Gundam, a 1979 media franchise that features giant robots duking it out with each other has been a favourite of mine for a number of years. While I’ve lost touch with the newer adventures, the heroics of Amuro Ray, Kamille Biden, and Judau Ashta in their battle again Zion where the bulk of my 90s childhood.
While the long-running franchise has spawned a whole bunch of merchandise, nothing is as popular as building your own Mobile Suit. And thanks to the generous folks over at Heroes - Comic, Gaming, & Collectibles - I’ve been sent a wide selection of SD Sangoku Soketsuden, and SDW Heroes Gundam to build and review.
Romance of the Three Gundam
Created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Gundam, SD Gundam World Sangoku Soketsuden plays homage to the Luo Guanzong novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”. While the 14th century historical novel focuses on feudal lords and their retainers in the last days of the Han Dynasty, SD Gundam World Sangoku Soketsuden gives everything a sci-fi makeover. And who doesn’t like Samurai looking robots? Or more precisely Samurai Gundam!?
Naturally the SD Sangoku Soketsuden model range all takes inspiration from the characters portrayed in the Luo Guanzong novel. For fans of the video game Dynasty Warriors, expect to see a few familiar names. As someone who’s quite a fan of the DW series (there’s also a DW: Gundam game too!), I naturally gravitated to the figures who sided with Liu Bei under the banner of the Shu Dynasty. So it was no surprise when I opened the Heroes delivery box and was greeted by the SDW Heroes Long Zun Liu Bei Unicorn Gundam - it was also the model I knew I had to construct for this review.
Constructing a mini-legend!
Opening the box and your greeted with a typical plastic sprue that holds the various pieces of the Gundam. Much like the sprues that Games Workshop uses, these are pretty flimsy and with a good crafting knife - or clippers - you’ll be able to snip the components off with relative ease. Elsewhere there’s also a well illustrated instruction manual, and a sticker sheet to add some detail to the model. What’s also interesting is that to construct these SD Sangoku Soketsuden models you don’t need any glue as all the parts click together. While more experienced modellers will no doubt use glue/putty to hide those seams, for novice builders it’s an accessible solution.
Construction is about as simple as you’d expect it to be. Even with the instructions being in their native Japanese, the diagrams are pretty informative, and very easy to follow - and there’s also a mini-comic too!
Looking the part!
Once complete, Liu Bei looks like he means business, even if he hides some basic ball and socket joints under his armour. Even with its simple design, the Gundam looks imposing enough, and is sure to capture anyone’s gaze if placed within a display cabinet. Each of the joints offer a decent amount of flexibility which in turn allows for a few striking poses, and some interesting dioramas if you have more then one model. The head, arms, legs, back, wrists, and torso are all ball & socket with each having a good grip to keep everything in place. The only downside is that the models elbows are in a fixed position, and his “pointy bits” are a little too pointy. But with plenty of other manoeuvrability options it’s not too much of an issue.
Come to the end of the roughly 20 minute build and it’s time to put the Unicorn Gundam together. As each module is constructed via sub-assembly, it’s quite a thrill bringing it all together. I felt like one of the often forgotten characters that’s down on the Gundam assembly line making sure all the components fit in place before it gets shipped out to the pilot. Much like other models, the Liu Bei Unicorn Gundam does have some extra parts. While I scoured across the build guide in search of these parts, there doesn’t seem to be an actual place for them. What I did discover is that there is an additional option to fit the miniature onto a display stand, so I’m guessing these two extra parts are for that?
Overall
Even with its lack of articulation, Liu Bei was a very enjoyable build. It’s incredibly straight forward to construct with plenty of clear diagrams to help those of us who don’t speak Mandarin. Each part is manufactured to a high standard, with each fitting snug.
Whether you have no idea what Gundam is, or someone who just thinks that a robot-looking Samurai is a pretty cool thing, you’ll definitely fall in love with the SDW range. And with Heroes - Comic, Gaming, & Collectibles stocking a sizeable amount at very reasonable prices - well you know where to look!
Big thanks to Heroes - Comics, Gaming, & Collectibles for allowing me this opportunity. Make sure to keep reading for what other content we have planned.
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