OLD Silhouette Formula 91 1/100 Vigna Zirah

Release 1992.7

Price ¥1,000

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

OLD 1/100 Vigna Zirah - Box side view (1/3)

Box side view

Runners

Stickers and seals

OLD 1/100 Vigna Zirah - Parts diagram (1/3)

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build + stickers & seals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

OLD 1/100 Vigna Zirah - You can swap the head antenna and eyes to build either the Vigna type (left) or Gundam type (right).

You can swap the head antenna and eyes to build either the Vigna type or Gundam type.

OLD 1/100 Vigna Zirah - To attach the beam shield, you have to separate the beam generator parts and slot it in between — but

To attach the beam shield, you have to separate the beam generator parts and slot it in between — but the front-and-back center parts that clamp together are really tight, making it a pain to attach.

Two beam sabers are included: a handle-only version and a full beam saber.

Articulated fingers are included.

Some Vigna Ghina-specific parts are left over as leftover parts.

The limb articulation is actually worse than the Vigna Ghina.

Vesbar deployment

Beam rifle firing pose

Beam saber + beam shield pose

OLD 1/100 Vigna Zirah - Vesbar attack pose (1/3)

Vesbar attack pose

Together with the 1/100 Gundam F91.

Together with the 1/100 Vigna Ghina.

The third entry in the Silhouette Formula series is the 1/100 Vigna Zirah, an MSV-style variant of the Vigna Ghina. Even though it's technically a variation, the detailed design differs quite a bit, so aside from some weapons and frame parts, most of the parts are actually new.

The 1/100 Vigna Ghina was a kit with some serious joint strength issues, and the Vigna Zirah does improve on that somewhat. That said, it's still not quite satisfying enough given the kit's size — the joints still feel oddly wobbly and struggle to hold a pose. On top of that, the poor leg articulation makes posing a real challenge, so all you can really see are the downsides when it comes to movement. The head can also be swapped between the Vigna type and Gundam type by changing the eyes and head antenna, but swapping the eye parts is awkward enough that you're probably better off just picking one look from the start and sticking with it.

The red molded color isn't particularly great either. They clearly tried to make it look flashy with a complex design and a ton of stickers and seals, but the overall result still feels kind of cheap and cluttered.
On top of that, swinging the Vesbar from the back around to the front is a real struggle to do by hand, and the clear beam shield is fiddly to attach and detach — there's just no shortage of things to be annoyed about with this kit...

Bottom line — unless you're really into this particular look, this is the weakest kit in the Silhouette Formula series in terms of overall quality, and it's hard to recommend. A very old-kit kind of old kit. :-)
[ Updated at 2017.10.13]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.