Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Seals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Upper body front

Wing unit details

Back view without wings

Leg section

Outer armor removed

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - Inner frame shots (1/2)

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - Inner frame shots (2/2)

Internal frame

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - Frame detail shots. SEED common frame #4 is used as-is. (1/4)

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - Frame detail shots. SEED common frame #4 is used as-is. (2/4)

Frame detail shots.
SEED common frame #4 is used as-is.

Frame articulation

Natural kneeling pose on the frame

Frame action pose

Cockpit hatch open

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - The beam rifle's combination gimmick is reproduced as cleanly as MG level, and the color separatio

The beam rifle's combination gimmick is reproduced as cleanly as MG level,
and the color separation is perfectly executed as well.

Rail gun deployment

The gimmick of rotating the side rail guns around to the back is also neatly reproduced..

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - After rotating the rail guns to the back, a hidden locking gimmick can be pulled out to mount the

After rotating the rail guns to the back, a hidden locking gimmick can be pulled out
to mount the beam rifles.

Beam shield completed by applying seals onto clear parts.

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - When you remove the red parts on the forearm to attach the beam shield, you're supposed to wrap th

When you remove the red parts on the forearm to attach the beam shield,
you're supposed to wrap the gold seals around the inner edge of the red parts.
I misread the manual and applied them on the outside before taking the photos T_T
In reality the gold seals go on the inside, so please keep that in mind.

Four hand types included: open hand, fist, weapon-holding hand, and articulated hand.

Kira Yamato figure

Leftover parts

Wing unit breakdown.

At least the inner frame of the wings has a nice gold plating applied.

Articulation is excellent as expected.

The multi-stage rotation gimmick on the wings is on par with MG level, but..

In addition, two covers on the wing mounting section also open up like this.

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - Beam saber + beam shield action (1/4)

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - Beam saber + beam shield action (2/4)

Beam saber + beam shield action

Double beam saber action with wings deployed

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - Combined beam rifle action with Super DRAGOON deployed (1/3)

Combined beam rifle action with Super DRAGOON deployed

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - Aerial firing pose with wing mounts fully deployed (1/3)

Aerial firing pose with wing mounts fully deployed

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - Rail gun + beam rifle all-out attack pose (1/4)

RG Strike Freedom Gundam - Rail gun + beam rifle all-out attack pose (2/4)

Rail gun + beam rifle all-out attack pose

Together with the MG Strike Freedom.
The RG feels like it has even more refined detail.

Together with the RG Freedom.

Together with the HG Strike Freedom.
You can really feel the massive quality gap ^^;

Straight build

The 14th entry in the RG lineup — Bandai's most heavily invested line these days — is the Strike Freedom Gundam (Strike Freedom for short), one of SEED's most popular mobile suits. Overall it delivers the high quality you'd fully expect, though in terms of what's in the box it's not drastically different from previous RG kits.

First off, Strike Freedom's signature gold frame comes out looking quite premium with 3 different tones. Among them, the wing skeleton frame gets special plated gold treatment. If they were going to go with plating, you'd think they'd coat the body frame too — it feels a bit half-baked either way. After actually going through the build, though, the kit is too small to run the frame all the way through the joints, so managing joint tolerances seems like it could be a bit tricky..

The RG Strike Freedom's solid-molded inner frame uses the same No. 4 frame that was used in the previous SEED RGs — the difference being that it's molded in gold instead of the usual dark color. The raw material used to achieve that gold color is a bit on the harder side, so it feels noticeably stiffer and tighter compared to other RG frames. At the same time, the other joint parts molded in gold also feel considerably harder than parts in other molded colors. As a result, the joint strength feels tighter than other RGs, and because of this, unintended parts can pop off when you try to pose it.

A prime example is the stiff solid joints causing the shoulders to pop off way too easily — this is due to the imbalance from the big differences in joint strength between different sections. Also, a new feature was added where the wing mount covers open up to reveal the gold-plated wing skeleton — something not seen in other scales. But the opening mechanism on the wide upper cover is extremely stiff, and there's a real risk of snapping something unintended if you try to force it open.

So yeah, there are some joints that are a little uncomfortable to handle, but most of the other characteristics are very faithfully executed in line with the RG concept. The wing deployment, the rail gun's rearward slide, the beam rifle's side-mount and combination — all of it is perfectly reproduced, and even the tricky color separation on the beam rifle is pulled off perfectly through parts division. In that sense, the overall quality of the color separation and parts breakdown feels more than worthy of the RG title.

To wrap it all up — this is clearly an ultra-high-quality kit that lives up to the RG concept's pursuit of top-tier refinement, delivering faithful spec reproduction, color separation, and articulation on par with or beyond MG level. That said, compared to previous entries, some joints are stiffer or more unbalanced than others, so you do need to handle it carefully to avoid snapping anything during posing. On the flip side, the generally tight joints mean it's actually pretty easy to hold poses even with those big wings on its back — a nice bonus. And given the small, lightweight nature of the scale, posing it is definitely easier than an MG.

If you've been waiting for the RG Strike Freedom, this is a pretty satisfying kit all around — here's a round of applause for the continued streak of high-quality RGs. :-)

RG Strike Freedom Gundam | 2013. 11 | ¥3,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.