OLD Limited Model 1/144 Leo Custom

Release 1996.11

Price ¥800

It's a small box with a slide-out style.

OLD 1/144 Leo Custom - LM model Gunpla 6-kit group box shot (1/4)

OLD 1/144 Leo Custom - LM model Gunpla 6-kit group box shot (2/4)

LM model Gunpla 6-kit group box shot

Runners

Runners viewed from the bottom. Like resin, the inside of the parts is filled to some degree.

Waterslide decals

Parts diagram

Manual

Box art scan.

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

The parts are thick, so it feels nice and hefty.

Some parts are molded as completely solid chunks, just like resin.

Leo's signature rifle

Much better articulation compared to earlier LM kits

OLD 1/144 Leo Custom - Action pose (1/4)

OLD 1/144 Leo Custom - Action pose (2/4)

Action pose

Together with the HGAC Leo released in 2018.

Together with the LM Dotreis Custom & Jenice Custom.

--- LM (Limited Model) — General Overview -----------------
The LM series is a lineup of plastic model kits released experimentally between 1996 and 1997. It targeted products that were a bit awkward to release as standard retail kits at the time. The lineup is a real mixed bag, with over 20 different products spanning Gundam, Evangelion, Escaflowne, and more — and of those, exactly 6 Gundam-related kits were released.

In terms of construction, these kits sit somewhere between resin and injection plastic — the parts come on runners, but the inside of each part is either fully or partially solid. That gives the finished model a satisfying, hefty weight, though most parts need to be glued together. There's also no color separation, so it's a single-color molded kit that absolutely needs to be painted. The detail is pretty rough too, so some extra work is needed all around — in a lot of ways, it's got that classic old-kit feel.

The name might make it sound like a simple limited edition, but it's more accurately classified as a limited-production standard retail kit. Since it hasn't been reprinted, it's missing from Bandai's official Gunpla catalog and has become a rare find on the secondhand market. Some kits in the lineup were later released as proper injection Gunpla, but others remain the only Gunpla ever made of their respective mobile suits — making this a truly classic lineup among classics.
------------------------------------------------------

This kit is the 1/144 Leo Custom, released in 1996 as LM No. 15. It's a mass-production mobile suit from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, and for 22 years — right up until the HGAC came out in 2018 — it was the only Leo plastic model in existence. It's got a slim, trim proportion, but it still has that solid, weighty resin-like feel you'd expect from an injection kit in this lineup.

Compared to earlier LM kits, the articulation is much improved thanks to the lack of a skirt, and you can pull off some fairly dynamic poses. That said, the joint strength balance isn't great — some joints are loose while others are stiff, so it's not the most enjoyable kit to handle. Still, even though the detail is rough, the overall three-dimensional look isn't bad at all, and with a bit of cleanup and a paint job, this could turn into a pretty cool-looking kit. Of course, with the high-quality HGAC Leo now out there, this one has been left to its legend as a vintage old-school kit. :-)
[ Updated at 2021.11.28 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.