Kit Review

Straight build
+ panel lining

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Upper body

Head

HGUC Delta Plus - Arms and weapon section (1/4)

HGUC Delta Plus - Arms and weapon section (2/4)

Arms and weapon section

Back section

HGUC Delta Plus - The legs. They look just like the Hyaku-Shiki. (1/4)

HGUC Delta Plus - The legs. They look just like the Hyaku-Shiki. (2/4)

HGUC Delta Plus - The legs. They look just like the Hyaku-Shiki. (3/4)

HGUC Delta Plus - The legs. They look just like the Hyaku-Shiki. (4/4)

Leg section.
They look just like the Hyaku-Shiki.

Inside the clear parts for the eyes, you can choose from three sticker colors — red, blue, or silver.

A standard set of 4 hands.

The rifle-holding hand even has a peg socket, so it locks in really securely.

Articulation feels neither bad nor great.
Pretty decent considering it's a transforming unit?

HGUC Delta Plus - Attack pose using the cannon inside the shield (1/4)

HGUC Delta Plus - Attack pose using the cannon inside the shield (2/4)

Attack pose using the cannon inside the shield

Aerial action

Rifle action

HGUC Delta Plus - Beam saber action (1/3)

Beam saber action

Transformation

To transform, you first need to detach the arms, legs, side skirts, rear wings, and so on.

Remove the rear skirt, then detach the side skirt mounting pieces.

Then split the shield into three pieces.

Dedicated parts for transforming into Waverider mode.

Looking at the underside of the Waverider's main body, you can see all sorts of locking mechanisms.

First, fix the top cover of the shield to the center...

Attach the shield and rear skirt together, then plug in the wings.

Detach the shoulder armor and fix it to the lower body, then

HGUC Delta Plus - Slide the Waverider shoulder armor in from the side. The transformation steps have to be done in the right

Slide the Waverider shoulder armor in from the side.
The transformation steps have to be done in the right order, or the assembly simply won't work — so be careful about the sequence.

Disassemble the legs piece by piece and rearrange them as shown on the right.

At this point, you'll need to swap out the heel parts for the transformation-specific parts.

Before and after transformation.

HGUC Delta Plus - Plug the transformed legs into both rear slots, then attach the side skirts you set aside earlier to the to

Plug the transformed legs into both rear slots,
then attach the side skirts you set aside earlier to the top.

Spread out all 4 wings and secure the rifle under the wings — transformation complete.

Parts left over after transforming into Waverider mode.

And here it is — the Delta Plus in Waverider mode.

Since it's a parts-swap transformation, everything fits together really snugly with no gaps.

Mounted on a stand

HGUC Delta Plus - Views from various angles. Slim and sleek! (1/6)

HGUC Delta Plus - Views from various angles. Slim and sleek! (2/6)

HGUC Delta Plus - Views from various angles. Slim and sleek! (3/6)

HGUC Delta Plus - Views from various angles. Slim and sleek! (4/6)

Various angles.
Slim and sleek!

Together with the HGUC Jestas, also transforming units.

Together with the HGUC Unicorns.

Together with the HGUC Zeta Gundam and Hyaku-Shiki.
It really does feel like a mix of those two.

Before we knew it, the HGUC Unicorn series has hit its 10th kit.
Quietly snuck up on us, hasn't it;; <

Straight build

The Delta Plus has been released as the 10th kit in the Mobile Suit Gundam UC lineup. This design — which feels like a blend of the Zeta Plus and the Hyaku-Shiki — is a classic Zeta Gundam-style transforming mech, and true to HGUC form, it offers a clean (?) parts-swap transformation.

The overall proportions are surprisingly slim for an HGUC kit — actually closer to MG territory. Stand another HGUC next to it and the difference in proportions is immediately obvious; it's got that MG feel to it. That's both a strength and a weakness, I think. It looks refined, but being a smaller scale, it can come across as a bit fragile...

The overall parts layout is very clean and well thought-out, as you'd expect from a modern HGUC kit, and the molded color — with a subtle hint of purple — came out nicely. For a 1/144 scale kit, there's a surprising amount of attention paid to color separation, and stickers are added in just the right spots to get as close to the official colors as possible.

With any transforming kit, durability is the first thing to check — but since this uses a parts-swap system, there's really no issue there. That said, parts that get detached and reattached frequently can sometimes have fitment issues; the rear wings feel a little loose, but overall the kit holds its shape remarkably well for a transformer. The polycap joints throughout the body also have excellent joint strength, so there's nothing to worry about on that front either.

The transformation works similarly to the HGUC Zeta and Jesta, using a dedicated Waverider torso piece along with various swap parts for each section. There's a lot of attaching and detaching involved, so it does take a bit of time to transform, but as expected from a parts-swap design, the fit in Waverider mode is excellent. The Jesta had a few parts that felt a bit wobbly, but the Delta Plus Waverider is super slim and sleek while still feeling rock-solid all around. It's honestly the most stable transformer I've seen in the parts-swap lineup, both before and after transformation.

Honestly, this unit feels more at home in Gundam Sentinel than in Mobile Suit Gundam UC... but it's great to live in an era where interesting kits like this get the HGUC treatment. ^^ Now that the Delta Plus is out, it feels like it's about time for a Hyaku-Shiki 2.0 or a Zeta Plus too. If you're into Sentinel-style designs, the Zeta Gundam series, or transforming kits in general, this is one I'd highly recommend. :-)

HGUC Delta Plus | 2010.9 | ¥2,200

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.