Kit Review

Straight build
+ panel lining + decals

The universal standard for size comparison — the cigarette box

Upper body close-up. The black came out a bit brighter in the photo than the actual color.

The face looks kind of young for some reason ^^;

MG Strike Noir Gundam - There's some nice molding on the inner side of the backpack that faces the body. It's a part you won'

There's some nice molding on the inner side of the backpack that faces the body. It's a part you won't be able to see once it's attached.. ^^

MG Strike Noir Gundam - Cockpit hatch open and shoulder articulation gimmick. The shoulder armor movement works the same way

Cockpit hatch open and shoulder articulation gimmick. The shoulder armor movement works the same way as the Strike.

MG Strike Noir Gundam - The Noir Striker backpack. It looks pretty cool and has a ton of moving parts. Color separation is pe

The Noir Striker backpack. It looks pretty cool and has a ton of moving parts. Color separation is perfect, as you'd expect from an MG!
Naturally, this is the kit's biggest highlight.

The weapons don't look like a whole lot at first, but interestingly there are 5 guns alone ^^;

The beam rifle shorty has a side gimmick that moves, and it mounts on the hip.

MG Strike Noir Gundam - Instead of a beam saber, there's something called the Fragarach beam blade, which is mounted on the w

Instead of a beam saber, there's something called the Fragarach beam blade, which is mounted on the wing units.

The Fragarach beam blade can still be moved even while attached.

Hands come as a set of 4 types, so you've got plenty of options..

MG Strike Noir Gundam - Worth noting — these are weapon-fixed hands, the kind that used to only come with the 1/100 No Grade

Worth noting — these are weapon-fixed hands, the kind that used to only come with the 1/100 No Grade SEED kits.
They're actually pretty useful, but MG kits rarely included them — until now, when they've been adopted here.
Thanks to these, you don't have to worry about the grip strength of articulated hands..
But the connection on these hand parts is loose, so the weapon drops quite often. Ugh; Looks like you'll need to break out the glue in the end..

The body on its own. The color scheme does bring Blitz Gundam to mind.

MG Strike Noir Gundam - Outer armor removed — inner frame shots (1/3)

Outer armor removed — inner frame shots

The torso doesn't really have much to speak of in terms of detail;

The arm internals have quite a bit of nice detail though.

The inside of the outer armor panels looks great too —

Articulation is pretty much identical to the MG Strike.. (well, of course;;)

The rear wing units have a gimmick that lets them slide forward and backward horizontally.

MG Strike Noir Gundam - The kneeling pose doesn't come out all that cleanly; it only gets this far because the rear wings are

The kneeling pose doesn't come out all that cleanly;
It only gets this far because the rear wings are propping it up..

MG Strike Noir Gundam - Action pose! It looks pretty darn cool. But just like the MG Strike, the ankle joints are weak, so it

Action pose! It looks pretty darn cool.
But just like the MG Strike, the ankle joints are weak, so it's not easy to hold a pose while standing flat on the ground.

MG Strike Noir Gundam - In the end, you're better off following the manual's recommendation and putting it on a multi-purpose

In the end, you're better off following the manual's recommendation and putting it on a multi-purpose action base.
For this review, I borrowed a stand from the MG Freedom Full Burst, which is the same as the separately sold ¥500 stand ^^;
(This kit does NOT include a stand!)

Yeah.. it really does look so much better on a stand.

Wings spread

Ki blast action(?)

You can plug the wire connected to the anchor head into the holes on the hands, feet, and backpack.

Whip action coming from the hands and back~

But having it come out from the bottom of the feet makes the pose look... pretty ridiculous :-)

Drawing pose. The positioning feels a bit awkward so it doesn't look all that natural.

A separate pink soft part is attached to represent the Fragarach beam blade.

Alright~ dual blade action

The linear guns that were mounted on the wings can be angled freely in any direction.

Quick draw pose

Strike Noir's signature po~se — dual pistol action.

Check out the linear gun movement on the wing units.

Another signature pose. You can't help but think of Hong Kong action movies :-)

MG Strike Noir Gundam - This one's a pretty goofy pose.. (it's one of the recommended poses) Yah! Suddenly an anchor shoots o

This one's a pretty goofy pose.. (it's one of the recommended poses)
Yah! Suddenly an anchor shoots out from the hand too~

Dual rifles + dual linear guns, diving pose (somehow feels like it's flipping you off..)

Together with the MG Aile Strike Gundam

Body-only comparison.
The Noir is ever so slightly taller due to the extended leg frame.

MG Strike Noir Gundam - The Strike and Noir look similar, but being a newer release, the Noir shows noticeably more advanced

The Strike and Noir look similar,
but being a newer release, the Noir shows noticeably more advanced color separation in various areas.

MG Strike Noir Gundam - The arm and leg frames look similar, but the details are completely different. It's like they reused

The arm and leg frames look similar, but the details are completely different.
It's like they reused parts but didn't — they only borrowed the structure, and a lot has changed.

The sole detail looks similar~ at a glance, but look closely and it's actually a new mold.

All MG Strikes, assemble!

Of the bunch, it seems to pair best with the IWSP Strike.

MG Strike Noir Gundam - The Noir with the IWSP pack attached. Since the backpacks are 100% compatible, you can just swap them

The Noir with the IWSP pack attached.
Since the backpacks are 100% compatible, you can just swap them around freely like this.
Either way, it looks pretty good together.

By comparison, the Aile pack doesn't really mesh well with the Noir's color scheme.

Among the MG Strikes, the gray Strike with the IWSP pack seems to pair best with the Noir pack.

Straight build

The MG Strike Noir Gundam has been released, built on the foundation of the MG Strike. The basic internal and external structure and frame layout are carried over directly from the MG Strike, so it is in a sense a variation kit. That said, if you look closely, almost all of the runners are new or reworked molds, so you could really call it a new kit in its own right.

Because so many parts have been changed, even the inner frames that look similar to the Strike turn out to have completely different detail on the arms, legs, and elsewhere when you look closely. The sole shape is different, the overall outer armor has been completely redone.. and yet, strangely, the building experience feels very similar to the MG Strike — which is exactly where that variation kit feeling kicks in. ^^; In other words, there's almost no sense of novelty while you're building it.

The structural characteristics and articulation are the same as the existing MG Strike — decent range of motion and sliding armor gimmicks — but unfortunately, the weak ankle joints are carried over unchanged too T_T So the Noir, which has to lug around those heavy wings on its back, is also a bit unstable when left standing on its own. Try putting it in an action pose and the weak ankles will have it toppling over in no time. The one silver lining is that the ankle armor, which used to pop off constantly on the MG Strike due to its design, has been changed to a more secure fit on the Noir (though of course that's just a design change, not an improvement to the kit itself), so it doesn't fall off as easily. Still, it's a shame that the weak ankles — arguably the MG Strike's biggest flaw — remain unchanged.

That said, time has passed, and the MG Noir has improved in a few areas. First, in terms of color separation, the verniers and shoulder markings clearly show the kind of color separation you'd expect from a more recent kit. For instance, areas that weren't separated on the MG Strike now have additional yellow and red separation on the Noir.. (see photos) Well, it has been three and a half years, so something had to get better.

Anyway, since the external styling is completely different, almost all of the outer armor parts in black and gray are new molds. The biggest highlight of this MG Noir is, of course, the massive wing units — they have plenty of moving parts, excellent color separation, and great proportions right out of the box, so they look fantastic. The articulation gimmicks are impressive, letting you position the wings both forward and backward, and unique weapons like the Fragarach beam blade are removable and poseable. On top of that, the linear guns that fire over the shoulders, just like on Freedom, are also articulated. It's very clear that a lot of care went into those wings.

One more thing that's a bit disappointing here — the wings use a self-contained ABS joint system instead of polycaps, and after folding and unfolding them repeatedly for photos, they got a little loose. When you spread them out to the sides, they droop down a bit. I think it's partly because the wings are so large, but either way, it feels like a slightly worrying weak point.

One of the interesting things about the MG Strike Noir is that, probably because Bandai has been getting so much grief over grip strength issues lately, they've actually increased the number of weapon-fixed hand parts. On top of the standard articulated hands you'd expect from an MG, they've thrown in weapon-fixed hands like you'd normally see in the 1/100 SEED series — it really feels like the MG lineup is starting to prioritize practicality over prestige. Up until now, Bandai always seemed to think those fixed grip hands looked too chunky and crude to belong in an MG kit. Anyway, it's not a bad option to have... except the connection between the hand parts is a bit weak, so there's still a problem -_- It's not all that different from having a weak grip, but the upside is you can just glue the hand parts together and call it a day. ^^;

The MG Strike was pretty sensational when it first came out, but looking at it now, it's not exactly an outstanding kit — more like a solid, above-average release. Maybe that's why I didn't feel any particular excitement building the Strike Noir. Even though quite a few parts are newly redesigned, it just felt like building another Strike. If you like the look, it's easy enough to recommend, but it's hard to find a reason to strongly push it on anyone.

And then there's that same old ankle joint issue... They really should've included a stand to compensate for it, but of course this kit comes without one. ;; Even with the more complex wing parts, the price went up quite a bit while the stand got dropped — it quietly feels like inflation snuck in, which is a little annoying. It almost seems like they're trying to boost sales of that separately sold ¥500 multi-function stand...

With the MG line racing toward its 100th release, this one almost feels like a filler kit to pad the count. On top of that, the hype around the upcoming Zaku 2.0 is so high that this poor guy kind of got overshadowed without even trying. ; Still, whatever else you might say, I have to give it full credit for the dual-pistol action — it's genuinely cool, like something straight out of Chow Yun-fat's prime. ^^b It's not special because it's so solid, but then again, it's perfectly fine precisely because it's so solid. That's just kind of what it is. :-)

MG GAT-X105E Strike Noir Gundam
Category	Rating	Analysis
Seam Lines	★★★★★	This is about as good as it gets.
Molding Color / Color Separation	★★★★★	Color separation and molded colors are both solid and clean.
Proportions	★★★★★	The elaborate rear wings really give it that MG feel.
Articulation	★★★★☆	The joints fold well, but the hip joints feel lacking. Hard to call it truly great.
Joint Strength	★★★★	Generally fine, but the ankles are still worrying. The wing attachment is a bit iffy too.
Internal Frame	★★★★☆	Full inner frame structure, but the torso feels a bit bare. ;
Detail	★★★★★	The external detail is very much up to MG standard.
Weapons / Accessories	★★★★	The wings are great, but the weapons are limited to begin with. More importantly, this kit really needs a stand. ;
Parts Count / Price	★★★★☆	379 parts total. 84.2 parts per ¥1,000 — starting to feel a bit pricey...
Uniqueness	★★★★	It's decent, but somehow feels like a filler release. ;
Dalong's Point : 91 pts.

MG Strike Noir Gundam | 2007. 3 | ¥4,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.