Dragon Momoko MG Destiny
Third Party Gundam
OMG! Um this kit... If you are a fan of model building and the look of the Gundam Destiny, GET THIS KIT. But only after you have some time and experience first.
First off; from what I have read in other places online there seems to be a "purest" mentality regarding Gunpla. (Gundam model in general) A mentality that you should ONLY buy kits made Bandai and not a knockoff brand. I do support that idea. When it comes to custom building though that can be a little harder to argue. If you want a kit JUST for the reason for parts, I can see going that route. But if going for a straight build and/or just a paint custom, then yeah. Go with the good stuff.
And then you have this; the third parties. If you have been collecting Transformers then you should be familiar with the idea. A third party company comes together and makes products to 'fill the gaps' that the main companies are not providing. Or, like in this case, providing something that is made but costs just WAY too much to allow you to get it. This kit is modeled from Bandai's Metal Build line of the Destiny Gundam. Looks like an updated and meaner version of the suit. Well, this company, Dragon Monoko, took that idea and made a plastic model version and even threw in a nice lot of extras and just a fraction of the price. Now, it does have it's major faults but for me, it is by FAR the best kit I have and darn proud to have it.
The break down:
The good
- looks GREAT / Pointy pointy pointy and BIG
- lots of decals / Foils for the silver and waterslides/ even more than you need
- effect parts for the wings, sword, shield, and boomerangs
- hands: open, closed, and gripping
- about 99% sturdy joints
- the wings WOW
- the manual
- the launcher stand
- even the box is great and VERY sturdy
- transforming parts (wings, shield, sword, and gun)
- mounting parts to fit on stands
- Resealable bags that the sprues come in
The not so good
- a couple of the foil decals did not come off the sheet evenly. Causing me to glue them in place
- some of the steps in the manual is a little hard to tell what is going on. take your time with this one
- space/ this kit will take a LOT of room and to some, this could be an issue. especially if you use the launcher base
- the launcher comes all in one color so you will have to paint
- no armor movement like on Bandai MG kits/ not a big deal but would add something cool to the overall kit if the upper thigh armor would split but can live with that
- some of the joints are TOO tight/ you will have to test them out as you build and trim to make sure that they bend properly and not stress the plastic
- and some are just too loose/ you will have to tighten them up using some modeling tricks
- there are some parts that serve no propose being there ( back of the knees and a lock on the sword
- some flashing that will have to be trimmed/ not a lot but some there
- some parts will not close together completely so have that glue handy/ thankfully, this does not happen too often
- the wings are moveable but only have 2 positions / up and down
Now down to the details
And now... The main attraction
From left wing effect tip to the right is about 2 feet (60cm)!!!! 16 inches (40cm) from top to bottom. This guy takes up room and really catches the eye.
The wings:
The wing effect parts even have a nice shimmer to them that pictures just can't pick up. This guy is best viewed in person. They go on very securely using tabs and clear plastic pieces. Once in, they will NOT fall out. However, they look better from the front rather than the back. You can't see the inner wings and the effect is not as defined. But really, why would you be looking at the back that much?
The biggest issue I have with the wings in general is, while there is a lot of movement to be had with them, they only swing out in 2 settings up and down. They lock in up and down. While cool that it does the are just too far. The locked down (normal) looks great but when you swing them up, eh they just look WAY too high. Would have been nice if it had something in the middle. Also to add, the top black pieces are VERY loose. They are only sandwiched together at the top unto a nub and floppy due to design. Not a big deal to me but I can see it bothering some people.
Wings open and closed
The Weapons:
They did a great job with the weapons and all of them have a gimmick. All mount very securely as well.
Beam boomerangs with beam effects
Beam cannon that fits snuggly on the back skirt armor. The targeting lens moves left an right freely and you even get a little plastic clip to fit into the mounting slot. Though would be SUPER easy to loose this piece however.
Shield mounts to either forearm VERY securely. Though would recommend that you sand the clip down a little to make sure that you do not break it when mounting/ removing it. Also, it transforms!!
Anti ship gun (the big green gun) is VERY cool. It' a darker green and folds out and extends.
Anti ship sword is VERY cool too. Same as the gun it unfolds and extends a little.
To add: both the beam cannon and sword open up at the bottom to allow you to easily slide them into the gripping hands. No need to pop the hands apart in order to get the guy swap weapons!!!
The Manual:
This thing is REALLY nice. The cover has the front of the kit on the front, and the back of the kit on the back. Novel idea! Then on the inside, you have a mutli page spread of the kit in all kinds of different poses and generally looking AWESOME. This is what a manual should be. Though to be honest, there area a couple of times were things tend to get a little confusing but if you take your time, it's not a big deal.
It is worth pointing out that this kit seems to go together like a puzzle. There will be pints in the build that a part will just attach and be floppy. Falling off even. A good example of this is the blue and grey piece on the lower torso that is the cockpit hatch (which does not really have that gimmick like a Bandai MG kit BTW) When you get to that step and attach it, it just falls back off. I though about gluing it in place and mark it off as bad design. BUT, when you get to a later step adding more to the chest, you will be attaching a piece that will lock it into place. It was a real " AH HA" moment. So take your time and just follow the steps. It'll work out
The Extras:
You get hands for both left and right in: open, gripping, and closed
You get the beam effects for the sword, boomerangs, and shields. Two clear glittery blue to fit on each hand and one "active shield" to fit on one hand only. (You can see it on the manual pic. Sorry, it's stored away in the original box.)
One thing I thought odd was the use of resealable bags. Something not 100% needed but cool.
Things to point out:
Now, there are some issues with this kit that I feel I should mention.
Stress marks:
You will need to be careful and pay attention to how things peg in and will have to sand and file accordingly to make sure that stress marks are not made. This is a third party kit and does not quite have the QC that Bandai has. So some parts may not fit just right and be too tight. Even to the point that they may not fit at all until you trim them. This seemed the case rather than things being too small. But definitely something to watch out for. This seems to be a big issue with the inner elbows. As you can see near the bottom right. Now if you got this to paint, well, that would not be that much an issue. But watch out if you are not doing so and just straight building.
The head:
Speaking of things not fitting; the head is made up of 2 haves going down the middle. A great idea on a design point I would think so to hide the seam lines a bit. and everything goes together pretty well. But that one spot just above the eyes an under the V fin. For the life of me I trimmed and trimmed but could not figure out how to correct it. I ended up having to put a drop of glue and hold it together to try to lose the gap. One of the boomerangs had the same issue. It's something fixable a little but something regardless.
Also, the v fin is really mounted to one side rather than dead center of the head. Again, something that may be fixable if you cut the whole peg off and just glue the V fin in place.
The shoulder flips:
Not really an issue but worth pointing out that they are attached to the body in the back. So when you want t move the arm it will move the from there. A little odd when compared to most Gundam builds but different. Does make it a LOT easier to get to the should joint when attaching/removing the arm. also you should really move the arm from this spot when posing. Then just move the flip armor back down once done. Odd, but okay really.
Speaking of odd:
There area few odd things that I feel could have simply not included on this kit that serves not purpose that may have been on the original metal build that this is modeled from. There is a lock on the sword that does nothing at all for this kit. I'm sure that it's there to keep it from flopping open but this being a plastic kit friction alone keeps it in place so this piece is not needed. Also, the back of the knees are the biggest one. There is this little part that pushes in when you go to bend the leg at the knee that I believe is to help with posing. But moves back when the leg is starched back out. Here there is simply not the case. It pushes in, and then just stays in. You will have to move it back using something small to fill it back. Something totally not needed and could have just been molded in but not have to be a separate piece. Not a big deal, but something non the less.
The last word:
Well, sorry that this has taken so long of a review but I felt it was worth to share some points about the kit from what I got from it. Overall it's a GREAT kit and cost about the same as an average Bandai MG kit. And you get a LOT with it. Shoot, even the box is worth keeping. But just make sure you give it some time and not rush through it. And watch out for the sharp points. They are SHARP! This kit looks mean and will bite you. But if you give it some TLC, it will be a AWESOME piece to add to your collection.
Build: 8/10
Size: 10/10
Fun: 10/10
Extras: 10/10
Worth getting: yes yes YES
Thanks for you time :)
