HG GNY-001F Gundam Astraea type-F

Haha, finally I got a kit in this late 2013 ! After reading some comic books about the side stories of Gundam 00 I became curious of this unit. The 1/100 scale doesn't offer much armaments as it is few months older than the HG version, Astraea is also the final few kits released on the HG list in Gundam 00.

HG Astraea comes with two options, type-F and type-F2 to be assembled. You might find alot of Exia runners available but unused in it's box. I finished it off as type-F because F2 is like 80% resembling Exia but chose the un-visor'ed face like the one that appeared in GUNDAM EXA comic book. Also I replaced the red face plate with a white one from a spare Exia I have so it's like what it should look in the comic !

This HG Astraea type-F includes tons of stuff which they called full weapon or something. Standard weapons is the prototype-GN sword, a GN rifle, pair of beam sabers, a GN launcher and a GN shield.

Later in the story it was upgraded with new stuff like GN pistols (from Dynames), GN missiles (from Kyros)
, a stolen NGN Bazooka (ESF), and a GN hammer which is it's insane meister's favorite weapon of choice.

Pew pew pew ! The GN launcher is connected to the place where its chest antenna (remove it) as it is supposed to feed energy from the GN drive.

Most of it's armament can swap places with one another, being hand-held of mounted, depending on your imagination.

Putting aside the pros and cons, this little red devil is just too awsome for me to ignore it. I spent hours to assemble while doing touch-ups, really enjoyable though !

HG CB-0000G/C Reborns Gundam

I didn't really expect Reborns gundam to be so big in size, it is almost as tall as Unicorn in NTD mode. The assembled kit looks simply majestic and mighty, there are some parts that need correct coloring though.

Front and back view :

Honestly, it really have a wierd shield, no matter where you look it seems like it's in the wrong place but actually right. Oh well ...

Buster Rifle - I think this is the most sturdy rifle in all of the 00 series kits. It clings to the arm firmly, so there's no stress on the hand. 

Need-to-paint parts - obviously the transparent piece on the chest, and the head crest. Be careful with the head crest though, it's too small to be noticed and does not hold well on it's head, as you can see mine is lost.

Oh...I forgot all Inovator mobile suits have high heels, this one too. Despite that it can be quite sturdy.

Comparison :

Reborns VS Nobel heels

Weapons :

 GN Shield

 GN Buster Rifle

 GN Huge Beam Saber

It's beam saber is definitely bigger than other, but it's uncolored, and it's material is the same as the transparent parts of it's other body. So the beam effect of the beam saber isn't flexible.

Reborns Cannon :

This is the mode 2 of  the Reborns Gundam, basically the back side of it. Features mostly guns guns and more guns. 

 GN ...Launcher? Probably the most powerful weapon on Reborns

The face-off :

 I don't think most fans will support Reborns, especially the because it's the protagonist. Everyone is so drowned with 00 fever. Of course, there's no harm wanting and loving the heroes, but that makes the 00 became  "not-so-special" anymore don't you think?

The original GN Drive is mine!!!

             Well, there are some cons of this kit though. All transformable kits have weak joints. This one have especially weak arms, not that it fell off easily (it will never), it's the turning mechanism that eats up the joints.  

I bought another display stand just for it because with the large GN fin fangs on it's back, it doesn't really like to stand still. Transformable kits should always be taken good care of, if you want to lengthen it's life span.

Mimicking the box art.

HG GN-0000+GNR-010 00 Raiser + GN Sword III

       It's been long since I wanted to get one, finally it has arrived. It's not really that complicated to build, originally I intend combine the Raiser and GN Sword III to the already build 007S, but finally I still decide to keep them as separate units. Why? weight problem.

  Back view

It was worth the wait, some people got 00 Gundam as soon as it is rolled out, then purchased the 0 Raiser add-on. Some bought the designer's color type 00 Raiser. Both of those didn't include the GN Sword III.

Gun Mode :

Sword mode :

I kinda struggled to pose it with the 0 Raiser docked, but it's such a hindrance that the whole thing looks stiff and un-natural. So ...

GN-0000 00 Gundam :

The GN Sword III is actually big, it looks funny in the anime sometimes, just wonder if the scale is right ...

00 Gundam full equipment :

GN Sword II :

Attached to it's waist, it can be switched between gun/sword mode. It's the first weapon the 00 use in the anime.

Beam Sabers :

What if both of the GN Sword II got lost ? Never mind he still have beam sabers ... the connector from the beam effect to the saber is different from other 00 series, and compared to SEED series its a lot larger (longer).

 Don't mess with me . . .

GN sheild :

This equipment did appear in the anime, but not long since it's quite useless ... It can be carried by the 0 Raiser and the 00 Gundam, it can also be use as a GN Katar by the 00.

GNR-010 0 Raiser :

It's quite an interesting little piece, it makes the 00 look more bulkier, which is good ; but it also adds weight on it's back, which is bad.

Actually the 0 Raiser itself can be upgrade with the XN raiser, but i'm not going to touch on that topic because I don't really own a Bandai made one. My advise is, don't combine the Raiser with the XN if it's bootleg, it will certainly damage the original parts, some might even deform. For the curious, I have only these 2 pictures, nothing more.

XN 00 Gundam: 

The whole idea of combining a ultimate 00 Gundam is insane, it will look cool, but the whole thing is too bulky and crammed that it can't really move it's arms and legs anymore. 

00 Raiser :

Now attach the 0 Raiser with the 00 ... time to show ultimate moves ...

Raiser Sword :

GN Sword II beam saber mode :

 GN Sword II combine :

GN Sword III Raiser Sword :

Attach the fat plastic included in the mold to the GN sword III and done. 

The 00 itself is tiny, but it's very excel in posing thanks to the joints and body structure. But being tiny has it's disadvantage, the joint seems to wear down a lot faster, imagine the tiny hand had to carry something that's bigger than it's body. So, it's best not to let it hold something and use a base to support it while 0 Raiser is attached, if you want your kits to last long, don't strain it too much.

Everything else, it's simply satisfying. I won't try to paint it, to me the panel lining already did a good job making it sexy. Wouldn't want to ruin a treasure right?