Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Along with Balgray, a Debakke is included as a bonus.

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Multi-level mobile carrier Balgray. (1/4)

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Multi-level mobile carrier Balgray. (2/4)

Multi-level mobile carrier Balgray.

As you can see, only the bottom level is open front and back.

Balgray's defining feature is the W-shaped pointed tips of the launch deck.

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Everything except the deck tips is 100% identical in structure to the Lambea. (1

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Everything except the deck tips is 100% identical in structure to the Lambea. (2

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Everything except the deck tips is 100% identical in structure to the Lambea. (3

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Everything except the deck tips is 100% identical in structure to the Lambea. (4

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Everything except the deck tips is 100% identical in structure to the Lambea. (5

Everything except the deck tips is 100% identical in structure to the Lambea.

Underside view

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Underside detail (1/3)

Underside detail

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Just like the Lambea, 21 Snukas and 21 Debakkes are included as carrier-based ai

Just like the Lambea, 21 Snukas and 21 Debakkes are included as carrier-based aircraft.
The only difference from the Lambea is the molded color.

Carrier aircraft lined up on the deck

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - A multi-level mobile carrier just isn't complete without the carrier aircraft on

A multi-level mobile carrier just isn't complete without the carrier aircraft on deck!

Next up is the Debakke included as a bonus.

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Various angles (1/4)

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Various angles (2/4)

Various angles

Underside view

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - The underside of the stand has a storage slot for the cover of the stand mountin

The underside of the stand has a storage slot for the cover of the stand mounting hole on the Debakke's underside.

Together with the small 1/1000 scale Debakke.

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray - Together with the Lambea released just before it. As you can see, they're sister

Together with the Lambea released just before it.
As you can see, they're sister ships that differ only in the shape of the deck tips.

Together with the Snuka that came with the Lambea.

Balgray has arrived as the second entry in the three-part multi-level mobile carrier series — an ambitious addition to the Yamato 2199 carrier lineup. As you can see in the review photos above, aside from the deck tips, the rest of the hull is 100% identical to the Lambea by design. I actually noticed it right from the start when building the Lambea — the parts layout was clearly designed so that only the deck tip section could be swapped out in different shapes.

The W-shaped pointed deck tips give it a slightly more stylish look — something that feels more aggressive and powerful, if you know what I mean. And with the hull painted in a traditional olive drab color (!!), it comes across as more weapon-like compared to the purple Lambea.

One interesting thing to note: both the Lambea and Balgray are canonically the same length at 410 meters, but with Balgray's deck swapped out for the pointed parts, the kit actually ends up a bit longer. A little more care could've kept the scale consistent, but since this is sci-fi, it seems like they didn't worry too much about strict accuracy..

Following the Lambea which included a Snuka as a bonus, Balgray comes with a Debakke — and it's nicely done with clean, solid detail. On top of that, 21 Snukas and 21 Debakkes are included just like before, so you can display them lined up across the deck.

Overall, just like the Lambea, there's a real satisfaction to building it layer by layer — like stacking floors of a building — and the intricate, finely detailed parts make it a visually rewarding kit. Add in the unique concept of a multi-level mobile carrier, and if you're into this kind of mecha or you're a Yamato 2199 fan, you're probably going to want to collect all three in the series. :-)

1/1000 Yamato 2199 Guipellon Class Balgray | 2014. 2 | ¥6,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.