Kit Review

Straight build

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish (1/6)

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish (2/6)

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish (3/6)

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish (4/6)

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish (5/6)

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish (6/6)

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - Upper body close-up. That marble-like glossy sheen flows all over the body. (1/3)

Upper body close-up.
That marble-like glossy sheen flows all over the body.

Gloss on the arms

Gloss on the head. Looks like someone went crazy with the wax.

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - For some reason the gloss really stands out on the thighs.. (is it all about the t

For some reason the gloss really stands out on the thighs.. (is it all about the thighs for guys?!)
Probably because it's the widest and flattest surface on the kit.

The back. The backpack color is pretty mysterious too.

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - The gloss on the rear skirt. In person you can see a bit of rainbow-colored irides

The gloss on the rear skirt.
In person you can see a bit of rainbow-colored iridescence across the whole surface.. but it doesn't really show up in photos.

Shield

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - Smooth legs.. (1/3)

Smooth legs..

The gloss on the thighs looks the most brilliant of all.

Cockpit hatch open.

Fully armed

Backpack and rear skirt armaments

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - Action pose.. not dynamic at all -_- (1/3)

Action pose..
Not dynamic at all -_-

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - Just confirming again — that's the maximum bend angle for the Unicorn's knees;; Th

Just confirming again — that's the maximum bend angle for the Unicorn's knees;;
The gimmick completely kills the articulation on this kit..

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - Beam saber pose. With legs like that, this is about as far as the action poses go.

Beam saber pose.
With legs like that, this is about as far as the action poses go.. OTL

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - Destroy mode. The colors are flashy, but the gloss feels kind of scattered and fra

Destroy mode.
The colors are flashy, but the gloss feels kind of scattered and fragmented, so the coating impact is a step down compared to the normal mode..

Destroy mode upper body close-up

Yep, still a hot-blooded male..

Head

The gold on the head antenna is from the wet decals included specifically for the Titanium Finish ver.
(They have a higher gloss than the Unicorn wet decals that came as a bonus with Shin Anju.)
You can even see where I messed up applying them.. ugh.

Destroy mode rear view and backpack

Rear skirt open

Arm section

Destroy mode shield.

Destroy mode verniers

Legs.

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - Destroy mode leg gloss... (1/4)

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - Destroy mode leg gloss... (2/4)

Destroy mode leg gloss...

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - Bazooka action. Being in Destroy mode doesn't really improve the articulation any.

Bazooka action.
Being in Destroy mode doesn't really improve the articulation any..

Comparison with the standard Unicorn Gundam.

The difference in gloss is huge,
but it doesn't come across that well in photos..

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - Close-up comparison of the upper body. The Titanium Finish ver. looks like the who

Close-up comparison of the upper body.
The Titanium Finish ver. looks like the whole body has been wrapped in a coat of liquid glass.

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - Backpack comparison. The molded color is different, but it's not all that dramatic

Backpack comparison.
The molded color is different, but it's not all that dramatically obvious.

Arm comparison

Leg and foot comparison.

Shield comparison

Destroy mode comparison.

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish (1/2)

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish (2/2)

MG Unicorn Gundam ver.Ka Titanium Finish - The Titanium Finish ver., where the difference between matte and gloss really hits

The Titanium Finish ver., where the difference between matte and gloss really hits you.

In spring 2009, various MG variations were hitting shelves, and out of nowhere a plated version of the Unicorn Gundam dropped as a bonus release — the Titanium Finish ver., a name that was pretty unfamiliar at the time. This is a new premium coating method Bandai tried out: it's essentially a double-coat process where a metallic coating is applied first, followed by a full gloss top coat over it. (The manual goes into the process in detail.)

This new coating method uses aluminum vacuum deposition topped with a titanium top coat — a pretty premium approach. They probably went with this because of the Unicorn Gundam's color scheme, where the entire armor is covered in white in normal mode. And the effect is excellent. The whole surface has this rich, creamy white sheen oozing out of it — it's like looking at a marble sculpture. It's clearly more premium than any other coating out there. Interestingly, the coating actually looks more impressive in normal mode with its single monochrome color than in the flashy Destroy mode.

Bandai has tried all kinds of different coating methods over the years — one of them being the pearl mirror coating used on kits like the old MG Wing Zero Custom. Before I opened the box, I wondered if this might be something similar, but once I actually saw it, it's a completely different style. The pearl mirror coating is a semi-gloss finish that looks like fine pearl powder has been dusted over the surface, whereas this Titanium Finish is a full gloss style where the entire surface is wrapped in a film of sheen. Though they do share one thing in common — both show a rainbow-colored iridescence in the reflected light.

* Titanium Finish process (Excerpted from the manual)

	1. Semi-transparent molding To prevent the material from warping due to the properties of the special paint, the runners are molded in a milky semi-transparent material.
	2. Under coating Before the aluminum is plated onto the runners, an under coat is applied to act as a kind of primer/surfacer.
	3. Runner setup The runners are manually hung one by one onto runner racks in preparation for the plating process.
	4. Plating Using vacuum deposition, aluminum is heated and vaporized in a vacuum and then deposited onto the runners.
	5. Vacuum deposition process It takes 15 minutes to reach a vacuum and 5 minutes for the deposition itself. Once a batch is done, the entire runner rack is swapped out and the process continues without interruption.
	6. Top coat application A top coat is sprayed on to protect the surface, prevent the aluminum from rubbing off, and form a glossy film. Titanium is used as a component in the top coat, which creates an extremely high level of gloss and a tough protective layer.
	7. Drying After the top coat is applied, the runners are dried at 60°C for 75 minutes.
	8. Packaging After individual quality inspection, each runner is sealed in a plastic bag and the process is complete.

The quality of the gloss finish produced through this complex process is excellent — depending on the lighting, the whole body shimmers with a rainbow-colored iridescence. The only downside is that the reflective light effect barely shows up in review photos, which is a real shame. And when you compare it side by side with the standard version in person, the difference in surface feel is quite striking, but in photos it only looks about half as different. Just keep that in mind when looking through the review..

One thing to note.. compared to other plated kits, the gate marks left on this one are noticeably large and very visible. -.,-
It's not really the kind of coating you can easily cover up either.. The plastic material is soft so it's not hard to clean up, but it shaves off way too easily, so you need to be careful not to leave gate marks bigger than necessary.

Like most plated kits, the added coating layer tends to tighten up the tolerances, making the joints stiffer — and this kit is no exception. The Unicorn Gundam had always been a bit worrying in terms of joint strength, since it relied entirely on an incredibly complex transformation gimmick, but thankfully the Titanium Finish ver. has made the joints considerably more solid. The improved joint strength is honestly one of this kit's hidden virtues. On the flip side, the articulation is the worst of any MG to date, so.. just keep in mind that this one's really meant to be displayed rather than posed.

Anyway, just looking at the coating quality and feel alone, it's far more premium than most limited editions out there — and since you can actually pick it up cheaper than those limited releases, that makes it an even better deal. That said, as a general retail product, ¥8000 is pretty steep, so it's not exactly something you'd grab without hesitation. If the price were just a bit lower, this would clearly be a much better buy than the standard version — it's a great alternate release, no question. :-)

MG Unicorn Gundam ~ Titanium Finish ver. | 2009. 3 | ¥8,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.