Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers + Panel lining

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra - The elongated Schuzrum Booster on its back makes it look like the center of gravity would tip backward,

The elongated Schuzrum Booster on its back makes it look like the center of gravity would tip backward,
but thankfully the hollow interior seems to keep it from affecting the kit's ability to stand upright at all. ^^

Detail shots

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra - The legs do have something you could loosely call a frame, but there's no real detail to it — it's just

The legs do have something you could loosely call a frame, but there's no real detail to it —
it's just there to serve as a skeleton.

You can swap between the elongated Schuzrum Booster and a standard backpack.

Articulation is just... average.

The thruster pods on the shoulders can move independently from the shoulder joints to a certain degree.

The shoulders are chunky, but they do allow for a bit of forward and backward movement.

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra - You can also pull off a kneeling firing pose. (1/3)

You can also pull off a kneeling firing pose.

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra - Beam saber action (1/3)

Beam saber action

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra - Aerial firing pose (1/4)

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra - Aerial firing pose (2/4)

Aerial firing pose

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra - Two-handed firing pose (1/4)

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra - Two-handed firing pose (2/4)

Two-handed firing pose

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra - Beam machine gun + beam saber pose (1/4)

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra - Beam machine gun + beam saber pose (2/4)

Beam machine gun + beam saber pose

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra - Together with the HGUC GP03. The Gerbera-Tetra was originally planned in the lore as the GP04G — the fou

Together with the HGUC GP03.
The Gerbera-Tetra was originally planned in the lore as the GP04G — the fourth unit of the Gundam Development Project.

The GP Project lineup is finally all together!

Straight build

The Gerbera-Tetra has finally made it to HGUC! It's one of my personal favorites from the 0083 series — a pretty unique mobile suit in its own right — so I always figured it'd get an MG or HGUC release eventually, but I think I ended up waiting well over 10 years for it.

For a bit of background, the Gerbera-Tetra was designated GP04G in the lore — originally planned as the fourth unit of the Gundam Development Project. There is actually a separate white, Gundam-style fourth unit as well, but through various circumstances along the way, it ended up appearing as the Gerbera-Tetra under the Delaz Fleet, only to be destroyed by the Dendrobium's skewer (...) attack.

At first glance, the design feels more rounded and Patlabor-esque than your typical Gundam-lineage mobile suit. Maybe because of that, there's occasionally a misconception that it was designed by Patlabor's Yutaka Izubuchi — but the Gerbera-Tetra's mechanical designer is actually Mika Akitaka. Either way, it does feel a bit out of place among the other 0083 mecha, which is another way of saying it's a pretty distinctive unit within the Gundam universe.

Anyway, this kit came out quite late — long after most of the other 0083 kits had already gotten their HGUC releases. But having actually built it, it doesn't really feel like a kit that benefited much from modern technology. That's not to say the quality is bad, but it's more like... a perfectly ordinary HGUC from a few years back. The only slightly unusual touch is the leg armor, which is split so cleverly that seam lines are completely hidden, along with the skeletal frame inside — but overall, this is a very straightforward, no-frills HGUC.

The detail is plain but solid, the articulation is neither great nor bad, and the sausage-colored molded color is just... fine (though honestly, I do wish it had come out a bit more red). One thing that is genuinely interesting, though: even with that massive Schuzrum Booster on its back, there's absolutely no problem keeping it balanced. It looks like it might struggle to even stand upright, but the booster is hollow and surprisingly light, and the modern polycaps give the joints enough strength to hold it all together.

In the end, this is an extremely normal kit — there's really nothing more to say about it beyond "the Gerbera-Tetra got an HGUC release." It honestly wouldn't feel out of place as a kit from 10 years ago. (;;;)
There are no big strengths and no big weaknesses here, but the unique design itself is what gives this kit its personality — so for old-school Universal Century fans like me, or fans of 0083, it'll probably be a nice little gift that brings back some nostalgic memories of 20th-century mecha romance. :-)

HGUC Gerbera-Tetra | 2013.7 | ¥2,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.