Gundam Models

um... Heavyarms only has two...

The origional Heavy Arms never got a 1/100 kit (Besides resin ) The Endless Waltz one does have a 1/100, and is also much cooler looking

There is a thrid Heavyarms, but it's resin only... (The Katoki re-design )

All Bandai kits are snap together, and molded in color, so no worries about painting or glue (well, some small parts don't like staying in place... Nothing major, not sure if that kit has any problems.. )

Also, MAKE SURE it says Bandai on the box, otherwise it's a bootleg (Examples: Ben Di, 1/100 Scale ect are not Bandai, obviously... )

QUOTE: Originally posted by davelcm I personally prefer the Custom version. looks more aggresive and way cooler.

Yeah I must agree the Custom has a much cooler design and the change in colour was great! I checked out a few sites and it seems the 1/100 Heavyarms Custom stands at 31.0 cm (12.21in.) in height. I had hoped it was at least 40 cm (15.75in.) in height but I guess this will have to do! Thanks for all the info guys.

biggest Heavyarms...tat'll be the 1/100 scale. And it's a HG version. and that itself has 3 versions, which you pointed out...tat's the original, improved (both fr the series) and the Custom (fr the OVA movie). I personally prefer the Custom version. looks more aggresive and way cooler.

painting the kit will definitely improve the overall look. all gundam kits are snapfits but once again, glueing it will make it better.

I'm actually going back to Japan and then Taiwan this summer and I'll probably pick-up some kits there. The specific model my friend requested - I'm going to quoate him on this - is: "The biggest HeavyArms there is". I know there are at least three different versions of HeavyArms (original, improved, and a conversion). It seems like the 1/60's are a tad bit too expensive for beginners, so I'll probably stick to 1/100.

Oh and one more thing, do any of these "kits" require paints or glue? It would be best if they did.....

frell, forgot to add one thing.

If you're curious as to what the heck a "Kampfer" or "Dendrobium" is head over to http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/index.htm

There are three usual scales: the big 1/60's are usually close to $200. There are 1/100's which have greater range of subjects since there probably aren't more than 25 different 1/60's out there. What I mean is: shopping for 1/60's is a rather short venture because there isn't a whole lot to find. The 1/100's are fairly low priced compared to 1/60's. Then there are the 1/144's which are the 5 inch tall ones. The 1/144's are in the $10 to $30 range, and almost every Gundam imaginable can be found in 1/144 scale.

The new High Grade 1/144's from Gundam Seed are such incredibly nice models to be only about 5 or 6 inches tall. Everything HG by Bandai is great, but I wanted to point out that it applies to those little ones too.

Gundam models is a vast subject. There are older models of extremely high quality, newer ones with the HG, MG and PG grading system.

With the exeption of the garage kits Bandai is it for Gundam kits. Within the Bandai line there are several "grades".

At the bottom are the No Grade kits. These usually have little articulation and are quickie snap together kits. They are 1:144 scale (usually). They're also rather cheap.

Then you get into the High Grade, which feature articulation and are 1:144 scale.

HGUC, or High Grade Universal Century are a finer version of the HG kits with (again) more moving parts.

The come Master Grade. 1:100 scale, lotsa parts, way fun. Also starts to get pricy.

Perfect Grade is the best Bandai produces. At 1:60 scale they are big hurking kits with a price tag to match.

You will also find a number of older Bandai Gundam kits still being made which usually have no "grading" on the boxes. They're good kits and can often be found at a discount.

Then there's the chinese kits. When molds start to show wear Bandai sells them off to Chinese companies who then run out a coupla million more kits that techically are to be only sold in China. Thanks to the internet (and eBay) this isn't always true. Are they cheap knock-offs? Well that depends on the kit.

Bandai is the official company for Gundam kits. Lots of "alternative" versions around. But most of those greatly differs in quality. So, I recommend original Bandai kits if you want value for money and less frustration with flash and stuffs. Although if you're in US...it'll be pretty steep.