Bandai Hobby MG Full Armor Gundam Thunderbolt Ver. KA Building Kit (1/100 Scale)

This kit is indeed a challenge. Assembling it is tricky in some places, so here are several ideas to make it easier: - Calm down and read the instructions twice before inserting arms into place, or one or both of them might get a broken peg and will slide out of socket when rotated. Eqsily fixed with modelglue or superglue - Don't stack the joint wraps too much, or piercing it with pegs and getting it under the armor will drive you crazy. It WILL wrinkle and get between pieces you are trying to connect. Fixing one layer is plenty. It may not make sense in text, but you might figure what i mean out once you start applying the covers. - Use the extra long black piece from base runner to wrinkle up the plastic covers. It's longer, so i found it more convinient - Take your time to check the last pages of instruction book to use the gimmicks properly. You will learn how to open the cockpit in full armor mode and how to fix sub-arms folded out . Also the decaling map is there - The included base is kinda bad. The model in its final form is very heavy and can barely be supported by it. I recommend you use standard 1/100 stand for this model, it works much better and lifts the kit a lot more, increasing the immersion. - Probably watch other people assembling it on youtube. In general makes your life easier. - You're better off glueing some parts, like the blue piece on top of heads V-fin, or knee thrusters, these come off too easily The kit itself is great. It's definetly the most fun i experienced assembling a model. Its big (the backpack and shields on sub-arms do wonders to increase its presence), gimmicky, almost flawless in terms of general build (as said above, take time to attach arms properly), very posable and relies mostly on waterslide decals instead of stickers. The biggest problem is that it's a bit awkward to handle with backpack and weapons attached because of the size and weigh, so posing it requires patience. And the size is also a huge pro, it does matter in terms of giant robots. Minor issues i personally have with it: - The biggest one - arm joints are not that tight. Complex shoulders and elbows cannot bear the weight of twin cannon with shield and disassembling thevelbow for tightening is going to be absolute aids, so i'll pass with loose elbows until it really pushes me. - Lack of waist hinge/balljoint. It can't arch back or crunch. This is due to a corefighter which is actually put inside the hollow torso. I just think it would've benefited from having at least some kind of hinge, would've allowed to do more dynamic poses in its 'slim' mode with armor ditched - Swappable hands. Just because i love articulated hands of zaku too much. - Backpack can slide apart while handeling. Again, modelglue to thicken things up - Primary weapons have "sledges" on top, to which the shields connect. On my kit the tiny notches on these sledges were weaker than sledge-to-shield connection and broke down, starting to come off too easy. One more time, superglue.

I loved this kit, and it sits in the center of my 100+ gundam collection as one of my favorites with the Sasabi ver ki and the freedom full burst. The only downside was there are several parts in critical joints that seem weak, I don't know if it was poor plastic or just too thin, I lean towards the latter, but you have to be careful and not bend or stress the parts or you can break a part like I did in the hip joint. That said, it was only one part that broke and I was able to glue it back and it now functions perfect again and is completely hidden so you can not see my sloppy repair. That said it is a great looking model and with the included stand holds an incredible standing pose with no signs of sag on this heavy kit. I love it so much I am considering ordering a second to display with all the extra armor off and laid out in front of it like in the included pictures on Amazon. Once again, great kit and I personally consider it a must have in any MG gundam collection.

This was my first ever MG Kit, and it was very fun but took a LONG time over multiple days. The fabric sheathing part was difficult and I couldn't figure out how the decals for this kit worked so it looks like it left the factory without getting detailed but still looks nice.

This was a great Gundam kit. Being a Ver.Ka means it's detailed and a little more advanced but very rewarding. The base model is amazing and then the armor and weaponry makes it even better. I love the core fighter that can be put in the torso and seen when opening the cockpit hatch. Just be careful when assembling the arms on the torso. The plastic like wrapping on the joints were an interesting addition and look nice but can be tricky for some since it's not common in gundam kits. A stand is needed for all the extra weight and comes with one with is a plus. Overall the kit is sturdy and a very fun build.

This is an incredibly challenging build. There is a lot to this kit just from assembly alone if you couldn’t tell from the photos. While I give it 5 stars for value it gets a 4 for sturdiness for two main reasons. The first would be the “joint tubes” that are used during assembly. They’re made of a waxy paper material and used to make the knee, ankle and elbow joints look better. Some other MG kits use this same material. As with every Gunpla kit, you’re not given any extra pieces. And these are VERY thin. You have to crunch them together to wrinkle them to add a texture for the joints and cut off the excess. However there’s a fine balance of just how durable these are. If the fit is too tight or if you mess with them too much. They’ll rip and are too much of a pain to fix. So I did away with mine after I ripped one on the leg. But once the armor is on you really can’t tell. My other issue is the stand. You’ll need a better quality stand for this one since the one provided is very flimsy and can’t support the full armored model and weapons very securely. The other arm base supplied in the kit is just an extra part not meant for that model anyways so you can’t use it. All in all, I really got into this build and was the hardest but most rewarding kit I’ve built. It has a good shelf presence despite the joint tube issues. Only other builds you get that’ll take longer than this would probably be the full armor Unicorn Gundam.

Agréablement surprise par sa taille une fois terminée..les pièces sont faciles a assembler avec les instructions qui sont parfaitement claires..mon fils de 14 ans a adoré..

This gundam is great and it was perfect to customise. That’s five stars from me

me ha encantado . aunque un escudo no se queda en su sitio

Great product! The owners of Japan Treasure Mart are super friendly and very helpful in ensuring that you are receiving what you want. Highly recommend supporting their business!! 👍🏼😊

El paquete llego en perfecto estado, muy buen embalaje, un Ver. Ka muy divertido de armar y posar.