OLD MSV 1/144 Perfect Gundam

Release 1984.6

Price ¥600

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

OLD 1/144 Perfect Gundam - Box side view (1/3)

Box side view

Runners

Waterslide decals

Includes a black-and-white assembly manual and a full-color printed mechanical file.

The first 1/144 scale plastic model to use polycaps!

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build + Waterslide decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

The first 1/144 scale kit to use polycaps.

Hand swapping is smooth and easy thanks to the polycap system.

Two hand types are included, along with two separate beam sabers.

OLD 1/144 Perfect Gundam - The cables are rendered in soft rubber, which looks natural enough, but they feel a bit out of pla

The cables are rendered in soft rubber, which looks natural enough, but they feel a bit out of place..

OLD 1/144 Perfect Gundam - The antenna on the backpack can be extended upward, but the hold is so weak it just slides back do

The antenna on the backpack can be extended upward, but the hold is so weak it just slides back down on its own. ^^;

The verniers on the bottom of the backpack are movable.

Articulation is just a slight step up from the older 1/144 kits.

OLD 1/144 Perfect Gundam - The shoulders look so big you'd think they can't raise sideways, but there's an inner auxiliary sh

The shoulders look pretty bulky, so it seems like they might not raise up to the side at first glance, but
There's an inner shoulder joint that lets you raise the arm out horizontally.

Forward/backward shoulder articulation.

The knee joint rotates horizontally, so you can spread the legs out into a wide stance.

OLD 1/144 Perfect Gundam - Beam saber action (1/3)

Beam saber action

OLD 1/144 Perfect Gundam - Just some action poses. (1/3)

Just some action poses.

Together with the 1/144 First Gundam

Together with the MG Perfect Gundam.

The 1/144 Perfect Gundam — an item you can only get thanks to MSV. It's the mobile suit that appeared in the manga Plamo-Kyoshiro, and while the design is a little on the kiddy side, it's got a look that definitely stirs up some nostalgia.

First off, this kit was the very first 1/144 scale kit to introduce polycaps — after this, polycaps would be adopted across the board starting with the Zeta Gundam model series. Thanks to those soft polycaps, the 1/144 Perfect Gundam delivers solid, smooth joint strength that's a cut above other old-style kits.

Limb articulation is also relatively good compared to other MSV kits. A rotating knee gimmick gives the legs a better spread, and an extra inner joint was added inside the shoulder to overcome the handicap of that chunky shoulder design, so there's plenty of shoulder range of motion too. In terms of articulation and joint strength, this kit is clearly a step up from what came before.

The power cables running across the body are nicely reproduced in soft rubber parts. That said, they stand out a bit too much visually and feel slightly at odds with the rest of the kit. And while the molded colors are a bit plain, the sense of depth and detail is actually pretty impressive for an old-school 1/144 scale kit.

Either way, this is a landmark 1/144 kit — the first to adopt polycaps and take joint quality to the next level. It may not be the most popular mobile suit out there, but in terms of structural quality it was a genuine step forward, and that earns it a place in Gunpla history. :-)
[ Updated at 2017.1.10 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.