 |
Mobile SUMO (Gold Type) [ Strike Unit for Maneuver Operations ] |
| Series | Turn-A |
|
| Title | Mobile SUMO (Gold Type) [ Strike Unit for Maneuver Operations ] | |
| Release Date | September 1999 | |
| Suggested Price (JPY) | 2,500 | |
| No. of Parts | 118 parts + polycaps + stickers | |
| Plastic Color | Gold (chrome), dark gray, light grayish blue, dark brownish red, transparent yellow. | |
| Grade | HG 1/100 | |
| Scale | 1/100 | |
| My Rating | Excellent | |
| Model Status | Completed (2002-08-04) | |
| Production Roll-Out# | #11 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Comment
The reason I am buying this kit owns to 3 reasons. Firstly, this kit is highly applauded
by most of the modeler on the net. Secondly, this is the only mobile suit design I really
like out of the entire Turn-A TV series. Thirdly and the most importantly the main reason
that leads to my final buying decision is that minimal painting is required in this kit.
This kit is huge. Standing at about 25cm tall with its bulky and round design, I would say this is the most eye pleasing mech in the entire Turn-A TV series. It is refreshing to see an aerodynamic MS occasionally than the usual square-ish gundams.
When I first opened the box, I felt like I am prying open a treasure chest. The gold plated trees shines like a mirror. The plating is very well done, as I could not spot any defects on the plating. Some painting has to be done on this kit, as some of the plastic parts are not molded in the correct color. For example, the shoulder back piece and the chest are molded in dark brown plastic where as those parts should be in sandy brown color.
In the articulation department, expect a generous degree of movement for this kit. This kit sort of passes my "Mecha Crouching" test just by a slight margin. The crouching position from what we see on the box art is taken at a special angle. It doesn't look right when we see it from a dead front view.
My biggest complain on this kit is that the joint is too loose. It could not hold any weapons with a straight hand. I do not paint the puny weapons anyway, so this is not an issue to me.
Packaging
- 6 plastic trees. 1 sticker, 1 polycaps.
- Plastic molded in a 5 colors. Painting optional.
- Plastic quality is above average for a HG.
- Some pictures on the box and a 12 pages manual.
Weapons, Gimmicks and Accessories
- 1 Beam Gun
- 1 Heat Fan + 1 foldable Heat Fan
- 1 IF Generator with 2 optional attachments
- Open able hatch on the chest
- Open able hatch on both leg
- 2 different face plates to construct
The beam gun comes with a forward foldable gold ring handle.
There are two “heat fan”, the sword that looks like a fan. One is the standard sword that is meant to be place on the hand and another foldable one that are meant to be attached on the back.
The IF generator (Shield) comes with two optional attachments. One attachment to represent an accumulation of energy at the IF generator and it is about to shoot out. The other one looks like a beam sword or something where the energy beam is already half way out.
The hatched on the chest and the leg can be open to expose the interior that is of nothing interesting.
Modeler is allow to construct two type of faceplate for this kit, which are the standard orange square eyes or the opened eyes that expose the interior.
Construction Note
This is the first time I am constructing a coated version of Gundam kit. Cutting the
parts from its tree is not a big deal but extra care has to be taken as these parts
scratches easily. Cut marks are visible if you are looking carefully but it is well hidden
in the least obvious place. I painted those cut marks with gold leaf so that it will not be
too obvious.
 |
The only parts that required to be painted are the weapons and the
inner details. For the blue parts, I painted it with custom mix paint (White :
Neutral Grey : Medium Blue, 3:2:1) and then washes with thin flat black to give it
some shade. The brown plastics are painted with a lighter shade of brown. (White :
Desert Yellow : Brown, 5:5: few drops) I had tried using Gundam markers for panel lines on the plated surface but the solvents causes the gold plating to fade when the excess was rubbed off. So, I switched to pigment pen. The solvent in pigment pen did not have any reaction to the gold plating but the downside is that it is easily rubbed off and it doesn’t stick well to the surface. The effect is too subtle and hardly seen. The painted surface is paneled using oil paint (Black mix with burn umber). |
Lesson Learned
- Plated kit leave ugly scars when cut out from the trees that I could not do anything about it.
In brief
This kit is almost of MG quality. Some but not all of the more visible parts is molded
like a MG where the scar is hidden. An excellent kit for a lazy painter as only a few parts
are needed to be painted. A great display kit that look like a golden Buddha statue on your
shelf.
 |
Document Date : 2002-08-15 |
Responses to this page: