1/100 Gundam Astray [Review]

At last, we come to the long over-due review of the 1/100 scale Gundam Astray from the Gundam SEED line. This model has been acclaimed for its incredible detail, master grade like construction, and flexible articulation. Well as this review will tell you, the compliments are not overblown.

The pieces are molded in white, red, gray, and a lightly toned black. There are foil stickers for the eyes, the red square on the stomach, and the green on the top of the head. There are also clear stickers for logos that go on the shoulder and the shield. The body is appropriately molded in the right colors and is incredibly detailed. Because of all the details, you'll probably want to do some serious panel lining to make the details stand out, especially on the legs. Overall it looks fine out of the box, but nowhere near its potential until you panel line it.

Surprisingly, the joints are connected by thick pegs instead of polycaps, kind of like master grade models, which make for much stronger joints that don't become loose after wearing it down. The red parts in the legs are thin and carry a lot of the panel lines. The white pieces go over the red parts to simulate the inner frame construction you mostly see in master grade. This is rather impressive. There are four hands. Two are closed fists, used for holding the katana and beam sabers. There is a hand for holding the beam rifles, and the last one is a clasped hand with the thumb sticking out, which is used for holding the katana sheathe rather stylishly.

Articulation is excellent. The shoulder armor moves separately and the joint also moves around. The elbow joint bends completely 180 degrees and allows for near complete freedom of movement for holding the katana sword. The legs are just as flexible; It can take that "crapping in the woods" position, which allows for all sorts of dynamic posing. The body spins around, but the head is limited and cannot turn all the way to the side.

The Astray comes loaded with weapons. It comes with a standard beam rifle, which isn't too excited. There is also the shield, which is also pretty boring. It also comes with two standard beam sabers, which is molded in clear pink. These weapons are not important because the main point of this model is the Gerbera straight, which is the katana sword. The blade itself is plastic, but it is painted in a metallic silver so it looks like its metal from a distance. The handle, unfortunately, is completely white so you'll have to paint it black and gold to make it look good. I didn't have gold paint so I went with yellow instead. The sheathe is also completely white, so gold and red painting is in order.

Pose it with the katana for some very dynamic stances and striking poses. As you can see, this model has strong joints, incredible detail, and unmatched articulation. It is definitely one of the best no grade models, and can be compared to older master grades rather than current 1/100 models because of its quality. I highly recommend this kit, and its only around $20 too so you would be getting it for a steal