Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - Detail shots (1/4)

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - Detail shots (2/4)

Detail shots

Plenty of detail even inside the skirt and backpack.

Bazooka "Todesblock" and shield "Kaefer Zwei"

The Todesblock handle is articulated, so positioning it is a breeze.

Movement of the shield's inner mounting section

Movement of the gun barrel attached to the shield

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - The hands are swap-out style by default, but only the right hand can be switched to the bazo

The hands are swap-out style by default, but only the right hand can be switched to the bazooka-grip fingers.

Stand joint parts

Only one leftover part

Excellent limb articulation

The shoulder slides out to the side one step before swinging forward.

The shoulders raise up pretty high too.

The backpack beam cannons "Schlag" move up, down, left, and right.

There's also a hip joint sliding gimmick.

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - There's a clever gimmick where the front crotch section moves up and down to expand the wais

There's a clever gimmick where the front crotch section moves up and down to expand the waist's forward and backward range of motion.
Though this part feels a bit loose and can throw off your poses.

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - Kneeling pose (1/4)

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - Kneeling pose (2/4)

Kneeling pose

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - Action poses (1/5)

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - Action poses (2/5)

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - Action poses (3/5)

Action poses

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - Together with the HG Calamity Gundam from 2003. It took a whopping 18 years to finally get a

Together with the HG Calamity Gundam from 2003.
It took a whopping 18 years to finally get a 1/100 version.

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - Together with the Full Mechanics Barbatos Lupus. Same lineup name, but the quality differenc

Together with the Full Mechanics Barbatos Lupus.
Same lineup name, but the quality difference is pretty significant.

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - Together with the RE/100 Zaku II FZ. Full Mechanics is basically the non-Universal Century e

Together with the RE/100 Zaku II FZ.
Full Mechanics is basically the non-Universal Century equivalent of RE/100 — and it's noticeably better quality.

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam - Together with the MG Mobile Ginn. Visually it absolutely holds its own against any MG — thou

Together with the MG Mobile Ginn.
Visually it absolutely holds its own against any MG —
though it is a bit puzzling that it costs more than an MG despite having no inner frame.

Straight build shots.

This kit is the 1/100 Calamity Gundam released under the Full Mechanics lineup. The Full Mechanics name was used before for four Iron-Blooded Orphans kits, but back then they shared a large number of parts with the existing 1/100 Barbatos, so they were really just the 1/100 series with a new name slapped on.

This time around, the Calamity Gundam — which had never gotten a 1/100 before — is launching as a brand-new Full Mechanics release, and it feels like a reboot with a concept similar to the non-Universal Century RE/100 series. The inner frame is gone, but it aims for MG-level detail and color separation, and like RE/100 it comes with a generous amount of seals. Unlike RE/100, though, it doesn't use polycaps, and it seems to push even further into over-detailing territory than RE/100 does.

First off, visually it shows more refined detail and molding than most MGs, and the colorful Calamity Gundam design is fully realized through color separation alone — no stickers needed. Thanks to that, even a straight straight build looks impressively striking, and the complex panel lines and molding make panel lining really rewarding. Sure, the panel lining work takes longer than the actual build, but the payoff is absolutely worth it.

With polycaps gone I was a bit worried about durability, but surprisingly the joint strength is far better than RE/100. It's not quite that smooth-yet-solid feel you get from recent high-end MGs, but the joints are good enough to hold standing poses and action poses without any trouble. Articulation is also on par with high-end MGs — the hip joint sliding gimmick and the shoulder swing-out rotation joint make for some really dynamic poses.

In particular, the front crotch section moves up, down, and forward, and combined with the waist panel that bends front and back, the waist feels surprisingly flexible. The new waist joint concept is a nice idea, but the stability is a bit iffy and it tends to wander around, which is a little disappointing. As for accessories, you get the standard weapons and one set of swap-out grip fingers — no more, no less, just like RE/100, which feels clean and purposeful.

Overall, this kit delivers quality that's "better than expected" and leaves you feeling pretty satisfied. It's a fundamentally different level of quality compared to the earlier Full Mechanics Iron-Blooded Orphans kits, and it's nothing like RE/100 either — which looked great on the outside but let you down with its flimsy joint strength. It honestly feels better than most MGs aside from lacking an inner frame... but the pricing is a bit head-scratching.

The MG Mobile Ginn came out recently with great quality and is ¥4,300 — so a 1/100 with no inner frame coming in at ¥5,000 feels a bit off. The parts count is low and the box is small too... just looking at the contents, I'd say it's worth around ¥3,000, ¥3,500 at most if you're being generous. If it had come out as a Club G exclusive, the limited-edition premium would at least make some sense — but a regular retail 1/100 that costs more than an MG? That said, it absolutely delivers value for money as a kit, and aside from the weird pricing, this really is a wonderfully well-done kit :-)

Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam | 2021. 6 | ¥5,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.