-- Series Common Notes ---------------------------------
The Gundam SEED Destiny 1/144 No Grade series followed up on the original SEED 1/144 line, with a total of 14 kits released between 2004 and 2005, priced between ¥300 and ¥600 as entry-level gunpla. The basic construction is similar to the SEED 1/144 kits, but you can feel a step up in terms of detail, and they use an evolved dumbbell-shaped ball joint polycap. Each joint moves on both ends, so articulation has improved — but since the elbows and knees are still fixed, the range of poses you can pull off remains limited.
That said, the proportions are solid and on par with HG, and while color separation is limited, the molded colors look pretty decent. Each kit also recreates its own transformation gimmick and key features. The parts count is more complex than the SEED 1/144 kits, pushing the average price up to ¥500, but overall quality has gone up along with it. True to the No Grade label, these are good entry-level gunpla for building on a budget or practicing your painting skills.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
<Individual Kit Notes>
This kit is the 5th entry in the series — the 1/144 Sword Impulse Gundam. It's essentially the 1/144 Force Impulse Gundam with the body molded in different colors and the Sword Silhouette pack swapped in for the Force pack. The beam parts aren't included, but the sword weapon loadout is otherwise complete, and there's even a gimmick where you can connect the two swords together.
One downside with No Grade kits is that the hands are molded as one piece with the arms, so every time you want to put a sword in or take it out, you have to disassemble and reassemble the whole stiff arm — which gets a bit tedious. Anyway, just like the Force Impulse Gundam, color separation is lacking, but the proportions aren't bad, so it should work just fine as a painting practice kit. :-)
AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.
