Kit review: HGUC REVIVE 1/144 – YMS-15 Gyan
Sometimes, simplicity is best. A model kit with not so many parts, not so many accessories and a pretty basic design can sometimes excel in playability if engineered the right way. Many HGUC models are very militaristic, but there is one that is essentially a medieval knight with a super simple and minimal loadout but has many unique engineering that really bring its value up – and that is M’Quve personal mobile suit – the YMS-15 Gyan. It originally was one of the first HGUC produced, but the first edition kit was too outdated, so Bandai decided to revive the Gyan in all its glory.
– Info:
HGUC REVIVE 1/144 Gyan
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam 0079
Price: 1,320 yen
Release date: May, 2016
Order your Gyan here.
HGUC REVIVE 1/144 Gyan
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam 0079
Price: 1,320 yen
Release date: May, 2016
Order your Gyan here.
– Design: The Gyan is basically a knight in medieval times, with a design reminiscent of a Bishop in chess. The helmet is similar to a Renaissance Close Helmet. The feet is your typical knight boots and the overall proportion is a blocky body with curvy armor for the limbs. The skirt parts are also quite large on the back. It has a very basic thruster config with two cylindrical canister on the back. Overall, it’s a very lean knightly design.
– Build quality: It’s a revive of a super basic kit with only 4 pages in the manual – so the build process is quick and simple. The snapfit is very good and most of the pieces are quite large so it’s easy to aggressively file down the nubs. It also only has 3 stickers that is super easy to apply without any difficulty. I do recommend taking extra care on the beam saber since it’s pretty thick and if you cut too close, the white spot will appear. It’s better to double cut or cut far away and file it down.
– Articulation: Probably the best parts of the kit. The upper body is quite simple so you can twist and turn him in many ways. Even the torso up-and-down is actually quite impressive for such a blocky kit. The legs have a pretty decent range of motion, only limited by the large backskirt. The feet is on a ball-joint so it has decent range. The best thing about the articulation is…the wrist of the right hand. It’s a part specially engineered for the forward thrust pose while fencing so you can create many dynamic stabbing pose with it.
– Gimmicks: There’s not many gimmicks included in the kit aside from some basic movement on the thrusters and the shield. The forward thrust wrist is more of an articulation special for the kit anyway.
– Accessories: This HGUC comes with only 2 armaments:
x 1 high-output beam saber
x 1 missile shield: the shield has holes for missiles but there’s no effect parts.
x 2 weapon-holding hands
x 1 fencing hand (for the right arm): for this one, it can be used to hold rifles in very nice sniping position as well.
x 1 high-output beam saber
x 1 missile shield: the shield has holes for missiles but there’s no effect parts.
x 2 weapon-holding hands
x 1 fencing hand (for the right arm): for this one, it can be used to hold rifles in very nice sniping position as well.
–> Overall: This is a very basic kit but full of potential. If you don’t mind the fact it’s piloted by a very unlikeable character in 0079 – it is a good kit to buy due to its extremely cheap price and the revived engineering that comes with it. If you want a UC kit that stands out and scream “Honor” – then this is the kit to get.
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