Kit Review

Straight build + partial painting + panel lining

1/100 Freedom Gundam - Size comparison with the universal reference — a cigarette pack. It's just a tiny bit shorter than the

Size comparison with the universal reference — a cigarette pack. It's just a tiny bit shorter than the other SEED Gundams.

1/100 Freedom Gundam - Despite those big wings, the center of gravity is well-balanced and the joints are solid, so it stands

Despite those big wings, the center of gravity is well-balanced and the joints are solid, so it stands up nice and straight.

Upper body close-up

1/100 Freedom Gundam - There are 4 pairs of large layered rear wings, and the black sections on the upper parts are meant to

There are 4 pairs of large layered rear wings, and the black sections on the upper parts are meant to be handled with seals.
The thing is... both sides of all 4 upper wings need to be black, so you'd need 8 seals to cover them —
— but for some reason, only 4 seals are included, meant only for the outer-facing sides..
So as you can see in the photo above, the outer side gets a decent-looking black seal, but the inner side is left completely bare, as shown below~
The problem is that when you spread the wings out into High M.A.T. mode, the colors look really uneven.
It's a bit of an annoying issue for anyone doing just a straight build. So there was really no choice but to do the following...

1/100 Freedom Gundam - I painted both the front and back of the upper wing sections with flat black. That way, when the wings

I painted both the front and back of the upper wing sections with flat black.
That way, when the wings are spread out, both sides look properly black.

1/100 Freedom Gundam - The plasma beam cannon hidden inside the wings also lacks the molded color for the red band section, a

The plasma beam cannon hidden inside the wings also
lacks the molded color for the red band section, as you can see in the photo above.
So again, some partial painting was needed~

The wing section after partial painting is complete.

Articulation is pretty decent overall.

1/100 Freedom Gundam - But here's the thing... the previous 1/100 SEED kits had high-mobility shoulder joints that could swin

But here's the thing... the previous 1/100 SEED kits had high-mobility shoulder joints that could swing forward about 45 degrees,
but strangely, this Freedom Gundam has the shoulders fixed in place..
It definitely could've been done — so why didn't they add that joint articulation.. T_T

1/100 Freedom Gundam - There are a lot of reports of the pins that connect the rear wing section snapping easily. Everyone be

There are a lot of reports of the pins that connect the rear wing section snapping easily. Everyone be careful~

Action poses. Pulls off poses pretty well~

Those rear wings really do make quite an impression~

1/100 Freedom Gundam - High M.A.T. mode. (High Mobility Aerial Tactics mode) Freedom Gundam just looks so cool in this config

High M.A.T. mode. (High Mobility Aerial Tactics mode)
Freedom Gundam just looks so cool in this configuration..

Rear view with wings folded and spread.

Beam saber action pose

You can also connect two beam sabers end-to-end to recreate a staff-fighting (?) style move..

The rail cannons on the hips fold and extend in three sections.

Rail cannon and plasma beam cannon attack mode. Almost looks like Buster Gundam..?

Together with its predecessor protagonist unit, the Aile Strike Gundam.

The included Lacus Clyne figure.

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

1/100 Freedom Gundam - Straight build rear view. You can clearly see that the inner side of the wings — where no seals were applied

Straight build rear view. You can clearly see that the inner side of the wings — where no seals were applied — is just bare blue.

Following the Strike, the protagonist unit Freedom Gundam has been released in 1/100 scale. It features those large wings on its back, and opinions on the overall proportions tend to be pretty polarized — people either love it or hate it..

First off, what I like most is how well it stands upright despite having those big wings on its back. The joints are reasonably tight (not super snug, but enough) and the balance is solid, so as you can see in the photos, it stands without tipping over even without spreading the legs too far back.

The color separation is decent enough overall, but the wings are a bit lacking. The black sections are all meant to be covered with seals, but while all 8 surfaces across the 4 pairs of wings need to be black, only 4 seals are included for the outer-facing sides. So when you fully spread the wings, the inner surfaces just show up as plain blue. If you're doing a full paint job it doesn't matter, but for straight builders it's a bit of an eyesore.. So I just went ahead and painted both sides flat black (and as you can see in the photos, it came out noticeably matte.. -.-;). The red band on the plasma beam cannon inside the wings also had no color separation, so I did some partial painting there too.

Articulation is quite good, allowing for some dynamic poses. Combined with the impressive rear wings, you can pull off some really cool-looking stances. The hip rail cannons and back-mounted plasma beam cannons are well-represented too, letting you recreate attack poses that almost look like Buster Gundam.

Overall, the kit quality is on par with the other 1/100 SEED kits. One downside is that seam lines tend to gap open in straight-built state (see photos~). But as befitting a protagonist unit, it's a solid kit with real visual impact.

1/100 Freedom Gundam | 2003.7 | ¥2,200

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.