Kit Review

Straight build + Partial paint + Panel lining + Decals

The universal yardstick — size comparison with a cigarette pack.

MG Hyaku-Shiki - The reflections are so intense that it looks different depending on the angle. (1/3)

The reflections are so intense that it looks different depending on the angle.

The outer armor doesn't come off as much as you'd expect.

Fantastic gold plating...
More dazzling than any plated kit that's come out so far.

MG Hyaku-Shiki - The plating has dripped in some spots, leaving areas with uneven color depth... but most of it is hidde

The plating has dripped in some spots, leaving areas with uneven color depth...
But most of it is hidden and hard to notice.

MG Hyaku-Shiki - In the areas marked with arrows, you can occasionally see parts where the plating thickness is inconsis

In the areas marked with arrows, you can occasionally see parts where the plating thickness is inconsistent
from piece to piece.

MG Hyaku-Shiki - Some of the armor pieces have silver plating on the inside too... it doesn't look intentional — seems l

Some of the armor pieces have silver plating on the inside too...
It doesn't look intentional — seems like they applied a double base coat to get that gold plating shine.
There's also molded detail on the inside of the armor.

Frame shot. Looks a bit sparse, doesn't it?

The leg frame. Nothing special, but decent enough.

Backpack frame

There's a single-strand articulated cylinder at the front of the ankle.

Upper body close-up. Blinding~

The legs are structured so that most of the frame is exposed.

MG Hyaku-Shiki - The cockpit area. The cockpit hatch is covered on both sides by gold pieces, so at first glance it look

The cockpit area. The cockpit hatch is covered on both sides by gold pieces, so at first glance it looks like it'd be hard to open...

MG Hyaku-Shiki - You can slide the gold pieces to either side and open the cockpit hatch. You can see that red-suited so

You can slide the gold pieces to either side and open the cockpit hatch.
The red-suitedsomeone is visible in there ^^;
If you look closely, you can even see the reflection of me taking the photo. :-)

The weapons are pretty minimal... the basic three-piece set: rifle, bazooka, and beam saber.

MG Hyaku-Shiki - The hand design is a bit unusual... each hand has just one gold plated cover, and you swap between two

The hand design is a bit unusual...
Each hand has just one gold plated cover, and you swap between two different hand types to combine with it.
It's not the typical MG rock-paper-scissors hand — the thumb is fixed and the other four fingers are molded together as one piece.
Since neither the thumb nor the index finger moves, you're basically stuck with rock and open hand only;

The two hand types are a standard fist and a grip hand for holding the rifle.

MG Hyaku-Shiki - The beam sabers are normally stored on the rear skirt, and since the mount points are articulated, stow

The beam sabers are normally stored on the rear skirt, and since the mount points are articulated, stowing them is nice and easy.

There's a hook stored on top of the beam rifle that you can pull out when needed.

Using those hooks, the clay bazooka and beam rifle can be hung on the backpack like shown.

Articulation. Pretty good.

The wings on the back can move to that extent... but it's mostly just for show.

Action pose~

Even the kneeling pose looks natural!

The articulation is good enough that poses come together naturally.

Beam saber action. The beam saber is yellow to match the body.

MG Hyaku-Shiki - A shot with the HGUC Hyaku-Shiki. They look similar, but the overall plating quality is a step above on

A shot with the HGUC Hyaku-Shiki. They look similar, but the overall plating quality is a step above on the MG.

The Zeta trio

For old-school fans, the name "Hyaku-Shiki" somehow hits differently with a sense of nostalgia. It made a big splash in HGUC form with its gorgeous under-gate gold plating, and the MG Hyaku-Shiki was born with quality that goes beyond even that.

The first thing that absolutely has to be mentioned is the gold plating. This is the finest plating quality of any plated kit released so far — intense reflections, a smooth surface, and a feel that's genuinely like 14k or 18k gold plating. (Which is why it's one of the most coveted Gunpla among girlfriends and wives... ^^;) Honestly, the quality is so good you'd almost think you could pawn it at a jewelry store when times get tough. On top of that, all the outer armor is molded with under-gates, so gate marks are virtually nowhere to be found.

MG Hyaku-Shiki - This is the under-gate! See the runner page for reference

This is the under-gate!
runner page for reference

That said, the nature of this premium gold plating means the reflections are intense and the look changes dramatically depending on the lighting, which makes photography really tough. As a result, the photos here don't do the real thing justice at all. The contrast in brightness from the reflections is so extreme that it's hard to get bright, sharp photos while keeping the color accurate. So keep in mind that in person, it's far more blindingly bright and dazzling than what you see here! The flip side is that fingerprints show up easily, so always make sure to wash your hands before handling it!

Everyone raves about the plating quality, but depending on the person, the molded colors of the non-plated parts — those bluish and reddish-purple tones — can be a real turn-off. That's just how the original color scheme is, but honestly, painting just a few of the outer armor pieces can make it look like a fully painted build. :-) And if you look very closely at the plating, you can occasionally spot parts where the plating thickness varies between pieces, giving slightly different color tones, or some pieces where the plating has dripped a bit. But it's only on a small number of parts, and the overall look is so blindingly gorgeous that it's hard to notice anyway — so let's just give it a pass with some generosity... ^^;

Unlike the old beefy gym-coach physique of the original Hyaku-Shiki, the MG Hyaku-Shiki has a genuinely slim and sleek proportion. There are mixed opinions on this depending on personal taste, but most people seem to agree that it looks refined and cool. The overall articulation is surprisingly good (I wasn't expecting much...) — kneeling poses and action stances come together quite naturally, and the joints have just the right amount of stiffness to hold angles well. Articulation and joints aren't quite A+, but they're easily worth an A — a satisfying area overall.

The hand design is a bit unusual — you choose between two hand types to assemble onto a single gold plated back-of-hand piece. One is a grip pose for holding the beam rifle, and the other is a plain fist. On both, the thumb is fixed and the remaining four fingers move together as one. This limited range of motion means the hands are far less expressive than the typical MG rock-paper-scissors hands, but on the flip side, you never have to worry about grip strength — the rifle, bazooka, beam saber, and other weapons stay held firmly, which is a nice advantage.

One thing that's a bit surprising, though, is that the inner frame feels like it was given very little attention. Only the backpack and legs have any mechanical frame detail, and even the leg frame is only half-exposed anyway — so in practice, it almost feels like there's barely any inner frame at all. There was plenty of room to put frames in the thighs, shoulders, torso, and other areas, so why were they left out?? It's hard to shake the feeling that the interior is sparse compared to the stunning exterior. Also, the surface is so smooth that panel lining with a pen is quite tricky.

The visual splendor and the dazzling display effect (the kind that wives and girlfriends will love) are things everyone would rate as top-notch... but the Achilles' heel of this kit is the price — ¥4,500. Looking at the parts count, it feels more like a ¥3,000-class kit, no more, no less — it's the premium under-gate plating process that pushed the price up significantly. Sure, you could say "there are MG kits that cost ¥6,000, so what's ¥4,500?" — but when you consider the box size and overall volume of content, it's hard to call it a price you'd reach for without hesitation. If it had been around ¥3,500, this would've been an absolute must-buy slam dunk, but I imagine quite a few people ended up going OTL over the price...

Anyway, the Hyaku-Shiki is one of the kits that's stuck most firmly in the minds of old-school fans alongside the original TV Gundam quartet, and it's a happy thing that it was born with such dazzling gold plating and top-tier quality. True to its name, a perfect scoreseems like what it deserves, but the seemingly deliberate lack of effort on the inner frame and the high price knocked some points off, leaving it in the nineties... Still, the dizzying sense of awe you feel when it's finished is genuinely a perfect-score experience ^^

I'll say it again — the photos above really don't do the real thing justice... T_T

MG MSN-00100 Hyaku-Shiki
Category	Rating	Analysis
Seam Lines	★★★★★	Under-gates and good color separation mean no seam lines except on the weapons.
Molding Color / Color Separation	★★★★★	Best-in-class plating. Dizzying, breathtaking reflections.
Proportions	★★★★★	Slim, sleek, and every bit the Hyaku-Shiki it should be.
Articulation	★★★★☆	Both arms and legs bend close to 180°. A wider range of articulation than it looks.
Joint Strength	★★★★★	Just the right stiffness throughout. Not a single loose joint anywhere.
Internal Frame	★★★☆	Backpack and legs only. The inner frame feels like it was just... forgotten about.
Detail	★★★★★	Clean overall, and everything that needs to be there seems to be there.
Weapons / Accessories	★★★★☆	The basic three-piece set: saber, rifle, and bazooka. Everything you need seems to be there, but...
Parts Count / Price	★★★☆	271 parts total. Parts per ¥1,000: 60.1. Pricey, it is... T_T
Uniqueness	★★★★★	Dreamy plating, the birth of a perfect Hyaku-Shiki — at least on the outside.
Dalong's Point : 92 pts.

MG Hyaku-Shiki
2001.3
¥4,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.