Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

The backpack is so heavy that you have to push your legs way back just to barely keep it standing.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - As a workaround, you can spread the legs wide and lower the elongated propellant tanks as far down a

As a workaround, you can spread the legs wide and lower the elongated propellant tanks as far down as possible
so they touch the ground like a support stand — that makes it at least manageable to stand up.

Standing with legs spread a bit wider and the propellant tanks used as supports.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Detail shots (1/4)

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Detail shots (2/4)

Detail shots

Outer armor removal shot

Internal frame

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Frame detail shots (1/4)

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Frame detail shots (2/4)

Frame detail shots

Frame articulation.
Folds up nice and crisp~

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - The hip joint structure is the same as the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka, but the manual actually recommends a

The hip joint structure is the same as the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka,
but the manual actually recommends assembling it in the fixed position rather than the rotating one.
If you insert the peg on the inside of the hip joint pin into the long slot, the hip joint rotates —
but if you insert that peg into the rear hole instead, the hip joint locks in place and doesn't move.
This is probably because the backpack is so heavy that they want the hip joints positioned as far back as possible to help balance the center of gravity.

A kneeling pose is no problem at all~

Frame action pose

Cockpit hatch open

With the hatch closed, you can also slide open just the inner cover separately.

A Gatling gun is built into the inside of the right forearm.

The left arm holds a beam saber.

One beam saber is also stored on top of each fin funnel mount.

The soles of the feet have two fixing pegs each — a signature feature of the Nu series.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Various parts of the body have deployment features — first, the chest ducts push forward, and the co

Various parts of the body have deployment features —
first, the chest ducts push forward, and the cover on top of the front skirt opens up.

The shoulders can be spread out and opened in all directions like shown.

The rear skirt can open in two stages — upper and lower.

The rear leg section opens up beautifully, with all four covers spreading wide open.

Everything opened up.
Compared to the Sazabi, the open mode feels a bit underwhelming..

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Just like the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka, you can remove the neck section and install a separately sold LED

Just like the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka, you can remove the neck section and install a separately sold LED unit.

The LED lighting effect is... meh, nothing special.

The weapon loadout is clean and simple.

The detail on the inside of the shield is a bit plain.

The bazooka's length is extendable,
and it can be stored on the peg at the bottom of the backpack.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - The fin funnels are based on the existing Nu Gundam Ver.Ka ones, with only the center section redesi

The fin funnels are based on the existing Nu Gundam Ver.Ka ones, with only the center section redesigned.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - The blue gradient patterns are all done with waterslide decals, and they're a bit tricky to work wi

The blue gradient patterns are all done with waterslide decals,
and they're a bit tricky to work with..
You really need to take your time to get them on cleanly, and since there are no spare decals, be careful.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - When applied properly, they should come out smooth like shown. It seems like applying Mark Softer on

When applied properly, they should come out smooth like shown.
It seems like applying Mark Softer on top is pretty much essential to get them to fully conform.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Rush the job and you'll end up with a mess like this T_T I was in a hurry and touched it before the

Rush the job and you'll end up with a mess like this T_T
I was in a hurry and touched it before the Mark Softer had fully dried, which caused this.
For the fin funnel waterslide decal work, don't apply everything to one funnel all at once —
it seems like rotating through all 6 funnels one section at a time is the way to avoid this kind of disaster..

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - The stand is the same configuration as the one included with the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka — since it uses

The stand is the same configuration as the one included with the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka —
since it uses a special fixing pin to lock onto both the body and the backpack simultaneously,
the stability once it's on the stand is actually pretty decent.

1/100 Amuro figure

Great articulation even with the armor on.
Pretty impressive for such a chunky build.

The ability to pull the shoulders out and fold them forward is the same as the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka.

The neck tilts upward at quite a high angle.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Inside the knee joint there's a movable cylinder, and the knee cover separates slightly and moves in

Inside the knee joint there's a movable cylinder,
and the knee cover separates slightly and moves in sync with it.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - The hands are the same as the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka — a single-piece molded full-finger articulated ty

The hands are the same as the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka — a single-piece molded full-finger articulated type.

Fin funnel articulation.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - A fairly dynamic beam rifle firing pose. (1/4)

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - A fairly dynamic beam rifle firing pose. (2/4)

A fairly dynamic beam rifle firing pose.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Bazooka action pose. The fin funnel mounts make it pretty tricky to rest the bazooka on the shoulder

Bazooka action pose.
The fin funnel mounts make it pretty tricky to rest the bazooka on the shoulder.

Gatling gun firing pose.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Beam saber action (1/4)

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Beam saber action (2/4)

Beam saber action

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - The beam sabers can also be plugged into the forearm weapons like this. (1/3)

The beam sabers can also be plugged into the forearm weapons like this.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Fin funnel launch action using the support stand. It's a pain to set up, but it looks awesome ^^ (1/

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Fin funnel launch action using the support stand. It's a pain to set up, but it looks awesome ^^ (2/

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Fin funnel launch action using the support stand. It's a pain to set up, but it looks awesome ^^ (3/

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - Fin funnel launch action using the support stand. It's a pain to set up, but it looks awesome ^^ (4/

Fin funnel launch action using the support stand.
It's a pain to set up, but it looks awesome ^^

Alongside the original MG Hi-Nu Gundam.
It's gotten noticeably bigger and chunkier.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka - And it's not just the body — the fin funnels and backpack have gotten significantly larger and more

And it's not just the body — the fin funnels and backpack have gotten significantly larger and more complex too.

Alongside the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka.

Straight build

Following the MG Nu Gundam and Sazabi, the Hi-Nu Gundam has now been reborn as a Ver.Ka. It's been 7 years since the MG Hi-Nu Gundam came out — and while it was relatively more recent compared to the Nu Gundam or Sazabi, it still got the Ver.Ka renewal treatment. Personally, it feels like I just reviewed the Hi-Nu Gundam the other day, but apparently that was already 7 years ago... makes me feel a little sad.. T_T

Anyway, getting the Ver.Ka renewal — the top-tier lineup among MGs — means everything has been completely overhauled. Starting with the look: as you can tell at a glance, it's been redesigned with a much chunkier physique somewhere between the Nu Gundam and the Sazabi. It's like a Hi-Nu that's been hitting the gym hard.. ^^; The legs in particular have gotten massively thicker, and the propellant tanks have grown to an almost absurd size. The backpack detailing feels like it threw out the old design entirely and went for a bold new direction.

It also gets the same kind of panel-opening gimmicks as the Nu Gundam Ver.Ka and Sazabi Ver.Ka, applied to the chest, front/rear skirts, shoulders, and rear legs. It's a cool feature in its own right, but compared to the Nu Gundam Ver.Ka where the psycho-frame is exposed like the Unicorn, or the Sazabi Ver.Ka where everything blows open dramatically, the effect here feels a bit subdued.

The basic skeleton is very similar to the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka — the extending shoulder joints, LED housing feature, full-finger articulated hands, leg joints, and hip joint design all carry over the structural characteristics of the Nu Gundam Ver.Ka directly. The one difference is that the manual recommends assembling the rotating hip joints in the fixed configuration instead. This seems to be a deliberate choice to position the hip joints as far back as possible to compensate for the heavier backpack — though if you're planning to display it on the stand, you can always swap it back to the rotating style like the Nu Gundam Ver.Ka.

As the hip joint assembly guide makes clear... the biggest challenge with the Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka is the center of gravity. The joint strength throughout the body is actually quite good, but the center of gravity is severely — and I mean severely — shifted toward the back.. It's all because of the massive backpack structure, which makes it extremely difficult to stand it on the ground in a natural pose T_T You either have to push the legs way back into a leaning-back stance, or spread the legs wide so the propellant tanks touch the ground and act as supports. That's probably why they made the propellant tanks so enormous — to double as a support base — but they're just a touch too short to work as supports while still maintaining a decent proportion, so it's a bit of an awkward situation..

In the end, since the same stand as the MG Nu Gundam Ver.Ka is included, this is really a kit that's meant to be displayed in the air rather than on the ground. But even getting it onto the stand is a bit of a hassle — it's pretty common for the backpack to detach from the body under its own weight while you're trying to mount it -_- The silver lining is that once you do get it on, the special fixing pin grabs both the body and the backpack at the same time, so it holds together reasonably well. That said, the body is big and heavy relative to the size of the alpha-shaped base, so the whole stand can tip over sideways too — meaning you still have to be careful about balancing the center of gravity. (It's just one thing after another..)

Anyway, just from what I've written above you can probably get the vibe — this kit is just too big and heavy to handle comfortably. On top of that, the wet decals have a pretty fragile film, so if you're picking it up and putting it down with any force without a topcoat over the decals, you're just asking for them to fly right off. While I was struggling through the review photos, I watched decals disappear one by one... And every time you want to touch the thing, you have to tiptoe around because of the decals, then the backpack keeps popping off, and when you try to reattach it, all the stuff hanging off every which way gets in the way and it just won't seat properly into the body... Then you finally get it back on, go to put it on the stand, and it falls apart again. -_- At this point, anyone would be ready to lose it.

The wet decals completely blow past Nu Ver.Ka and Sazabi Ver.Ka in both quantity and difficulty. The sheer size of the decal sheets is on a whole different level ;; There are already a ton of decals on the body itself, but the real kicker is the blue gradient decals for the fin funnels — there are a lot of them and they're not exactly easy to apply. The difference between applying those fin funnel decals and skipping them is massive (just look at the straight build photos...), so you really can't just leave them off, but getting them on smooth and clean is no joke... Mark Softer seems pretty much essential here, but once you've got them all on, the sense of accomplishment really hits you ^^;
Anyway, decal hell is just par for the course with Ver.Ka —so while I knocked out the assembly and panel lining in a single day, the decals alone took me 5 days. ㅡ,.ㅡ

To wrap things up — the proportions, detail, frame, parts layout, articulation, and joint strength are all excellent, as you'd expect from a modern kit, and the building experience itself is really satisfying. But the sheer number of decals is brutal, and the backpack being so big and heavy causes all kinds of headaches. Of course, if you're not going to be posing and photographing it like I was, and you just plan to build it once and put it straight on a stand for display, it's not that bad. That said, I personally don't enjoy kits that are a pain to handle, so I ended up docking it a bit... The core build quality is top-notch, but a few really annoying flaws ate into the score.

Bottom line — if you love Ver.Ka and you love the Hi-Nu Gundam, this is an absolute must-buy, but if you hate wet decals or can't stand kits with shaky durability, I can't really recommend this one. :-)

MG X-93-υ2 Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka
Category	Rating	Analysis
Seam Lines	★★★★★	It's been a long time since recent kits have included that sort of thing...
Molding Color / Color Separation	★★★★★	The color separation is perfect, but the gradients are handled with wet decals.
Proportions	★★★★★★	Remodeled with a beefier look — definitely comes across as a lot more powerful...
Articulation	★★★★★	Excellent articulation given the body size.
Joint Strength	★★★★	The joints themselves are solid, but the center of gravity and stability issues are a real annoyance.
Internal Frame	★★★★★★	The frame quality is excellent.
Detail	★★★★★	This level of detail is just standard for a Ver.Ka kit.
Weapons / Accessories	★★★★★	More than enough right out of the box.
Parts Count / Price	★★★★★	529 parts total. Parts per ¥1,000: 75.6. Plenty of content packed in.
Uniqueness	★★★★	It's got its own unique character as a Ver.Ka kit, but the structural flimsiness just doesn't sit right with me... -_-
Dalong's Point : 100 pts.

MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver.Ka | 2014. 8 | ¥7,400

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.