SD Sangoku Soketsuden Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam

Release 2019.12

Price ¥1,000First release price: ¥800

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Runners

SD Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam - Parts (1/2)

SD Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam - Parts (2/2)

Parts diagram

SD Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam - Manual (1/6)

SD Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam - Manual (2/6)

SD Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam - Manual (3/6)

SD Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam - Manual (4/6)

Manual

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Front view of straight build before stickers

SD Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam - After applying seals (1/2)

SD Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam - After applying seals (2/2)

After applying stickers

A shared frame runner is used.

Hollow areas on the inner sides of the limbs

The Phoenix Memory stores in the backpack.

SD Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam - Two Shuang Hu Jian swords from the original Cao Cao Wing Gundam are combined onto a new fram

Two Shuang Hu Jian swords from the original Cao Cao Wing Gundam are combined onto a new frame to form the Tian Ba Shuang Shang Jian.

One leftover part remains.

SD Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam - Articulation is limited to the head, waist, shoulders, and hip joints, with the shoulders ab

Articulation is limited to the head, waist, shoulders, and hip joints, with the shoulders able to swing slightly forward and back.

Action pose

Together with SD Cao Cao Wing Gundam

Together with SD Zhen Hong Lian Zhang Cao Cao Gundam.

SD Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam - You can collaborate with the weapons and memory cards from, from left: Xu Huang Gundam Death

From left: Xu Huang Gundam Deathscythe Hell, Xun Yu Gundam Strike Noir, Zhang Liao Sazabi, Zhang He Altron Gundam,
Xiahou Yuan Tallgeese, Xiahou Dun Tallgeese III, and Dian Wei Master Gundam — you can collaborate with their weapons and memory cards.

The result of a complex collaboration

Eight memories packed tightly into the backpack.

Action poses after combining

* This series is a standardized lineup where most features are shared across kits, so I'll cover the common points first and then get into what's unique about each one ^^

--- SD Sangoku Soketsuden Common Notes -----------------
In 2019, the SD Sangoku Soketsuden project kicked off to celebrate Gundam's 40th anniversary. The plastic models in this series are made at Bandai's Chinese factory rather than the Shizuoka plant, so the molded colors are a touch duller and the plastic feels a bit harder compared to Shizuoka-made kits. That said, the color separation is impressively done, keeping seal usage to a minimum while still delivering a really striking look. The detail is a little soft in places, but the sculpting and sense of volume are excellent, and small gates are used throughout, making assembly a breeze. The proportions have also shifted compared to older SD kits — the head is smaller and the overall silhouette is slimmer, which seems to be the direction SD-grade kits are heading these days. The hollow areas you'd expect from any SD kit show up mainly on the inner sides of the arms and legs, but they're positioned where they're not too noticeable, so it doesn't really bother you.

In terms of construction, a shared frame runner is included, though it only covers the torso and thighs. It feels like they were going for something like the SD Cross Silhouette frame but deliberately kept it simpler. Even so, this frame is a step up from older SD kits in terms of articulation. Knee joints have been added where there were none before, the shoulders can swing slightly forward and back, and the waist can rotate on all kits as standard. The frame structure also allows the upper body to lean forward slightly, which gives you more expressive poses than previous SD kits.

Accessories are kept to a minimum — most kits come with just one unique weapon. So while the contents are simple, the visual impact is anything but, and being made in China probably helps keep the price-to-value ratio feeling pretty generous for what you get. One other fun detail: when the character names are written out in English, they use Chinese pronunciation rather than Japanese — which is a nice touch for this kind of series. Overall, I'd call the quality "better than expected," and if the theme clicks with you, this is a seriously addictive lineup to collect.
------------------------------------------------------

The 29th kit in the SD Sangoku Soketsuden series is the Tian Ba Cao Cao Wing Gundam — a powered-up variation of the previously released Cao Cao Wing Gundam. A good number of parts are reused from the original, with changes made to the head antenna, torso, shoulders, and weapons. Most notably, the number of clear parts has doubled, giving this kit a noticeably different visual flair.

For weapons, two Shuang Hu Jian swords from the original Cao Cao Wing Gundam are combined onto a new frame to form the Tian Ba Shuang Shang Jian. Since the base body is the same, all the other features carry over as well. The real highlight of this kit, though, is the ability to collaborate with the weapons and memories from no fewer than seven other kits — Xu Huang Gundam Deathscythe Hell, Xun Yu Gundam Strike Noir, Zhang Liao Sazabi, Zhang He Altron Gundam, Xiahou Yuan Tallgeese, Xiahou Dun Tallgeese III, and Dian Wei Master Gundam. The process is pretty involved, but the end result is a flashy, colorful combined form that's really something to see.

Anyway, it's essentially the Cao Cao Wing Gundam with some design tweaks, but if you're into big, flashy, and complex combination gimmicks, this one's definitely worth a look :-)

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.