HG Daban Delta Kai - Review

Hello plamo builders! Today I'll be reviewing one of Daban's recent releases - the HG Delta Kai! I've built the MG Delta Plus before, and I'm a big fan of Hyaku Shiki descendants. Let's see how this guy measures up.

Click on the read more link for the rest of this post...

Build

It took around 4 hours in total to put together, nub cleaning excluded. The build was fairly easy, though some parts did need a bit of peg trimming to get them to fit snugly. I do that by default anyway, in preparation for paint.

A lot of the main sub-assemblies use a slot-in system, which will make sense later.  I left the stickers off for now.

 

Look and Feel

After building Daban's latest MG releases, I have to say I'm a bit let down by the details on this guy. They just aren't as sharp - and while that can be expected of a 3rd party kit, I was hoping their HG line would catch up in terms of quality by now.

The overall design is commendable, and since this kit can "transform", you're getting 2 kits in one. You might want to deal with a few seam-lines: those running down the hydraulic cylinder on the shin, those on top of the shoulder armor, and on the large cannon on the shield. The kit doesn't come with a stand, but there are a couple of small ones for deploying the funnels. It includes a full set of fixed position hands, a pair of beam sabers, a sticker sheet, and some extra parts which look like pieces from the Delta Plus design.

Articulation

This model is a bit back heavy due to the wings and the funnels, but the leg joints are nearly MG in design and articulation, so you can pose and balance it without a stand. The wings are locked in place so you can't do any posing there. The funnels are fixed in an open position.

The knees are double jointed and you can do a kneeling pose, though the spiky armor can get in the way. The waist can twist a bit but is also obstructed by the side skirts. The elbows have a single joint. The transformation is performed by sliding off some of the slotted armor parts and replacing them with a set specifically included for the waverider form.

Some wing segments swivel forward in waverider form, which is all the articulation it really needs. I think it looks better in this mode.

Issues

One of the parts that comes off when transforming is this grey piece (see below) that holds the shield to the arm. It goes onto the shield pretty tightly, and transformation becomes impossible if you can't pry it off. I suggest doing some minor surgery to the plastic to loosen the fit, but don't go overboard or it may not be able to hold the shield firmly onto the arm. As for loose parts, the side skirts are attached only to the back skirt with just one peg, and can pop out when posing.

Lastly, you can tell this kit is lacking in color separation just by looking at the sticker sheet. This is a shortcoming in the original design itself.

Verdict

The issues mentioned above take away some points for this kit. I give it a passing 6/10. In the hands of an experienced modeler, this kit can look great - particularly in the waverider mode - but it will take some work to sharpen up some of those details. At it's low price point, it may be more practical to get a 2nd one if you plan on painting - so you can display both modes without worrying about scratching up the paint job.

This review was brought to you by Gundam Central.

Till next time, keep building plamo!