"RX-78-2 Version Ka is THE Gundam" by Winkelkar (Belgium) on May 19, 2004

No one can deny the fact that the from 1979 RX-78-2 design is still one of the most beautiful designs to date if not at least it captures you by heart. And Katoki Hajime's version of the RX-78-2 can easily follow with the latest designs. It has some nifty re-designs in the shield, feet, legs, arms, shoulders and head. You'd almost say it's a total new Gundam but you can easily tell it's the RX-78-2. And that's probably the biggest plus for the model. it does jaw dropping justice to the RX-78-2.

Packaging:

A very attractive white box with on the front a very nice CGI rendering of the mecha. And beneath the name it displays very clearly it's desgined by THE man Katoki Hajime. THe sides display pics of the details it has to offer on some very beauiful pictures. It just screams to be bought when you see it and it's also great for collecting.

Content:

- I don't know anymore how many trees it had but I think it was around 7 or 8. Not too many but that's a good thing.

- Manual
Very very nicely illustrated manual with lots and lots of artwork. It also has various info on the design and I think an interview with Hajime but of course it's all in Japanese..... Dammit.....
The pictures for assembling are as always in Bandai's case very clearly and very very easy to follow. If you just do what the manual says in their orer you can't ever go wrong as long as you pay attention.

- Dry Decal Sheet and a Wet Decal Sheet
Personally I prefer dry ones (rub ons) over wet ones because with the wet ones you can always see a small edge from the transparent part where the glue is on. But in this case all of the wet decals are so incredibly small for detailling the Gundam that you can't ever notice they're wet decals. If you wouldn't know they'd think they were painted on in the production. It's quite difficult to put them on without a pincet or your hobby knife but once they're on they make it look all the more impressive.
The dry decals are just plain awesome. They make your gundam look like a real military machine brand new from the production facility. Without them the model looks very dull and simple. I'd really advise to put them on.

Building:

Wen smooth. All I can say. It was easier than the God Gundam and the Zeta Plus. I took one hour less than the God to put this one together. It's really that simple.
What's a fun idea from Bandai is that you don't necessarily have to put the Core Fighter inside the Gundam to complete it. They also supply a substitute coreblock for the Fighter so you can also display the Fighter along side the Gundam. Very nicely done! The core fighter transformation is simple and very fun to do.

Poseability:

Beter than the Zeta Plus but not as poseable as the Inner Frame like the MS God- and Aile Strike Gundam have. The torse can slightly bend, arms can fully rotate to the back to take the beam sabers, it can kneel (!), ankles swivel far enough, arms can bend more than 90 degrees, and the head can move up and down but also swivel to the sides. So I have absolutely no complaints here.

There's only on e thing that kinda bothers me: the Hyper Bazooka. The box makes us beleive it's white however it's complete in dull gray. I don't think it would be too hard for Bandai with their injection technology to make the parts white just like on the box. Because it's not only the colour that's boring also there are some wet decals which are grey (?). So if you were to put them on you wouldn't see them anyway. And that's kinda dissapointing but hey this is model building so painting is not an alien custom.

Conclusion:

Damn it makes me crave for a remake for Original Mobile Suit gundam with this design! This is one of the best models I have so far and it looks very very great on any shelf, I bet.

Poseability and looks are excellent so what do you want more? This model has everything to offer what you're looking for.