actually be the most crowd-pleasing setup out there.

If you've always had a thing for the Nightingale, this is obviously a must-buy, and if you just want an easy build with a jaw-dropping result, it's highly recommended. Sure, the joint strength issues make dynamic poses tough, but this is the kind of kit that radiates an incredible presence just standing there doing nothing, so all is forgiven. If there's one major problem with this kit, it's probably that the sheer size of the thing means there's nowhere to store or display it :-)

RE/100 Nightingale | 2014. 9 | ¥8,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.