Kit Info
Manufacturer: Bandai
Release: July 2001
MSRP: 1,500 yen
More info: Hobbylink Japan
Needed: Paint, cement, airbrush highly recommended
Gimmicks: Interchangeable parts for opening/closing bits, flight stand, miniature Stamen, miniature Gerbera Tetra w/ stand (not pictured because I'm a lazy bastard)
Model Info
The RX-78GP03D Gundam "Dendrobium" is the final headliner unit of Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, an OVA series remembered mostly for killing off all of its remotely likeable characters and for screwing technological continuity six ways from Sunday. The Dendrobium is composed of the Stamen unit, a mobile suit with go-go-gadget extending arms, and the Orchis unit, a big pile of weapons glued onto some rockets. It has made numerous appearances in Super Robot Wars games, where it's pretty decent. Unless you're playing one of the older games where it can't be used in atmospheres and you need to give it a Minovsky Craft.
Mini-Review
Although this is a Bandai kit in the High Grade line, builders should be aware that unlike most HG kits, the Dendrobium requires considerable painting to complete satisfactorily. Moreover, much of this painting covers tricky areas, such as recessed detail; thus the use of an airbrush and judicious masking is highly advised. Another caveat is that the kit will require cement, albeit only for the little Stamen and Gerbera Tetra--the Orchis unit snaps together just fine, although cement can of course be used on the seams. Nota bene, due to the small scale of the kit, there are very few hinges or points of articulation (the claws being the main exception); things that open or close, like the weapon container covers, the claws, the I-Field grate and the panel on the side of the gun all have parts that you swap out to replicate opened and closed states. The model's flight stand has space to tuck away the hinge pieces for the weapon container covers and the gun panel, which is very nice. What isn't so nice is that the container hinges are a very tight fit, especially with several layers of paint buildup (and paint is needed on the containers, their covers and the hinges.) This makes breakage very easy, and to avoid such an outcome, it is advisable to sand down the pegs on the covers and the hinges. I didn't, and ended up having to use a pin vise to drill a hole to pierce the heavens (and by "heavens" I mean "peg residue stuck in the holes.")
One interesting thing about this build is that I used the paintless method that was trendy among Japanese modelers a while back. Of course, I couldn't go all paintless for reasons mentioned earlier, but for all surfaces that didn't require painting, I used 400-grit sandpaper to resurface the plastic from its toylike sheen to a flatter, airbrushed-like (I wish) finish. One problem with this method is that it's often hard, especially on darker-colored pieces, to completely wipe out the discolored spots where a part was connected to its sprue. But hey, sandpaper is a lot cheaper than an airbrush and compressor.
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