Kit Review

Straight build + panel lining + stickers/seals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Upper body and head

Backpack

HGUC Dra-C - Arms and shoulders. The red parts are handled with stickers, so it's a bit mismatched... but still, it's better

Arms and shoulders.
The red parts are handled with stickers, so it's a bit mismatched...
But still, it's better than having no color accent at all.

The elongated propellant tanks in place of legs.

Detail on the rear of the propellant tanks

The gatling gun detail feels like an HGUC kit from exactly 10 years ago.

HGUC Dra-C - You can choose to build either the triple-barrel 40mm vulcan or the standard arm. It's not a swap-out system — y

You can choose to build either the triple-barrel 40mm vulcan or the standard arm.
It's not a swap-out system — you have to disassemble and reassemble.

HGUC Dra-C - Articulation. The arms only bend about 90 degrees, but the propellant tanks swing forward and back quite a bit,

Articulation.
The arms only bend about 90 degrees, but the propellant tanks swing forward and back quite a bit, just like legs.

Side-to-side range of motion for the propellant tanks

The backpack wings also move up and down quite a bit.

Forward/backward range of motion for the shoulders

Some of the stand parts are left over as leftover parts.

Action pose with the beam saber mounted on the shield

HGUC Dra-C - Vulcan and beam saber action (1/4)

HGUC Dra-C - Vulcan and beam saber action (2/4)

Vulcan and beam saber action

Vulcan and beam saber action 2

Gatling gun action

Together with the 0083 Delaz Fleet HGUC kits.

Together with the HGUC Zaku II F2 Zeon version.

HGUC Dra-C - The Zaku II F2 can also make use of the Dra-C's gatling gun. (1/3)

The Zaku II F2 can also make use of the Dra-C's gatling gun.

Straight build

The Dra-C from 0083 — a kit that seemed like it would never get an injection-molded release — has finally made it out as an HGUC. It's probably because a pink Unicorn version of the Dra-C appears in Mobile Suit Gundam UC, and the 0083 version got to tag along as a bonus. Either way, I'm pretty grateful that the Unicorn anime has been bringing a lot of classic suits back into production.

The Dra-C is a tragic machine from 0083, cobbled together by the Delaz Fleet as a stopgap measure — propellant tanks bolted on in place of legs. It's more of a cannon fodder side character, but it has a pretty distinctive design, and up until now the only way to get one was through a resin kit. So just having it released as a proper retail kit is something to be thankful for. ^^

The Dra-C's right arm can be built as either a standard arm or a triple-barrel 40mm vulcan — your choice — though it's not a quick-swap system and requires disassembly and reassembly to switch. The beam saber fixed to the shield is nicely reproduced as well, and while the verniers on those massive shoulder pads are done with stickers, at least the color is represented. Overall the contents aren't bad.

That said, the overall quality you feel in your hands while building this kit isn't quite as high as you'd expect. It's hard to put into words, but it feels like one of those early HGUC kits from about ten years ago. The parts breakdown is simple, the joint strength isn't loose exactly, but there's no real tightness to it overall, and the detail is a bit soft. It's an all-new mold — not recycled parts from an older HGUC — and yet it gives off this distinctly old-school feel, which is a bit puzzling. On top of that, the kit is priced at ¥2000, which feels a little steep for what you get.

In the end, the kit quality is neither great nor terrible — it has a bit of an old-school feel to it — but it's the kind of kit where you're just glad it exists at all. The design itself is so unique that it's going to be a love-it-or-hate-it thing, so it seems like the type of kit that'll sell in small numbers, mainly to longtime fans. ^^;

And here's an interesting twist: this blue 0083 version of the Dra-C got a standard HGUC release... but the pink Unicorn version that actually triggered this kit's production in the first place is apparently coming out as a limited edition. That's a bit of a strange merchandising decision, isn't it..;;

HGUC Dra-C | 2011.11 | ¥2,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.