HG 1/144 Union Flag (Gao Gao / TT Hongli) Review Part 1

Hello bootleg lovers, today we’ll be looking at the High Grade Union Flag as the mass produced mobile suits from the 1^st season of Gundam 00. After getting the ground type mass mobile suits, I’m interested in aerial mobile suits from other fraction in the series. Yes, this is another kit from Gao Gao that I think need to be tried. 

UNBOXING

Well, the box is thinner than other normal kits in the line. I think Ahead family also has this thin box. Honestly I’m not really surprised with this. I expect that this kit is anorexic so maybe the runners are fewer. And after I opened the box, I’m correct but not 100%. Something that makes the box thinner is there are no stand base and polycaps runners on this kit. So the total runners are only 3 including the joints that is made from plastic too.

RUNNERS

As I stated before, the runners are only 3 and if we see from the picture, the parts are very few. And they have semi gloss finish which is good. But the thing is there are some excess plastic here and there, which is normal for Gao Gao kits. We get one clear plastic for the visor which is orange, very good but not as detailed as the original. One thing to be noted, building this kit even though the parts are few, I spent more time than any other kits. The precision is terrible in this kit. Almost every parts that have hinges or swivel movement are not precisely made. So the pegs are bigger than the hole. We can put it using force but that’ll make the parts hard to move and tend to break when we moved it.

PARTS

Head

The head is pretty good. I just realized that the ear-like piece is asymmetric. I love the orange visor. Unfortunately, the top part of the head is loose on mine. The stickers also so bad like always so I didn’t use it.

Torso

The torso is pretty nice designed. I like the aerodynamic design. For your information, I spent so much time building the torso. The problem came from the very beginning of the building process. The stomach parts have a swivel movement and I put them together by force. Then I realized that it couldn’t move at all. So I tried to take off the side part but it didn’t work. I tried so many times until it opened a little bit and finally I can open it and fix it. I used my penknife, 2 kind of screwdriver and my very own thumb nail. Yeah, the torment is just begun XD. After that I still got problem, the neck joint couldn’t go through the hole. Stupid thing I’ve done, trimming the joint rather than the hole. So now the neck is loose.

Arms

I like the arms, especially the hands. They’re bigger than normal hands. It’s just cool. Once again, the pegs and the joints are not precisely fit. And the ball joint in that connect the hand with the arm is so tight. So when I moved it, it started to stress. So be careful when moving it or trim the joint a little first.

Waist

The waist design is similar with the torso. It has the wings just like the torso. It has unique joints for the legs. Unfortunately the front part is loose on mine.

Legs

Oh yeah, we get super thin legs. As I stated in the waist section, the joint is unique, so the calf hole is not on the side but on the back. The torments are still continued until the last part.

Weapons and Accessories

Yep, we only get few weapons. We got beam rifle, plasma sword or toothpick thing, and the shield. The connector on the shield is too tight and I couldn’t move it or take it off so I let it stuck in there.

Stickers

 

Just like my Tieren, the sticker’s like expired. They’re like rotten so I cannot use them.

STANDARD POSE

Pretty unique design. But this kit is so difficult to stand because the feet are so small. I think it looks like dragonfly-man with the wings on the back. Actually I want to pose it like my previous kit with my standard pose but the thing is, this kit always looks weird.

TRANSFORMATION

Yep, this kit is a transformable mobile suit. The transformation is pretty easy to do and it looks so good. 

So yeah, despite the fact that the kit is quite difficult to build because of the precision flaws, it’s still a good kit. I’m satisfied with the result. This kit is unique and solid.Well, the articulation is pretty interesting, so stay tuned for the next post and feel free to comment. See ya! :)

PART 2: ARTICULATION >>