Kit Review

Straight build +
panel lining

Size comparison with a cigarette pack. This is one of the big boys among HGUC kits~!

Close-up of the upper body front. Excellent color separation.

HGUC Palace-Athene - The legs. The long yellow stripe running down the middle of each leg is handled entirely with seals, but

The legs. The long yellow stripe running down the middle of each leg is handled entirely with seals.
They blend in really well with almost no sense of disconnect.
If you do panel lining along both edges of the yellow stripe like in the photo above, it gives an even crisper look. ^^

The yellow sections on the structures beside the beam gun are also handled neatly with seals.

HGUC Palace-Athene - The yellow areas on the ankle section use seals instead of color separation. The seals themselves look q

The yellow areas on the ankle section use seals instead of color separation.
The seals themselves look quite clean, but there's a slight color mismatch compared to the other yellow parts.

The body has soft flexible pipes reproduced in three places — the neck, waist, and arms.

HGUC Palace-Athene - These flexible pipes are very soft, so when you move the neck and waist, they bend naturally just like i

These flexible pipes are very soft, so when you move the neck and waist, they bend naturally just like in the photo above
and flex naturally.

Three hand parts included. Feels a little light considering the recent trend with HGUC kits..

HGUC Palace-Athene - The shield attaches by sliding in from the top, just like recent kits. You can lock the shield in two di

The shield attaches by sliding in from the top, just like recent kits.
You can lock the shield in two different orientations.

All of the large missiles on the back can be detached like that.

HGUC Palace-Athene - Articulation is average. Since there's no skirt armor, the knees can bend up quite a lot — that's a nice

Articulation is average. Since there's no skirt armor, the knees can bend up quite a lot — that's a nice feature.

The shoulders can move forward and back to a reasonable degree. However, they don't move up and down.

The large missile mounts on the backpack can also be articulated like that.

They also move through a pretty wide range front to back.

Folding the missiles back looks cool too. ^^

HGUC Palace-Athene - The ankles are more flexible than they look, so even at odd angles the kit tends to stay grounded pretty

The ankles are more flexible than they look, so even at odd angles the kit tends to stay grounded pretty well.

Action pose. I forgot and shot it with the left foot claw sticking up — just let it slide.. ^^;;

Beam saber action. For a kit this big, the beam saber feels... kinda short. ^^;;;

HGUC Palace-Athene - There's a stand mount on the backside.. it's normally covered with a cap, but the cap doesn't hold well

There's a stand mount on the backside.. it's normally covered with a cap, but
the cap doesn't hold well and falls off way too easily. In my case it fell off so many times I ended up losing it.. -_-;;
The stand itself isn't included with this kit, but it's compatible with the stands that come with the Asshimar/Gabthley.

Action pose on the stand

HGUC Palace-Athene - Since the Asshimar/Gabthley stand supports multi-directional positioning, you can pull off dynamic fligh

Since the Asshimar/Gabthley stand supports multi-directional positioning, you can pull off dynamic flight-mode poses at an angle like this
and strike all kinds of action poses.

You can rotate the foot parts to turn them into claws..

It looks just like Double Dragon.

And that's what they're used for.

Together with the HGUC Maxter AEUG and Zeta. This thing is seriously one big unit.

It's even bulkier than the Gaplant, which was already considered pretty large.

Together with Dio, the king of big backsides. Dio is still pretty chunky though. :-)

HGUC Palace-Athene - Together with the Wing Early, said to be the smallest among MG kits. It's big for an HGUC, but still a b

Together with the Wing Early, said to be the smallest among MG kits. It's big for an HGUC, but still a bit smaller than an MG overall.
That said, when you factor in all the stuff on its back, Palace-Athene actually takes up more space.

HGUC Palace-Athene - All these unique Zeta-era MS kits keep coming out as HGUC releases one after another — it's a great time

All these unique Zeta-era MS kits keep coming out as HGUC releases one after another — it's a great time to be a fan. Hehe..

Straight build photos

With the recent Zeta rush in full swing, another highly anticipated kit — Palace-Athene — has gotten the HGUC treatment. Personally, this was one of the MS designs that gave me the biggest culture shock back in the day when I first saw it in those old encyclopedia books. The elegant, Greek-sculpture-like design and color scheme was incredibly striking at the time. And even now, 20 years later, it still holds up as a strikingly gorgeous design.

Palace-Athene is a large unit to begin with, so it boasts one of the top-ranking volumes among HGUC kits. (Setting aside Den-chan and Psycho Gundam, of course. -.-;;) It's on par with Dio, which was already considered to have a big backside, and it's clearly bigger than the Gaplant. The kit itself is smaller than an MG in terms of height, but thanks to that massive backpack, it actually takes up more shelf space than most MG kits.;

The first thing that stands out about this Palace-Athene kit is the color separation. The original design has a pretty complex and flashy color scheme to begin with, but through above-average parts breakdown and some clever seal work, it reproduces the design colors at about 99%. The combination of that wild design and excellent color representation makes this kit incredibly striking even as a straight build. Adding panel lining takes the look even further, though it's actually a kit that takes longer to panel line than you'd expect. Not only is the color separation great, but a good number of the armor pieces are cleverly split so seam lines are kept to a minimum as well.

The power cables on the neck, waist, and arms are done in soft rubber parts, and they move very naturally when you articulate the neck and waist. Soft rubber power cables aren't uncommon, but Palace-Athene's cables are particularly good at flexing naturally to match the pose, which really adds to the dynamism of action poses.

All eight large missiles on the back are removable, and the missile mount panels have a surprisingly wide range of motion, allowing for a good variety of action poses. Articulation isn't anything exceptional, but the ankles are quite flexible so posing is easy. Joint strength is just right — nothing too stiff, nothing too loose. Everything feels perfectly dialed in.

Recent HGUC kits have been putting a lot of effort into hand parts, but it seems Bandai figured Palace-Athene didn't really need action-style hands. :-) You only get a basic fist set and a single right hand for holding the beam saber, which is a bit of a letdown.

This Palace-Athene doesn't include a stand, but there's a mount point on the backside that's compatible with the stands used for the Asshimar and Gabthley. Thanks to that, you can pull off more dynamic poses using those stands (though of course this only applies if you own at least one of those kits..) and naturally recreate poses like the foot claw stance.

Recent HGUC kits are often impressive enough to rival MG quality, and Palace-Athene is no exception — it's a high-quality kit that won't disappoint any Gunpla fan. Outstanding volume for the price, top-notch parts breakdown and color separation, solid and flexible joints.. and above all, proportions that are in a completely different league from the old kit. In some ways it's a straightforward release, but the design itself is so unique and flashy that just nailing the basics is enough to make it a fantastic kit. ^^;

One of the original goals of the HGUC line was to kit up large units that would be difficult to do justice at 1/100 scale, and lately it feels like kits matching that goal are coming out one after another. With Methuss already announced as the next release after Palace-Athene, this is a kit that keeps you excited for what's coming next from HGUC — great to build, and excellent value for the price. Personally, it exceeded my expectations by 200%! :-)

HGUC Palace-Athene | 2006. 2 | ¥1,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.