HG 1/144 RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee Theatrical Version

Howdy folks? Been a while since I last blogged, too busy with work and coordinating orders recently. But hey, here I am haha!

Just a brief background on what this kit is all about:

This limited edition kit can only be purchased by watching the Special Screening of Gundam Unicorn Episode 5: Black Unicorn. Bandai however released several photos of this kit way before Episode 5 was shown in Theaters, thus creating hype and excitement. My friends were eager to visit the Special Screening not because of the movie, but because of this kit. We've read posts that other countries sold these kits after the movie and we prayed hard for it. Our prayers were answered. Big thanks to my buddies Romeo and Bryan for securing a box for me, I couldn't make it to the Special Screening coz I had meet-ups with customers that day.

The kit costs 1,600 Philippine Pesos which is equivalent to the following currencies approximately to give you an idea if your local seller is at the right price:

• 37 U.S. / Australian Dollars
• 2050 Indian Rupees
• 117 Malaysian Ringgits
• 290 Hong Kong Dollars 

The kit is similar to the HGUC 1/144 Sinanju Red Comet Sparkle which was released last year, October 2011. Honestly: that kit didn't catch my attention despite my undying fanaticism of the RX-0 Unicorn and Sinanju, Filipino's called it the Sinanju "Toothpaste". Things changed now, I'm gonna hunt for those older kits haha! On with the photos!

Box Face: one look and you know that this kit is special if you'll ask me

Box Side: shows you how the finished kit should look like

Box Side: has photos of the HGUC 1/144 line-up

Psychoframe "Sparkle" Plates: I was skeptical at first, not sure if the Sparkle approach would work for the Banshee (coz it didn't for the Sinanju IMO), but let's give it a shot!

Dark Blue Plates: now this is what I consider to be the best feature of this kit. Should make up about 70-80% of your kit's contents. How deep yet transparent they are really rocks...

Silver/Chrome Plate: this plate has a matte-like finish to it. Looks cool to me, I believe the Sinanju Red Comet has this kind of plate as well for its Rifle and such

[A] Plate Transparent Violet or Purple: a part of the [A] Plate has these transparent parts for the Banshee's Back Pack and feet. Kudos to Bandai for this idea, should blend well with the Dark Blue transparent parts.

[A] Plate Dull Gold: ughh, as expected, the kit has these Dull Gold parts . I'm thinking if I would give them a quick coat of Tamiya Gold to match the shine of the other parts... Will find out as I build...

Foil Stickers: now this is a big boo-boo for Bandai. The kit has a  lot of stickers which translates to "masking" for me. I only use the stickers for the eyes and nowhere else...

Instruction Manual: whoever's in charge of kit manuals must be EXTREMELY LAZY. They don't even bother changing the Front Manual Photo... Been Bandai's tradition now, like in the ANA kits, HG 00 Seven Sword Inspection, HG RX-0 Unicorn Pearl variations...

The bane of all Clear/Metallic Gunpla kits remains: NUBMARKS! Good thing my Black marker hid the nubmark easily, thanks to the dark hue of the parts.

Chest Unit finished. Reason why I built this is to check if there's any real need to paint the Dull Gold parts of the kit. After seeing this, I came to a decision to paint them.

Will post photos of the masking process of the kit next time and possible issues you might encounter while building your own. This might be one hell of a bloody masking challenge since all the stickers were intended for the details... But overall: I love this kit, Gundam Unicorn Series fans would not be disappointed! ^^