Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Academy God Phoenix - Views from various angles (1/6)

Academy God Phoenix - Views from various angles (2/6)

Academy God Phoenix - Views from various angles (3/6)

Academy God Phoenix - Views from various angles (4/6)

Various angles

Underside

Academy God Phoenix - Detail shots. The color separation is really well done. (1/5)

Academy God Phoenix - Detail shots. The color separation is really well done. (2/5)

Academy God Phoenix - Detail shots. The color separation is really well done. (3/5)

Detail shots. The color separation is really well done.

Academy God Phoenix - You can remove the covers and attach the landing gear. (1/3)

You can remove the covers and attach the landing gear.

Academy God Phoenix - Landing gear attached (1/3)

Landing gear attached

The bottom ducts can be swapped out with open-type parts.

There's also a gimmick where you can pull the wings out slightly and fold them downward.

One Bird Missile unit and two Super Bird Missile units are included.

Academy God Phoenix - Remove one cover on top and two on the bottom, then you can attach the Bird Missile unit on top and the

Remove one cover on top and two on the bottom,
then you can attach the Bird Missile unit on top and the two Super Bird Missile units on the bottom.

Academy God Phoenix - With all three missile units attached (1/3)

With all three missile units attached

The little G-Mecha units 1, 2, 3, and 4 are also included.

Unit 1 can be converted to a stowed configuration by swapping out the top section.

Units 2, 3, and 4 each have docking joint parts that can be attached.

Academy God Phoenix - To stow all four G-Mecha units, you need to remove the nose/tail sections and the two covers under the

To stow all four G-Mecha units, you need to remove the nose/tail sections and the two covers under the wings, as shown above.

First, Unit 1 can be slid into the tail section.

Unit 2 can be plugged into the spot where the nose was removed.

Units 3 and 4 can be hung underneath the wings.

Academy God Phoenix - The stand itself is almost identical to the previous release, the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman command

The stand itself is almost identical to the previous release, the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman command ship.

The God Phoenix-exclusive LED kit, sold separately for 5,000 won.

The internal wiring layout is the same as the command ship.

Internal wiring layout of the main body.

Academy God Phoenix - To place it on the stand, you need to remove the front bottom duct and plug in the stand and LED connec

To place it on the stand, you need to remove the front bottom duct and plug in the stand and LED connector in its place.

Before and after comparison with the LED on.
The glow effect isn't very noticeable in bright lighting.

In a darker environment, the engine glow effect at the tail section really shows up nicely.

There's also a circular LED light on the top center of the body, though it's a bit on the dim side.

Firebird effect parts

Remove the black cover from the nozzle and plug the effect parts in its place.

Academy God Phoenix - Soaring as the firebird~ fighting together as one~ (if you know the song, sing along in your head) (1/4

Academy God Phoenix - Soaring as the firebird~ fighting together as one~ (if you know the song, sing along in your head) (2/4

Soaring as the firebird~ fighting together as one~
(if you know the song, sing along in your head)

The rear of the God Phoenix with the lights dimmed and LEDs lit up

Together with the previously released Gatchaman command ship.

Gatchaman command shipFollowing the Gatchaman command ship, the Gatchaman Phoenix (God Phoenix) has now been released as an Academy plastic model kit. If the command ship was the main vehicle of the second season of Gatchaman (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman), then this Phoenix was the star of the original first season. It's a craft remembered for those climactic moments when it would be cornered and burst into flames — charging forward as a firebird while the crew inside suffered like crazy.

First off, the color separation is excellent, on par with the previous command ship kit, and the blue molded color in particular came out really nicely — calm and well-balanced. The plastic has a smooth feel to it, which makes cleaning up the gates easy, and the overall build experience feels comfortable. Some of the red areas are handled with stickers, but the sticker quality is good enough that the surface texture almost looks like it's been painted.

That said, while the overall build feel is smooth, the snap-fit holding strength is a little worrying. The command ship showed a bit of this too, but the Phoenix is even more uncertain in that regard. If you grip the body with any force, parts start shifting and it feels like it's coming apart — so you really need to handle it gently. (In particular, some of the more unstable areas are best glued together.)

This kit comes with quite a variety of accessories. Along with swappable landing gear, you can attach Bird Missiles on top and two Super Bird Missiles on the bottom, all as swappable parts. There are also small G-Mecha units 1 through 4 included, and each can be combined with the main body by swapping or adding parts. At a glance it might look like they're just being stored inside, but in terms of the lore, it's definitely a "combination." The main body itself is G-Mecha No. 5, and only when G-Mecha 1 through 4 combine with it does it become the fully operational Phoenix. (In the early episodes of the original series, the Bird Missiles couldn't even be fired unless all the G-Mecha units were combined.)

On top of that, clear orange effect parts for the firebird mode are also included — attach them to the front and rear nozzles and you get a pretty convincing firebird look. And if you add the separately sold LED effect parts (₩5,000) inside, the rear nozzle glow looks seriously awesome. There's also one light-up spot in the center of the body, but it's a bit too dim — the rear nozzles with the effect parts attached are definitely where the most impressive lighting happens.

There are probably a lot of old-school fans who are genuinely moved to see the original God Phoenix released as a modern plastic model kit. It comes out as a high-quality kit with detailed detailing, excellent color separation and molded colors, a smooth build experience, and a great range of accessories. Sure, some parts don't hold together as securely as you'd like, but a bit of glue takes care of that pretty easily. Either way, for any longtime fan, this seems like the perfect item for a nostalgic trip back to the romance of the 20th century. Shupa~ Shupashupashupa~ :-)

God Phoenix | 2020.12 | ₩42,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.