Kit Review

Straight build + partial painting + panel lining

Size comparison with a cigarette pack — the universal standard size reference.

1/100 Blitz Gundam - The shield weapon was missing some of its design colors, so I did a light touch-up with some partial pai

The shield weapon was missing some of its design colors, so I did a light touch-up with some partial painting.
The photo on top is before, and below is after. Just the white stripe, yellow tip, and the back of the missiles.

Articulation is pretty good, but...

1/100 Blitz Gundam - If you look closely at the ankle joints, the front and side skirt pieces above the ankles are actually a

If you look closely at the ankle joints, the front and side skirt pieces above the ankles are actually articulated.

1/100 Blitz Gundam - The ankle itself has a double joint, and with the ankle guard skirt moving up and down, the side-to-side

The ankle itself has a double joint, and with the ankle guard skirt moving up and down,
the side-to-side range of motion is re~ally impressive. It bends over 45 degrees no problem.

So you can pull off a fairly natural kneeling pose like this..

1/100 Blitz Gundam - Looks like a photo of a track and field athlete.. The left hand only comes with one open action hand. De

Looks like a photo of a track and field athlete..
The left hand only comes with one open action hand. Detail is great~

Hehehe.. "Behold my ankle articulation..!!" — a pose that's basically showing off. (Kinda awkward though..)

1/100 Blitz Gundam - That weapon on the Blitz is a unique all-purpose multi-function armament that combines beam rifle / beam

That weapon on the Blitz is a unique all-purpose multi-function armament that combines beam rifle / beam saber / Lancer Dart (a type of missile) attack capabilities along with shield functionality,
it's a really unusual multi-function all-weather weapon.

Beam saber action pose

A metal wire and stand are also included to recreate the firing of the claw-like weapon on the arm.

A quick shot together with the main character Strike, snap!

Included 1/20 Nicol Amalfi figure

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

The Blitz Gundam has also been released in 1/100 scale. A black Gundam is pretty rare, so it has quite a unique feel to it. If I had to pick the biggest standout feature of this 1/100 Blitz Gundam, I'd point to the ankle joints without hesitation.

There are three armor pieces covering the ankles — one in front and one on each side — and they open upward as the joint moves. On top of that, the ankle joint itself is a double joint, meaning it moves as much as it possibly can, giving the ankles a side-to-side range of motion that I'd say is the best I've ever seen on a Gunpla. They snap sideways more than 45 degrees.

Of course, the thigh joints can't quite keep up, so you can't fully exploit that ankle range to pull off any truly wild poses — but even in everyday poses, you can still get dynamic stances where both feet are flat on the ground. The knee joints also bend quite a lot, which makes it even more impressive.

The Blitz Gundam has a pretty tricky color scheme, and while a lot of it is handled through color separation in the parts, some areas like the side skirts and foot skirts are left to seals. The problem is those seals have a slightly off color and a glossy finish, so they don't really blend well with the red molded color on the rest of the kit.

The Trikeros — the Blitz's signature shield-slash-attack weapon — has pretty great detail, but the color separation is so complex that quite a few areas had to be left out. So as you can see in the photos above, I did some partial painting here and there to tidy things up a bit. The claw weapon on the left arm (skipping the name because it's a mouthful) also has decent detail, and with the stand and wire included, it's fun to display.

But there's one glaring flaw with this kit. It's a double-edged sword — and that edge is the ankles. The ankle articulation is outstanding, but... they're loose. T_T And it's just the ankles. It's not like they got loose from repeated posing — they feel loose right out of the box, and the kit ends up tipping forward or backward fairly often because they can't support the body weight. I guess nothing in this world comes for free. It's a textbook case of a strength becoming a weakness. You can improve it somewhat by applying a thin coat of super glue to the joint surface, letting it dry, and then reassembling — but it's still a bit of a letdown. Also, the open action hand for the left hand looks really nice detail-wise, but including just that one single hand feels a little stingy.

That said, for a relatively affordable price of ¥2000, I think it's a solid kit with good detail and articulation. If you like the look of it, there's not much to regret quality-wise. If you reinforce the ankle joints yourself, it'd be pretty much perfect~ ^^;

1/100 Blitz Gundam | 2003.12 | ¥2,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.