Kit Review

Straight build +
panel lining

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Full Mechanics Gundam Bael - Detail shots (1/4)

Full Mechanics Gundam Bael - Detail shots (2/4)

Detail shots

Full Mechanics Gundam Bael - Left armor removed & frame shots (1/3)

Left armor removed & frame shots

A total of 3 sets of hands are included.

There's also a hand with an articulated wrist joint.

Full Mechanics Gundam Bael - The stand included as a first-run limited bonus. It's the same one that came with the 1/100 Gund

The stand included as a first-run limited bonus.
It's the same one that came with the 1/100 Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex.

The blade storage section on the rear skirt is articulated too.

Leftover parts

The articulation is similar to the 1/100 Barbatos.

Wings that move in various angles and directions

The shoulder armor can also extend outward to allow for better shoulder articulation.

Full Mechanics Gundam Bael - Draw Pose (1/2)

Full Mechanics Gundam Bael - Draw Pose (2/2)

Unsheathing pose

Full Mechanics Gundam Bael - Aerial action poses (1/3)

Aerial action pose

Action pose 2

Action pose 3

Together with the 1/100 Full Mechanics Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex.

Together with the HG Gundam Bael.

This is the Gundam Bael released as part of the Iron-Blooded Orphans 1/100 Full Mechanics lineup. (For the debate over the pronunciation of its name, check out the HG Gundam Bael review.) For longtime Gundam fans, this is a design that feels more "Gundam-like" than the Barbatos, and being at 1/100 scale, those already large wings in the lore look even more impressively massive in kit form.

The basic skeleton uses the same 1/100 Barbatos frame, so the underlying structure is identical — it really feels like a kit where only the outer armor has changed. The full-body frame still delivers great articulation, and the somewhat iffy joint strength is still there, but since it's not a particularly bulky kit outside of the backpack, things hold together well enough without much trouble.

Gundam Bael's defining features are its two blades and large wings. The blade storage section on the rear skirt is articulated, so you can pull off a natural sword-drawing pose. The wings also have more points of articulation than the HG version, letting you spread them out in more dramatic configurations, and the joint strength in the wing units themselves is solid, so they hold whatever angle you put them in.

Thanks to the great articulation and those big wings, you can pull off some really dynamic poses — and at 1/100 scale, everything just feels that much more grand. All in all, it's a solid, well-rounded 1/100 kit, and if you like the look of it, it's definitely worth picking up without hesitation. :-)

Full Mechanics Gundam Bael | 2017. 3 | ¥3,200

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.