Kit Review

Straight build
+ decals

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Upper body, front and back. The chest and backpack parts came out in gloss injection instead

Upper body front and back.
The chest and backpack parts came out in gloss injection instead of Extra Finish coating.

Head

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Arm/leg close-up shots (1/4)

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Arm/leg close-up shots (2/4)

Arm/leg close-up shots

Beam rifle

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - HD decals all over the body and weapons. (1/6)

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - HD decals all over the body and weapons. (2/6)

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - HD decals all over the body and weapons. (3/6)

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - HD decals all over the body and weapons. (4/6)

HD decals all over the body and weapons.

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Other standard waterslide decals. (1/3)

Other standard waterslide decals.

Cockpit hatch open

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Action poses. This kit's articulation was never that great to begin with.. (1/3)

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Action poses. This kit's articulation was never that great to begin with.. (2/3)

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Action poses. This kit's articulation was never that great to begin with.. (3/3)

Action pose.
This kit's articulation was never that great to begin with..

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Beam rifle action poses using Action Base 1 (1/4)

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Beam rifle action poses using Action Base 1 (2/4)

Beam rifle action poses using Action Base 1

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Bazooka action (1/3)

Bazooka action

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Beam saber action (1/5)

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Beam saber action (2/5)

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Beam saber action (3/5)

Beam saber action

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - The decals are a bit fragile.. when posing like this, they can get scraped off by the skirt.

The decals are a bit fragile.. when posing like this, they can get scraped off by the skirt. (OTL)

Together with the standard MG Hyaku-Shiki.

The difference between Extra Finish coating and gloss coating...

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - The standard version's gloss gold coating definitely has stronger reflectivity. Look closely

The standard version's gloss gold coating definitely has stronger reflectivity.
Look closely and you can even see my hand taking the photo..

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - The gloss gold coating looks great too, but the Extra Finish's subtle, premium sheen is pret

The gloss gold coating looks great too, but the Extra Finish's subtle, premium sheen is pretty nice in its own right.

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - The bright canary-yellow Hyaku-Shiki joined by the Ballute Pack version as well. Three MG Hy

The bright canary-yellow Hyaku-Shiki joined by the Ballute Pack version as well.
Three MG Hyaku-Shiki kits have been released in total.

Body-only comparison.
Each one has its own distinct color personality.

Together with the Ballute Pack version Hyaku-Shiki.

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - The Hyaku-Shiki that came with the Ballute Pack was a gloss injection kit. As you can see, t

The Hyaku-Shiki that came with the Ballute Pack was a gloss injection kit.
As you can see, the surface has a shiny finish.

Gloss injection vs. Extra Finish comparison

Each one seems to have plenty of its own personality..

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Together with the HGUC Hyaku-Shiki from the Griepe set, which uses the same Extra Finish coa

Together with the HGUC Hyaku-Shiki from the Griepe set, which uses the same Extra Finish coating.

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Same type of coating, but the MG version has a noticeably richer, deeper color. That said, s

Same type of coating, but the MG version has a noticeably richer, deeper color.
That said, since the MG has larger surface areas, the coating feels a bit less uniform compared to the HGUC.

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - All four HD Color versions together. Seeing them all lined up in person, they're quite the d

All four HD Color versions together.
Seeing them all lined up in person, they're quite the dazzling sight..

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. - Straight build state before applying decals. The colors are so good that even the straight b

Straight build state before applying decals.
The colors are so good that even the straight build looks plenty sharp..

Released as a spin-off series commemorating the Zeta Gundam theatrical version Blu-ray release, the 4th entry in the HD Color version MG lineup is the Hyaku-Shiki. The original MG Hyaku-Shiki came out with a gloss gold coating, and after that there was also a gloss injection version in bright canary yellow that came bundled with the Ballute Pack. So having it come out in gloss injection like the other HD version kits would've been a bit awkward, and I honestly thought it might just get left out of the HD Color lineup altogether.

In the end, the Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. was released with an Extra Finish-style coating instead of gloss injection. Of course, gloss injection was still applied to parts like the weapons, feet, and other components, but the most important body color came molded with a semi-gloss Extra Finish coating. Back in the HGUC spin-off Griepe set, the HGUC Hyaku-Shiki had a similar Extra Finish coating applied to it. It was a kit that gave off a really nice premium, understated semi-gloss sheen.

The Extra Finish coating on the MG Hyaku-Shiki is richer and more intense than the Extra Finish coating on the HGUC Hyaku-Shiki — the color itself surpasses the HGUC. However, since the coating is applied over larger surface areas, there are quite a few spots where the coating isn't perfectly uniform. In particular, recessed areas and grooves ended up with noticeably different coating coverage.

The structure, articulation, and everything else is 100% identical to the standard version, so for a more detailed review please refer to the MG Hyaku-Shiki review— and like the other HD Color versions, the joints feel a little sturdier compared to the standard release. The articulation on the original kit itself is honestly not that great, but since it's a kit that came out 8 years ago, that's kind of unavoidable. Also, with the HD Color version release, the price went up ¥300 compared to the standard gold coating version, coming in at ¥4800 — probably due to the added waterslide decals.

The Hyaku-Shiki is a mobile suit that really resonates with old-school fans (maybe it's because of Academy's Centurion?), so seeing it released in so many different versions is definitely a welcome thing. All three MG Hyaku-Shiki kits — gold coating, gloss injection, and Extra Finish coating — each feel like they have their own distinct personality.

Looking at the HD Color version releases as a whole, gloss injection itself is great, but in practice it doesn't really give a dramatically different feel compared to the original kits. However, this Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. has a completely different type of coating applied, so its identity feels much more clearly defined.

People will probably have mixed feelings about the type and look of the coating, but personally I like the HD Color version with its premium Extra Finish coating a little more than the standard version with its full-on flashy reflective gold coating. It does have the downside of uneven coating in quite a few spots, but from a bit of a distance it's not really noticeable. Anyway, it seems unlikely the HD Color series will ever make its way to kits like the Hi-Zack or Nemo, but as it stands, this has turned out to be a pretty solid variation series with its own character. :-)

MG Hyaku-Shiki ~ HD Color ver. | 2009. 2 | ¥4,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.