I would recommend getting the 1/60 Perfect Grade Unicorn Phenex with LED from bandai, a bit on the expensive side but damnnn that thing is incredibly sturdy and looks really good too! as for those china copies, the polycaps and ball joint in the waist is what makes it fall apart, a quick solution for that is shave the ball joint and add some material turning it to a straight peg giving it more surface area to grip
Here's the question... What bootleg version is this?. The problematic DABAN vsrsion or the newer JMS version?. JMS doesn't lump every runners in a single plastic and runners should be separated neatly similar to bandai. There should be waterslide decals included too. The joints should be a little bit on the tighter side than loose. The DABAN version on the other hand is the opposite. Some parts are loose. No waterslide decal and all runners are lumped together in a single package. It's easy to tell if this has a box since DABAN copies the bandai box while the JMS box is a just plain shiny pink box with some Chinese text on the middle that also includes their JMS brand name.
If you want kits that don’t “fall apart”, then I highly recommend buying kits that DO NOT use polycaps. Polycaps are the primary reason why Gundam kits fall apart and get loose over time. Plastic on plastic joint connections tend to be stronger over time and stiffer too. Best examples of kits with “plastic on plastic” connections are the Witch from Mercury kits, modern RG kits (released from the RG Unicorn and after), Modern MG kits (kits that use inner frames post the MG Freedom 2.0), among others. Old kits, especially new kits that re-use older kits as a base, like the Build fighter kits, tend to have poly caps in them.
But can they be modified to use non-policap parts? Also, unless they use Rising Freedom / Mighty Strike Freedom, c-clips are odd Lastly, Seed Action System - HGCE > HGWFM
@@koweedate You could 3D Print polycaps, but then you'd have to find a good blend of plastic to work with - plastic that can withstand being plugged (snuggly) into where polycaps usually go, and the kind of plastic blend that can withstand joint movement. But I don't recommend this because of the tremendous amount of effort you'd have to put in, for what could arguably be very little reward. In the past, I've covered polycaps with a varying thickness of super glue to reinforce them (depending on how much reinforcing they need), and this works well enough for most cases. But having polycaps is a sign a kit is dated and so it will probably have other issues like wrong proportions (like the FM 1/100 IBO line), color inaccuracies (old HG's), or poor engineering (like the RG Sinanju). So I personally avoid these old kits like the plague due to the reasons I listed above. And respectfully, HGWFM > HGCE. The seed action system really means nothing to me - modern kits all have really good articulation and proportion as base features. What kills the modern HGCE line for me are the severe color inaccuracies (no color accurate plastic parts for eyes and vulcans for example), while being pricier than the HGWFM line itself. I was skeptical of the C-clips in the HGWFM line too until I noticed that C-clip joints aren't weaker or stronger than other types of joints.
@@Shay_D_Mann the difference is that how the Rising Freedom and Mighty Strike Freedom address the c-clip issues is how the were assembled. The Pharact is one of the kits known as a c-clip hell for some reason. Also why HGWFM is better, since that line also has issues?
@@koweedate I personally have the Pharact and it’s holding up rather well. Not a single loose joint. Same with the other kits in the line. I really don’t know what this “issue” with c-clips are. The HGWFM kits are mostly color accurate and they all hold up rather well. Even the least color accurate of the bunch, the Michealis series and the Beguir series kits only really need a touch of Gundam marker grey to paint. HGWFM kits have their Gundam eyes and Vulcans done in plastic which looks rather amazing, something the HGCE kits, for some strange reason, decided to skip on. It’s a cardinal sin, really. The HGCE kits would be perfect if they had incorporated plastic parts for their eyes and vulcans.
You should also buy the expansion for the wing zero honoo. You may need to buy 2 sets. Not sure if they are still available because thay come with hobby japan magazine.
I have the pink fake Freedom (also the regular colour one). I gave the pink to my wife. Mine had a PC ball hole way too wide, and I filled with tissue. Worked like a charm. Both are fine honestly, and they're not bad for the price since the HG original is quite pricy for whatever reason. We also bought the Aerial original and fake to make a proper comparison. Both are extremely similar. Fake: vivid, shiny and slightly less articulated. Original: looks dull next to the fake but the details are more pronounced and fitting for flow ink. Nicer feeling plastic. Just skip Gaogao and go for JMS if you have to get a bootleg.
If you love the sturdiness, I recommend you to try modern RG (Nu gundam and those that were released after it, you can see from the side of the box it should have number >= 32)too RG is 1/144 gundam line where you also have to build the inner frame. It's harder to build than HG, but those kits hold also they don't use polycap HG or any kit that use polycap (the runner that said "PC" and they feel rubbery) after sometimes they will start loosing But well, if I have to recommend any HG, it's would be moon gundam, it's simple build and it's the kit where bandai try to step away from polycap and use the connections kinda like RG, and that thing articulation is go beyond the moon
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I still think its ok to get bootleg kits if theyre p-bandai. A skilled builder can easily fix most issues they come with
I would recommend getting the 1/60 Perfect Grade Unicorn Phenex with LED from bandai, a bit on the expensive side but damnnn that thing is incredibly sturdy and looks really good too!
as for those china copies, the polycaps and ball joint in the waist is what makes it fall apart, a quick solution for that is shave the ball joint and add some material turning it to a straight peg giving it more surface area to grip
Thanks for the tip!
Pepsi
Here's the question... What bootleg version is this?. The problematic DABAN vsrsion or the newer JMS version?. JMS doesn't lump every runners in a single plastic and runners should be separated neatly similar to bandai. There should be waterslide decals included too. The joints should be a little bit on the tighter side than loose. The DABAN version on the other hand is the opposite. Some parts are loose. No waterslide decal and all runners are lumped together in a single package. It's easy to tell if this has a box since DABAN copies the bandai box while the JMS box is a just plain shiny pink box with some Chinese text on the middle that also includes their JMS brand name.
If you want kits that don’t “fall apart”, then I highly recommend buying kits that DO NOT use polycaps.
Polycaps are the primary reason why Gundam kits fall apart and get loose over time. Plastic on plastic joint connections tend to be stronger over time and stiffer too.
Best examples of kits with “plastic on plastic” connections are the Witch from Mercury kits, modern RG kits (released from the RG Unicorn and after), Modern MG kits (kits that use inner frames post the MG Freedom 2.0), among others.
Old kits, especially new kits that re-use older kits as a base, like the Build fighter kits, tend to have poly caps in them.
But can they be modified to use non-policap parts?
Also, unless they use Rising Freedom / Mighty Strike Freedom, c-clips are odd
Lastly, Seed Action System - HGCE > HGWFM
@@koweedate You could 3D Print polycaps, but then you'd have to find a good blend of plastic to work with - plastic that can withstand being plugged (snuggly) into where polycaps usually go, and the kind of plastic blend that can withstand joint movement.
But I don't recommend this because of the tremendous amount of effort you'd have to put in, for what could arguably be very little reward.
In the past, I've covered polycaps with a varying thickness of super glue to reinforce them (depending on how much reinforcing they need), and this works well enough for most cases.
But having polycaps is a sign a kit is dated and so it will probably have other issues like wrong proportions (like the FM 1/100 IBO line), color inaccuracies (old HG's), or poor engineering (like the RG Sinanju). So I personally avoid these old kits like the plague due to the reasons I listed above.
And respectfully, HGWFM > HGCE. The seed action system really means nothing to me - modern kits all have really good articulation and proportion as base features. What kills the modern HGCE line for me are the severe color inaccuracies (no color accurate plastic parts for eyes and vulcans for example), while being pricier than the HGWFM line itself.
I was skeptical of the C-clips in the HGWFM line too until I noticed that C-clip joints aren't weaker or stronger than other types of joints.
@@Shay_D_Mann the difference is that how the Rising Freedom and Mighty Strike Freedom address the c-clip issues is how the were assembled.
The Pharact is one of the kits known as a c-clip hell for some reason.
Also why HGWFM is better, since that line also has issues?
@@koweedate I personally have the Pharact and it’s holding up rather well. Not a single loose joint. Same with the other kits in the line. I really don’t know what this “issue” with c-clips are.
The HGWFM kits are mostly color accurate and they all hold up rather well. Even the least color accurate of the bunch, the Michealis series and the Beguir series kits only really need a touch of Gundam marker grey to paint. HGWFM kits have their Gundam eyes and Vulcans done in plastic which looks rather amazing, something the HGCE kits, for some strange reason, decided to skip on. It’s a cardinal sin, really. The HGCE kits would be perfect if they had incorporated plastic parts for their eyes and vulcans.
@@Shay_D_Mann how, since on my end, it tend to have stress marks?
You should also buy the expansion for the wing zero honoo. You may need to buy 2 sets. Not sure if they are still available because thay come with hobby japan magazine.
I have the pink fake Freedom (also the regular colour one). I gave the pink to my wife.
Mine had a PC ball hole way too wide, and I filled with tissue. Worked like a charm.
Both are fine honestly, and they're not bad for the price since the HG original is quite pricy for whatever reason.
We also bought the Aerial original and fake to make a proper comparison. Both are extremely similar.
Fake: vivid, shiny and slightly less articulated.
Original: looks dull next to the fake but the details are more pronounced and fitting for flow ink. Nicer feeling plastic.
Just skip Gaogao and go for JMS if you have to get a bootleg.
Thanks for the tip!
If you love the sturdiness, I recommend you to try modern RG (Nu gundam and those that were released after it, you can see from the side of the box it should have number >= 32)too
RG is 1/144 gundam line where you also have to build the inner frame. It's harder to build than HG, but those kits hold also they don't use polycap
HG or any kit that use polycap (the runner that said "PC" and they feel rubbery) after sometimes they will start loosing
But well, if I have to recommend any HG, it's would be moon gundam, it's simple build and it's the kit where bandai try to step away from polycap and use the connections kinda like RG, and that thing articulation is go beyond the moon
Thanks for the recommendation!
Ok dam