Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining

The universal standard for size comparison — the cigarette box. It's on the small side. ^^

HGUC Gundam GP01 - Upper body close-up. The part detail is excellent overall. The head detail in particular is really nice. T

Upper body close-up. The part detail is excellent overall. The head detail in particular is really nice.
The V on the chest is supposed to be yellow, but there's no color separation or sticker for it, so I just left it as-is. ^^;

HGUC Gundam GP01 - Articulation is... about the standard 90 degrees. Nothing special, but the joints are stiff enough that po

Articulation is... about the standard 90 degrees. Nothing special, but the joints are stiff enough that poses hold really well.

Action pose. The ankle angle is a bit restricted by the structure, but still.

Action pose with the included 90mm machine gun equipped.

Beam saber action pose.

The separately included Core Fighter. The detail is impressive for the scale.

GP01 and its Core Fighter.

Size comparison with the standard RX-78. Just a little bigger.

HGUC Gundam GP01 - Comparison with the MG GP01. Compared to the MG which has a slightly bluish tint, the molded color here co

Comparison with the MG GP01. Compared to the MG which has a slightly bluish tint, the molded color here comes out as a pure white.
Different scales, but the detail is nearly identical.

Straight build photo before panel lining.

Core Fighter in straight build state.

With the 0083 series joining the HGUC lineup, the first release kicks things off with the main character's unit, the GP01. The old 0083 kits had a notorious reputation for terrible proportions despite the anime's popularity — but Bandai seems to have made up for that with this highly refined GP01 in 1/144 scale. ^^

First off, the detail on each part is impressive for the size. Compared to the MG GP01, it feels like almost nothing has been left out despite the smaller scale. The GP01 already has a lot of panel lines and a surprisingly complex color scheme, and the color separation nails the design colors at least 95% of the way. The one exception is the yellow V on the chest — there's no part separation or sticker for it, so I just did panel lining there. ^^;

Joint articulation is around the standard 90-degree range — nothing special. But unlike the MG GP01, which got a lot of complaints for loose joints, this one has noticeably stiff joints, making it really easy to hold poses. That said, a few spots are loose and a bit frustrating. The beam saber mount on the backpack is quite loose and keeps flopping forward and backward, and the neck joint also feels a little too loose.

Also, the red stickers that go into the grooves on the knees just wouldn't stick properly. -_-; Technically you're supposed to apply them all the way down to the top of the foot, but regardless, the adhesive is way too weak and they don't fit snugly into the grooves — so as you can see in the photos, I just handled it with black panel lining instead. Honestly, doing some painting or just going with panel lining beats dealing with floppy, peeling stickers any day.

The GP01's design style — well, actually, the Gundams in 0083 in general have an unusually high number of panel lines. That means there's a lot more surface area to panel line. This cuts both ways: done well, panel lining gives it a really sharp, refined look — but without it, a straight build can feel surprisingly bare and lose that original feel. Unlike other kits, the 0083 series really benefits from panel lining. (You can see the difference yourself by comparing the before and after photos.)

For weapons, in addition to the beam rifle, you get a 90mm machine gun and a beam saber, plus a dedicated hand for holding the rifle — but the beam rifle doesn't lock into that hand properly and keeps slipping out. Ugh. The machine gun holds fine, though.

Anyway, while a few joints are on the weak side, the overall detail, proportions, and precision put this kit at the top of the 1/144 scale class — it's a really tight, well-crafted little kit. It's one of those HGUCs where you might actually feel it edges out the MG. ^^

HGUC Gundam GP01 | 2000.8 | ¥1,200

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.