MG Age 1 Review

I finished building this kit a while back. Overall I really enjoyed the construction of the kit and the details molded into the inner frame and outer armor. This kit surprised me because it took such a long time to build, the detailing and part count can sneak up on you.

Design 

Like it or not the Age Gundam is here to stay. The design has really grow on me, even the spoiler (it’s actually an antennae). The proportions on this kit are excellent, and I love the influence of the classic RX 78-2 on proportions and color scheme & Exia style head.

  Detail

The detail and engineering of this kit has to be it’s primary selling point. The design is simple and it really captures the classic gundam design. There are tons of opportunities to line and detail this kit. Most of the armor pieces on the waist, shoulders and knees have additional armor backing parts that fill in areas that might be hollow on a HG or NG kit. All of the vents on the arms and legs are molded with holes, and don’t need to be lined. The opening cockpit gimmick on this kit is also pretty cool because the whole cockpit extends out, and a display screen (or something) swivels up and out of the way to reveal the pilot. I should also mention that getting that screen into place so it swivels correctly is a headache.

Articulation

This kit has an excellent range of articulation, and I would guess it’s comparable to many of the current 2.0 kits. I especially like the arms and wrists which have several additional points of articulation. The shoulders also have a high degree of articulation and feature three moving joints.  

Weapons

This kits has classic Gundam equipment , beam rifle, shield and beam sabers. Surprisingly the Dods rifle has like 10+ parts involved in the assembly. I also like the detail molded into the back of the shield, it makes it seem more substantial. I wish they made a 'hyper bazooka', or 'hyper hammer' type weapon for this kit, to really round out the retro vibe.

Concerns

My completed kit has loose shoulder armor, they don’t stay up when posed and tend to sit of the top of ‘deltoid’ part of the arm.

The cockpit hatch on my kit is also slightly loose on my kit, it doesn’t fall open but it doesn’t feel very sturdy either.

I was a bit disappointed by the Dods rifle, the components just don’t line up and nicely as I would expect. It’s not a fault of the model or plastic mold, it’s the design.

The hands on this kit are similar to the hands on the MG Wing and MG Seed kits. The interchangeable fingers on this kit aren’t as sturdy as the older 3 finger trigger, finger split designs. Overall though I think they allow for more expressive posing. 

Overall

If you like the design this kit is a no brainer, just buy it. Even if you’re on the fence about the design, the proportions and engineering involved in this kit might change your mind. The few concerns I have with my kit are completely outweighed by the design.