Tuesday, April 6, 2010

HGUC NZ666 Kshatriya Review



The box is as big as the MG Exia IM in terms of Width and Length, but thicker by at least an inch.

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It has a total of 12 runners plus the beam sabers, two of which are ABS plastic and are basically for the shoulder mounts and joints.

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I'll make an a la WIP review for this.



This is probably one of the very few HGUCs I've had so far that sports an almost-MG internal frame, though, aside from some of the joints, the frame is made most of PS plastic. Though the elbows are double-jointed, it can only bend up to 90 degrees (hmmm, sounds like a reason to modify, eh?)

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Part of the shoulder-mount assembly that sports a locking mechanism. Bandai should do this more often especially to those kits that have heavy packs.

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The head has a fairly simple assembly similar to that of am HGUC Sazabi, and basically has no room for an LED mod. This will have to be fully modified, if ever, to encase an LED mount. The upper Torso is fully framed, including the shoulder's ABS swivel joint

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I'll take some exploded view pics of the Torso later on...

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Nitpicking time.

The Triya's head. Very simple, and very ordinary. If not for the huge horn, it's barely noticeable when mounted on the torso. Sufficed to say, it's on the list of things to undergo the MatX treatment.

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Again, why make a double jointed elbow if you're not going to be able to bend it full range? I suppose this is an overlooked flaw during the design stages and can "simply" be remedied by a knife cut and some chiseling here and there.

Also, the armpit connection looks weird when putting it in a T-pose.

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The pseudo-MGish frame. Bandai limited the number of ABS parts by relegating it to the high-stress areas like the joints (inset).

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The upper torso assembled. My problem so far are weird, squarish shoulders whereas the rest of the MS are curved. The designer could have easily made this oval to match the overall look of the MS, and to give the design an independent look without the wing mounts.

And, if I haven't mentioned it all too often, where the heck is the head?

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And to brag about the detail my camera can get...

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 Like most/all HG kits, this one is no different when it comes to the feet assembly. It has no articulation whatsoever, though the way the feet is molded and assembled is weird to say the least.

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Like the torso and the arms, the shin and knee has a pseudo frame. The calf armor swivels slightly to and fro.

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Don't the ABS groin joints look familiar?

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The waist and legs assembled. The Knee armor is fixed but the lower part swivels freely in between. It can actually be easily modified for the main knee to swivel as well.

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Height comparison:

with the RX,

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and with the Exia.

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The Triya's hands are also roughly the same size as these two kits, so you can imagine how big it is at 1/100 scale (maybe as tall as the Sinanju).
The Build Review conclusion.

Size comparisons:

The Sinanju's Biggest/Widest Thruster as compared to that of the Triya's.

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The HiNu's Shield, the Sinanju's Shield, and the Triya's Binder/Pepper Shield.

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Parts galore!

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I see the Triya's shields more similar to the TF Movie protoform.

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Mounted finally on the Triya.

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Issues:

1. No beam rifle/long range weaponry, though this can be attributed to the Triya being a melee/close combat MS. The dragoons are for short range firing support.

2. No provisions on the MS itself or the shields for the beam saber hilts.

3. No clear rods included for the dragoons in "firing" mode pose.

4. The Shields must be perfectly balanced front and back for the MS to stand on its own, so there's no way of posing them like wings without additional support (not that it is recommended or intended).

5. Elbow articulation is limited to 90 degrees despite being a double joint. Armpit looks weird when in a T-pose.

6. The Squarish shoulders look out of place.

7. Knee and ankle articulation are limited, but doesn't necessarily hamper poseability. I see this as a standing-only MS like most bulky MS designs, and with that, the Virtue and the Ex-S comes into mind.

8. Because of the Sinanju groin joints, this beast can do a split, which is nice in most cases, but makes the kit unstable when the Shields are all mounted.

9. And, of course, there's almost non-existent head.

With the issues mentioned, I guess those become my launch pad for the modifications.

Despite that, this is ONE HELLUVA KIT that can rival any MG in awesomeness. Being me, I'm not easily impressed with the HG/HGUC line, but this one, in my opinion, joins the ranks of the Athene, the Gabtheley, the Gadessa, the Hazel, The Gerbera Tetra, to name a few, in coolness of radical design.  

 Soldier of LoveValleys Of Neptune

4 comments:

@UDi said...

Nice review...thanks to you I'm kinda dissapointed with the model...although I'm not a pro modeller like you...kinda dissapointed how they made this model...I think it should be taller than the Exia model...

Cant wait for your finishing touches and modes...Thanks!

Matanglawin said...

Technically, it is taller than the Exia at the same scale. The Exia there is 1/100, the K'Triya is 1/144.

Zeon_Two_Six said...

Might want to try the Zaku II 2.0 Hands for the 'Triya, as done here: http://rainingplastic.wordpress.com/2010/09/05/hguc-kshatriya-review/

Just a cent...

Unknown said...

its not a dragoon, its a funnel, but either way, it could have used effect parts, and the Kshatriya didn't have a beam rifle it only had mega particle cannons on its wings and chest, so i find no lack there, but great review :)

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