Gunpla: The GAT-X102 Duel Gundam With Assault Shroud (HG)

OK, it had been a while since I’d done a gunpla or a 30MM kit. I've done a lot of those, and even the best ones can get samey after a while. So, the ones I do get tend to be impulse purchases, or when I need to kill some time. As I was cat-sitting that day, and having done a lot of 40k stuff in a weekly format, an idle evening putting together a robot seemed like a good idea. For me, this is like sitting down with a good book. Hence the Duel Gundam.

 

Of the original batch of Gundams featured in SEED, and pinched by the eugenics teens of ZAFT, the Duel is the odd one out, and I do like the odd ones out. It was the first prototype, and of course a high-end machine, each subsequent creation had a major gimmick, while the Duel was more of a grunt. This makes it very influential as a test-bed, but its dramatically overshadowed by the others. I mean, simply being the no frills option in a squad that includes a transformer and a mech that turns invisible, is no way to win fans. The ZAFT engineers apparently agreed, and slapped a set of armour and weapons on it with almost indecent speed. You see, the Duel actually had a gimmick all along, the old Full Armour deal. This sees a machine originally designed for agility to be fitted with external armour, something which is usually noted in universe as having the predictable downside, but often you have the option to purge the parts when they stop being useful. I can only assume somebody took a look at the battery powered Phase Shift Armour, went "fuck it", and created a hybrid technology unit from their bitzbox. Armour plates usually don't have a recharge time.

So, I'm not gonna say this kit is bad, but I am gonna say that its very outdated. The box set says 2011, but its actually a 2002 kit with new transfers and a slight tweak to one of its plastic colours. The 'Remaster" the box refers to is a re-release of the anime. And this one hasn't aged gracefully. Articulation is functional, but the elbow and shoulder design is basic even by the standards of polycap builds, and the armour of course gets in the way when applied. Colour separation and accuracy is lacking, especially on the "Assault Shroud" bits. These aren't necessarily fun colours either. Yellow atop blue and sombre grey? I would have preferred you'd done it all in white and let me sort it out. And, of course, we have a the parts-fit and plastic quality of a kit that's two decades old.


This disappointed me somewhat. Whatever am I going to do with you?