1/100 MG Crossbone Gundam X-1 Ver Ka
It's that time again! Time for your fix of reviews from yours truly FlashX007.
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You can find all the models I review and more at GKGundamKit!
Ver. Ka
So to start things off this is my 3rd experience with Katoki Hajime designed Master Grades. As you can see above he has designed a vast amount already. Plus there is the original Victory Gundam to consider and then the core booster along with exclusives like the Banshee and the X-2. Katoki is very famous among us modelers. For those of you who don't know him that is why I want to begin with him.
In short Katoki is a mecha designer. He isn't just famous for his Gundam designs however. He has his hand in many things across all mecha series. His work is always excellent and the MG Ver. Ka's always stand out above the average models you might come to know commonly. He is very common for improving or modifying designs that he may or may not have made into more detailed pieces of artwork. Everybody who ever had a Ver. Ka MG can tell you he loves his decals, markings, and waterslides. The Nu and Stein are his latest works and those explain themselves.
What can you expect different in a Ver Ka that you wouldn't see in a normal Bandai MG release? Simple really, difference or improvement in detail, markings, decals, overall finish, quality. Bandai merely takes Katoki's incredible artwork and tries their best to produce a model following the designs he so intricately draws out.
Others could probably go into more detail about Katoki and the work he does and the MG's true difference but all I can say is you never tasted something like the Ver. Ka's ever. So for those who don't have one I recommend you pick a MG Ver. Ka you find interesting.
Crossbone
So to start things off I'd first like to apologize if the pictures show up blurry. My camera broke a while back and I'm using replacements and my phone now.
This model kit is actually a 2006 release so it is 7 years old! How different could it be?
-Painting
Yep you heard right. In order to achieve a proper finished display some touch ups are required. The first being the red scars on the side of the head. The next being the skulls. They both need to be painted in with red and black Gundam markers for it to look like the picture above. Fairly easy and you can remove the excess with q-tips. The next is more of personal pride than it is a requirement. The primary weapon comes in complete white so for it to look better you'd have to color it in. No real color recommendation for that as long as you like the finished result. (I painted mine gold)
-Size
The size is closely comparable to 1/144 scale High Grade models. That can be a bad thing considering it is a 1/100 scale Master Grade models. However there is no rule or requirement or law in Master Grade models. A 1/100 scale is the actual height of the mobile suit brought down to scale 100 times (correct me if I'm wrong). All I understand from this is at the idea or theme of the timeline the Crossbone was made to be shorter and probably more versatile. If compared to the right HG like HGUC Sazabi most likely it will be evenly matched in height or more. (The Sazabi is quite tall in height)
-Detail
The Crossbone is somewhat 50/50 on this. My overall experience with Master Grades might hurt this. It isn't as detailed as you would expect a Master Grade to be. Like what I mean by that is it isn't a Nu Ver Ka that is definitely for sure. When I went about panel lining it I noticed it had very few panels and it is close to borderline requiring scribed panels for more detail. I think the size of it limited the amount of detail that was able to be produced.
The overall Master Grade aspect of it can be summed up into short words. Detail is average or passable. The articulation is flexible and finnicky. The variations of display are acceptable.
As for the rest?
The Core Fighter... what you see is what you get. I'm noticing my experience is really bringing down the overall thoughts I have about the model in general but despite the imperfections it really is enjoyable. I'm proud to display mine to say the least. The Core Fighter is acceptable, there isn't anything special about it and personally I won't be seeing it again after I put it in the Crossbone. It looks better that way obviously and it helps the cloth hold up.
There isn't really anything wow about it if you know what I mean. Yet again that is the entire thing about the Crossbone. It is one hell of a badass model but it has no wow factor.
The wrap up would be the weapons and the options. This model comes with quite an amount of options. You have the standard rifle but that splits into two separate yet awesome looking weapons. (The gold works well) Then you have the beam knuckles, the skirts, and the usual beam sabers. Very well equipped. Plus a cloth!
It's a 7 year old model in the end. I can't go on and on trying to be positive about it. There are imperfections or flaws that can't be overlooked which is understandable. The things I would want to point out is painting. Some don't paint their models and just snap build them. If you're one of those people avoid this model or give in and get it along with some markers and perhaps brushes to handpaint or even better an airbrush.
Badass? Yes. Recommendable? No, not really.
The written review might sound on and off and if it isn't what you're looking for then check out my oral review and display of the model. I covered it better that way (honestly)
Unboxing
Review 1/2
Review 2/2
