Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack.

The backpack looks pretty complex.

Front of the body. You can see the color separation on the yellow parts is really clean.

All those yellow parts scattered around the body have surprisingly thorough color separation throughout.

Cockpit hatch open

MG Gundam Unit 4 - The Mega Beam Launcher, which is the main attraction of Gundam Unit 4. The color separation here is excell

The Mega Beam Launcher, which is the main attraction of Gundam Unit 4. The color separation here is excellent as well.

Inner detail of the shield

The shield is extendable.

MG Gundam Unit 4 - The shield handle is way too long, so the wrist ends up bending inward quite a bit. The shape looks off to

The shield handle is way too long, so the wrist ends up bending inward quite a bit.
The shape looks off too — not sure why they went with this design;

Bonus~ Beam rifle showdown! A look at the evolution of beam rifles across various RX-78s.

Outer armor removed

Internal frame

MG Gundam Unit 4 - There's barely any frame in the body; just a bit of molding inside the chest ducts. The pilot is sitting t

There's barely any frame in the body; just a bit of molding inside the chest ducts.
The pilot is sitting there quite primly.

The backpack frame is decent enough.

MG Gundam Unit 4 - The manual says removing the arm covers reveals internal mecha detail... but when you actually take them o

The manual says removing the arm covers reveals internal mecha detail...
But when you actually take them off, there's not much to see;

The legs do have a full frame, but below the knee the frame is just molded in the same white armor color;;

MG Gundam Unit 4 - Frame action. The leg articulation looks great, but it gets worse once you put the armor on.. T_T You can

Frame action. The leg articulation looks great, but it gets worse once you put the armor on.. T_T
You can only pull off a deep squat pose with the frame bare.

There's molding on the inside of the outer armor panels. Standard MG stuff!

Remove the Mega Beam Launcher and the shoulder/rear armor parts and you get Normal Mode.

When attaching the shoulder armor, both of these two locking mechanisms need to engage properly.

Normal Mode front shot

Normal Mode rear shot

The arms can fold completely, but the legs lose a lot of articulation once the armor goes on -_-

The shoulder joint is pretty unusual. The angle it bends at is kind of weird, right??

The shoulder section moves independently like that...

MG Gundam Unit 4 - You can extend and retract the arm this way. Seems like it's meant to compensate for articulation, but it

You can extend and retract the arm this way. Seems like it's meant to compensate for articulation, but it feels a bit out of place;;

The elbow joint is a double-joint that rotates 360 degrees, which is what allows for those weird poses.

Beam rifle action pose

Beam rifle action in Normal Mode

A drawing pose is sort of doable, but the arm shape looks really off~

Beam saber action pose

Beam saber action pose in Normal Mode

MG Gundam Unit 4 - Alright! Time to bring out the Mega Beam Launcher. You can kind of grip the handle, but it still feels a b

Alright! Time to bring out the Mega Beam Launcher. You can kind of grip the handle, but it still feels a bit awkward..

MG Gundam Unit 4 - Mega Beam Launcher action pose. The grip strength isn't quite strong enough, so holding it one-handed is a

Mega Beam Launcher action pose. The grip strength isn't quite strong enough, so holding it one-handed is actually pretty tough.

An extra handle extends from the side of the Mega Beam Launcher...

And you can barely hold it steady with both hands. ^^;

Kneeling action pose

Together with the original RX-78-2 (v1.5). Completely different styles;;

A man speaks through his back!

Gundam Unit 4 suddenly dropped as an MG out of nowhere. It never appeared in any anime, and there's no particularly clear original source material — it's an MS that only exists in setting documents — so seeing it get the MG treatment is a bit unexpected. Sure, you can intuitively tell they were planning to reuse the molds for a color variant Unit 5, but no matter how you look at it, it's still a pretty random move..

Anyway, a unique and new Gundam is always welcome in its own way. Gundam Unit 4's style feels like it carries on the lineage of the old (ill-fated) Gundam Formula series. It gives off a vibe very similar to the F90 in particular. The design itself has a pretty complex color scheme, and the MG Gundam Unit 4 shows off some seriously impressive color separation work. Especially all those countless yellow parts — almost every single one is handled through parts separation, so even in a straight build the dazzling color combination really comes to life.

One of my favorite things about the MG Gundam Unit 4 is the joints — every single joint throughout the whole body has just the right amount of resistance (not too loose, not too stiff). It feels really satisfying to move around and holds poses well~ The grip strength isn't weak per se... the rifle is easy enough to hold, but the large Mega Beam Launcher is a different story — the grip just isn't strong enough to hold it properly. T_T With both hands you can barely manage it. Still, the body joints are excellent so it mostly covers for that.

Articulation isn't exactly great overall, but thanks to the unique shoulder and wrist joints, arm articulation is actually quite good. However, the limited range of motion in the legs makes it tough to pull off a wide variety of poses. The leg joints themselves are structured to bend well, but once you put the armor on, the range of motion drops off sharply. (And it's not even like it's a chunky design... sheesh!!)

The inner frame is a bit hit-or-miss too... The legs do have a full frame, but the molded color below the knee is a bit questionable. The arms and torso have barely any frame to speak of, and only the backpack has a proper frame. It's a kit that feels like they cared and didn't care at the same time.

The biggest highlight of Gundam Unit 4 is definitely the massive Mega Beam Launcher. The color separation is excellent and the detail is great too. The power cables made from red rubber tubing look fantastic as well. It's a bit of a pain to hold up, but it looks great~

There are a few downsides like these, but fundamentally this is a pretty satisfying kit to build. The color separation is done exceptionally well, the joints are solid, the detail is intricate, and the weapons are impressive... The lack of name recognition is a pretty significant weakness, but just looking at the unit and the kit on their own merits, it's a clean, high-quality build. The somewhat ambiguous nature of the kit probably explains why the price was set at an equally ambiguous ¥2800. In terms of parts volume, it wouldn't be strange at all to charge ¥3000.

I still don't quite understand why this got released when there are so many other great units out there... but if the style appeals to you, it's a great kit worth building without hesitation. And the price is a little on the cheaper side~! This is one kit where you don't need to have any doubts about the quality! ^^

MG RX-78-4 Gundam Unit 4
Category	Rating	Analysis
Seam Lines	★★★★☆	Visible on the arms and a few other spots, but overall very clean.
Molding Color / Color Separation	★★★★☆	The color separation on the body is outstanding, but the leg frame is a bit iffy..
Proportions	★★★★★	The flashy color scheme and the busy backpack give it great visual presence.
Articulation	★★★★	The arms are great, but the legs aren't exactly ideal for posing.
Joint Strength	★★★★☆	The body joints overall have just the right amount of stiffness. Wish the grip were a bit stronger.
Internal Frame	★★★★	Only the legs and backpack have a full frame — the rest feels like an afterthought.
Detail	★★★★★	Clean. The color separation makes it look quite complex.
Weapons / Accessories	★★★★★	The massive Mega Beam Launcher. Shield, rifle. Feels like a lot for the price.
Parts Count / Price	★★★★☆	301 parts total. Parts per ¥1000: 100.3. Seems like it came in on the cheaper side!
Uniqueness	★★★★	It's unique, but... why does this exist??
Dalong's Point : 90 pts.

MG Gundam Unit 4 | 2003. 07 | ¥3,200

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.