Kit Review

Straight build + partial painting + panel lining

Size comparison with the universal reference — a cigarette pack.

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame - Articulation is gooo~od — the arms and legs fold all the way. (1/4)

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame - Articulation is gooo~od — the arms and legs fold all the way. (2/4)

Articulation is gooo~od — the arms and legs fold all the way.

And the wrist bends inward a full 90 degrees — pretty amazing feature...

The ankles are double-jointed too, so they have a pretty wide forward bend range.

The shoulder joints also move forward and backward.

Even the waist is double-jointed.. though the range of motion is a bit limited~

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame - The highlight of the Astray Red Frame — the Gerbera Straight — is an absolute must-paint item

The highlight of the Astray Red Frame — the Gerbera Straight — is an absolute must-paint item.
Above is before painting, below is after. Lots to paint

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame - The handle and scabbard tip. I followed the color combination specified in the manual exactly

The handle and scabbard tip. I followed the color combination specified in the manual exactly.
If you paint gold first and then layer clear yellow and clear orange on top, you get a really nice glossy finish.

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame - The hands... According to the design specs, the first two knuckles of each finger are suppose

The hands... According to the design specs, the first two knuckles of each finger are supposed to be white, so after some deliberation I went ahead and did partial painting.

After partial painting.

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame - Upper body close-up. The two red areas on the upper chest weren't represented in the molded c

Upper body close-up. The two red areas on the upper chest weren't represented in the molded color, so I painted those in,
and also painted the inner shoulders matte red to match the design specs.

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame - Rear view. The backpack can be lowered — probably to accommodate future weapon add-ons on the

Rear view. The backpack can be lowered — probably to accommodate future weapon add-ons on the back.

Heh.. a sword-drawing pose from the back scabbard is super easy to pull off.

Action po~se

With such great articulation, the action poses are really dynamic...

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame - Among the left hand options, there's an action-style open hand included specifically for Gerb

Among the left hand options, there's an action-style open hand included specifically for Gerbera Straight poses.

As expected, the Astray's rear view has some serious charisma.

There's also a beam saber drawn from the back, but...

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame - Of course, the Gerbera Straight is the star of the Astray Red Frame! The blade part is chrome

Of course, the Gerbera Straight is the star of the Astray Red Frame!
The blade part is chrome-plated, so it really shines~

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame - The iconic seated sword-drawing pose. The wrist joint really does a lot of the heavy lifting

The iconic seated sword-drawing pose. The wrist joint really does a lot of the heavy lifting here.

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame - The shoulder and arm articulation is so exceptional that a two-handed sword grip looks comple

The shoulder and arm articulation is so exceptional that a two-handed sword grip looks completely natural.

Ooh.. that pose...

A rear view that just oozes cocky charisma.

The included 1/20 Lowe Guele figure. Somehow reminds me of a subway vendor...

Straight build before partial painting and panel lining (with seals applied)

This is the 1/100 Astray Red Frame, one of Bandai's surprise hits from the spring of 2004. It's a kit that stunned a lot of people by showing off ridiculously(?) high quality that you'd never expect from a no-grade kit priced at just ¥2000.

Despite being a side-story character rather than from the main anime, the Astray was massively popular — popular enough to rival the protagonist Strike. That's probably down to its innovative style and the beauty of its complexity — ultimately, the design had huge appeal. Bandai clearly didn't overlook this, and you can really tell they put considerably more effort into the detail and structural design compared to other SEED kits.

The first thing I have to mention is the articulation — it's nearly on par with the MG Aile, which has long been considered the king of articulation. Full arm and leg folding goes without saying, and it even pulls off the near-miraculous trick of bending the wrist inward a full 90 degrees. The shoulder and foot sole articulation isn't quite up to MG Aile levels, but the double-jointed ankles and natural arm joints allow for a ton of really cool poses. The joints themselves aren't particularly loose anywhere, but they're not super tight either. After posing it a lot, the balance does shift a little...

The molded colors are quite premium, and the complex design colors of the Astray Red Frame are matched at 95% or better. The two red spots on the chest, the inner shoulders, the Gerbera Straight, and the fingers still aren't perfectly represented due to the complex design colors — but these are areas where even an MG release probably couldn't do much better, so you can let it slide. That said, I did attempt some partial painting since I thought it'd look so much better with those colors filled in.

The Gerbera Straight — essentially a Japanese katana for the Astray — has a chrome-plated blade just like the HG version, which looks great, but the rest of it definitely needs painting. Once painted though, it looks so much sharper. The fingers with only two knuckles painted white are a real grind to paint, but they look pretty cool once the color is on. The weapons — beam rifle, shield, standard beam saber, and Gerbera Straight — feel fairly generous for the price. Looking at the undergated runner layout, it's pretty obvious (and expected, really) that a Blue Frame and even a chrome gold Gold Frame are in the pipeline. This is definitely a kit with a lot of exciting variations to look forward to. ^^

One minor gripe — in plain assembled state, some parts don't hold on very securely. The white parts on the forearms and the head antennae are like that, but since you can just glue them down it's not really a big deal. Also, the amount of panel lining is about 2–3 times that of a typical kit, but the satisfaction after doing it is pretty high too, so — pass.

Considering the 2000 yen price tag, it feels like MG-level quality — just without the inner frame. The build difficulty is on the lower side, and the outstanding articulation and proportions push the value-for-money satisfaction to the absolute limit (^^;) The fact that quite a few areas need partial painting is a bit of a hurdle for snap-fit-only folks, but this is a kit with serious style, so I'd say it's definitely worth a strong recommendation. For those planning a full paint job, it's also a kit that offers a pretty substantial amount of work in every way.. -.,-

This might just be one of the best kits ever released in the No Grade lineup..

> Special: Articulation Comparison with the MG Aile Strike Gundam <

1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame | 2004.4 | ¥2,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.