Kit Review

Straight build
+ panel lining + stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack.
Pretty impressive presence for a 1/144, I'd say.

Upper body

The gold foil stickers on the torso.
Similar to the MG, but the reflective sheen makes them look a bit cheap;;

Head

Arm section

HGUC Sinanju - The gold foil stickers on the shield — if you look closely, the lower gold band has curled inward. That's what

The gold foil stickers on the shield.
If you look closely, the lower gold band has curled inward.
That's what happens when you apply the sticker first and then attach the black parts. T_T
I'd recommend attaching the black parts first, then applying the gold band sticker.

HGUC Sinanju - Backpack detail shot (1/4)

HGUC Sinanju - Backpack detail shot (2/4)

Backpack detail shot

Legs

Not quite MG-level, but still great volume.

The gold foil stickers on the knees.
They're designed so you can apply them pretty cleanly.

The feet are relatively small, so the ground contact isn't great.

During assembly, both the front and rear skirts can be cut and separated for individual articulation.

The inside of the shield looks decent too.

There are separate beam axes — one for holding in the hand and one for mounting on the shield.

The beam parts configuration is the same as the MG.

The grenade launcher can also be detached and mounted on the beam rifle.

Beam rifle with grenade launcher attached.

However, due to the structure, the grenade launcher cannot be held in the hand.

The beam rifle locks into the palm via a peg,
so there are zero grip issues. Super solid!

Included are fist hands, two sets of beam saber grip hands, and a rifle grip hand.

You can also swap out the rear skirt part to mount the beam rifle.

HGUC Sinanju - Articulation isn't all that great. The knee bend in particular is basically fixed at around 90 degrees — you c

Articulation isn't all that great.
The knee bend in particular is basically fixed at around 90 degrees,
though you can get a little more range by slightly pulling out the polycap joint.

The forward/backward range of motion on the shoulders is about this much.

The backpack moves pretty freely.

HGUC Sinanju - The opening gimmick on the top and bottom of the backpack is also reproduced. It doesn't link together like on

The opening gimmick on the top and bottom of the backpack is also reproduced.
It doesn't link together like on the MG though.

The rotation of the verniers on the sides of the calves is also reproduced.

HGUC Sinanju - Beam axe action poses. Ground-based action poses are somewhat limited. (1/3)

Beam axe action poses.
Ground-based action poses are somewhat limited.

HGUC Sinanju - Launch po~ses using the Action Base 2. (1/5)

HGUC Sinanju - Launch po~ses using the Action Base 2. (2/5)

HGUC Sinanju - Launch po~ses using the Action Base 2. (3/5)

Launch po~ses using the Action Base 2.

Firing pose

HGUC Sinanju - Shield beam parts + beam saber action poses (1/4)

HGUC Sinanju - Shield beam parts + beam saber action poses (2/4)

Shield beam parts + beam saber action poses

HGUC Sinanju - Double-bladed beam axe action poses. Pretty much everything you can do with the MG, you can do here too. (1/3)

Double-bladed beam axe action poses.
Pretty much everything you can do with the MG, you can do here too.

Together with the MG Sinanju.
The HGUC Sinanju is a masterpiece too!

Together with the HGUC Unicorns.
The Sinanju's presence still dominates.

Compared to the HGUC First, it almost feels like you're comparing a 1/144 to a 1/100.

Straight build

The best always saves itself for last. If there's one mecha that stole the show in Gundam UC, it's not the Unicorn — it's the Sinanju. And sure enough, it made its grand debut only after pretty much every other suit had already gotten the HGUC treatment. Following the MG Sinanju, which blew everyone away with its revolutionary quality that felt like Bandai had thrown every trick in the book at it, the HGUC Sinanju has also arrived at a level that's clearly a cut above other HGUCs. ^^

First off, on the all-important proportions front — while it doesn't quite match the MG's sheer presence, the overall balance and style feel like the absolute best you could squeeze out of a 1/144. At a glance, the proportions are so golden that it's almost hard to tell it apart from the MG in photos, and the gorgeous curvy design has been captured really well.

The parts layout and build experience also feel less like a typical HGUC and more like an MG without the frame — it's a really satisfying build. The gold foil stickers, which were a talking point on the MG, are a bit more sparkly and look slightly cheaper here — probably because it's HGUC grade — but given the scale, it's still a reasonable level of quality. If anything, they're actually designed to be a bit easier to apply than on the MG, so you can get a pretty clean result without having to do a lot of trimming, which is actually a plus.

The overall weapons loadout and functionality are reproduced almost identically to the MG — the only thing you can't do is hold the grenade launcher (which was attached to the shield) in the hand, but everything else is fully recreatable. Articulation-wise, it's about average for an HGUC compared to the MG, but since the suit itself is so flashy and voluminous, the action poses don't feel all that lacking in dynamism. Also, being smaller than the MG actually means the joint strength is much more stable, making it a lot easier to hold poses, and the grip is rock solid — which is definitely a point in favor of the HGUC grade.

My one complaint is the feet. They're tiny — almost dainty — compared to the overall bulk of the kit, and even compared to the MG. The ankle joints also feel a little loose, so it's not quite as stable standing on a flat surface as a typical HGUC. It's not like it'll topple over easily, but one of the big advantages of a smaller scale is supposed to be "easy to stand up," and that's a bit diminished here, which is a shame.

All in all, this is about as good as it gets for an HGUC, and it's more than satisfying when you factor in the scale. The price is up there with old-school MG territory, but the content and quality genuinely feel like building a recent MG, so it's well worth it. (The build time is MG-level too, for that matter.) Either way, it's pretty clear that Katoki and the Bandai development team have a special place in their hearts for the Sinanju. :-)

HGUC Sinanju | 2010.10 | ¥2,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.