HG 1/144 Arios Gundam Quick Review

*PEW**PEW**PEW*

Price: 1500 Yen/1800 Yen*

*The old version which I’m reviewing should be EOL by now and should be quite difficult to find. However, the newer version which costs 1800 Yen should be easily available at a Hobby Shop near you. IIRC, Momotoys @ The Spring 2nd Floor should still have the GNHW/M Arios Gundam available.*

Howdy everyone~ Is everyone enjoying your holiday(for those who go to school in M’sia)?

Unluckily, I also don’t have a holiday, not yet anyways, just a long weekend to do whatever I feel like doing. Since I haven’t been touching this secondary blog of mine much, I’m thinking of putting up some quick reviews on my older Gunpla here plus some other random stuff which really can be random. At any rate, hopefully I won’t derail this blog from the given title. ^^;

GN-007 Arios Gundam
Pilot: Allelujah Haptism
Height: 19.1m
Weight: 55.4t
Armaments: GN Twin Beam Rifle, GN Beam Shield, GN Beam Saber, GN Submachine Gun, GN Vulcan(Flight Mode)

I built this a while ago around March-April this year but didn’t really had the mood to review it especially with the introduction on the upgraded version of Arios, it felt less meaningful to post a review on it anymore.

Well, the obvious difference are the new weaponry but the main body doesn’t change. So, if you want to know how the new weaponry work or about the GNHW/M Arios, you should look at another review but if you want a quick look at the vanilla Arios, read on.

First Shot

Height Compare w/ 600ml Bottle

Front

Left Side

Rear

Right Side

Arms & Legs Spread

Arms & Abdomen Articulation

Arms & Legs Articulation

GN Submachine Gun (Open)

GN Submachine Gun (Close)

GN Twin Beam Rifle

GN Twin Beam Rifle (Claw?)

GN Beam Shield

Front Skirt

Front Skirt

Transform – Head

Transform – Arms

Transform – Flip to Back, Legs

Transform – Sensor Unit

Transform – Rear Skirt

Transform – Rear Skirt, Tail

Transform – Legs

Flight Mode

Flight Mode

Flight Mode

Flight Mode – Arms Install

Base Connector for Flight Mode

Flight Mode – Airborne!

GN Beam Shield (Claw Mode)

Prepare for Base Connect

Base Connector

*PEW**PEW**PEW*

Kira HAX Slash!

TRANS-AM!

1. The Arios is very nicely articulated at the upper section but the lower section is slightly lacking. The legs doesn’t use a ball joint at the hips section but Bandai didn’t give it 00’s hips connection for some odd reason. Maybe because it was too small?
2. The arms may sag a little due to wear and tear otherwise it shouldn’t pose much of a problem when its still new and fresh out of the box.
3. For the GN Submachine Gun, you need to take it off to change its orientation.
4. The front skirts are loose and can easily fall off…
5. It also has the simplest and easier transformation gimmick I’ve seen thus far. You don’t need to change any part even though you need to take off the gun and rear skirt armor to realign them when you transform it. Very nice, much better than the Kyrios which needed you to change the hip connection.
6. It has two different beam parts. One is flat and the other if rounded. The flat one is slightly longer than the rounded one. Interesting.
7. The “fins” on the legs might be a little annoying at times as it is not so firm in staying in position. The legs can also extend and retract due to the transformation gimmick. From what I remember, there should be a sort of locking mechanism for the legs.
8. Note: It comes with its own, simple and less flexible, base which I did not use for this review. It is commonly called the “Destiny base” as it is the same base that was given to the Gundam SEED Destiny HGs previously. I didn’t use it during this review because I gave it to another kit and stuffed into my display cabinet where it would be troublesome to take out for this quick review. ^^;

Overall, its a pretty decent model kit. If you are thinking of getting the Arios, ignore the 1/100 scale Designer version that just came out, get the HG GNHW/M instead as the 1/100 doesn’t have a movable waist… nor the new equipment.