The Gundam Astraea Type-F is a kit that i've debated to get for a while, a bit due to debating on which grade to get. While the RG looked awesome, the frame was the wrong color and it was P-Bandai. The 1/100 was good but it missed a few color apps, and I could never find one. The HG was the one I could find, and while it was the best of them all when it came to important color apps, it was based off the HG Gundam Exia which honestly isn't the best kit out there, and that made me a bit anxious. Nevertheless, I eventually caved and got the HG. So after buying it and building it, did I regret my purchase?
Not in a million years.
Box:
The boxart for the Astraea Type-F has a nice shot of the Astraea Type-F fully armed and shooting it's dakka with explosions in the background. To the left corner, you can see the names of the two games it hails from.
Parts:
For parts, we get a decent amount. We get one red runner, a light brown runner molded in ABS plastic...
...two multicolored runners...
...and one grey weapon runner.
We also get beam saber blades and the polycap sheet.
We also get a large sticker sheet and a wire, yes this kit has a bit of remold syndrome.
Manual:
The manual is your average 00 manual, you get the boxart, info of the MS, instructions, part count, and the color guide. You also get to see the "family tree" of the Astraea Type-F, and the MS that preceded and succeeded it.
Completed Product:
The completed Astraea Type-F looks pretty good, a bit of stickers are used due to the age of the kit and the fact that it's already based off of the HG Gundam Exia, so it does suffer a tiny bit from remold syndrome. The base kit is similar to the HG Gundam Exia as well due to being the prototype of it, only it doesn't miss as many color apps and has a few different armor parts. The upper arms do get loose and fall off a bit. Just do a bit of the superglue trick and things should get better.
Articulation:
The head is on a ball joint, however the fins on the collar and the head fins do limit articulation.
The arms go up a bit more than 90˚ upwards, and the sections on the torso are on ball joints so they can move around to give a bit more articulation for the arms.
About 95˚ elbow joint and the arm can swivel.
Waist is on a swivel peg, does not abcrunch or bend at all.
Legs do not have a swivel, but can bend a healthy 170˚, best point of articulation on the kit.
Accessories:
This is the real strength of the kit, the accessories can be summed up in two words: Holy shit.
First off, you get an open left palm, but honestly, you'd be insane to use it considering all you're getting.
His main weapon is his Proto GN Sword. Faithful to it's name, this is the prototype to the Exia's GN Sword.
You attach it to the arm by tabbing on a part to the arm and attaching a connection piece to attach the sword to the underside.
After that, you the final piece on the other side of the forearm to secure the connection.
Now you have it equipped, no this does not act as a beam rifle like the normal GN Sword, the flipping out is just there for the cool factor.
To flip it out, simply do so and pull out the handle, and now you can do some slashing poses.
You also get 3 beam sabers. Two regular ones and one crappy toothpick beam saber from the Exia. On the bright side, you could say the red is close enough to pink...but honestly, if you're going to display this thing dual wielding beam sabers, might as well use the actual beam sabers, and you probably won't due to how much stuff this thing comes with.
The kit also comes with the Astraea's GN Shield.
As well as the GN Beam Rifle!
You also get these holsters to attach to the legs.
These can actually flip open, and they contain two GN pistols inside!
If you know me, you'd know how much I freakin' love handguns. This pair is really cool looking and are a joy to pose with.
You also get the GN hand missile. This can be equipped on the arm and leg of the Type F via the connection points it has.
Additionally, you can put a handle on it so it can be handheld!
You also get a GN hammer, and like the GN hand missile, can be attached to both the leg and arm connection points.
You even get one of those bendy wires to have it "swing", although it is quite heavy, so posing realistically may get hard.
Of course, it's able to be held by the hand too.
Swing~
You also get the GN Launcher, this thing can get equipped in a unique way.
You can to take off one of the Astraea's clavical antennas.
Before tabbing it inside the hole it leaves.
This does not allow it to move around, however you can spin it so the handle can be grabbed by the arm.
Now, he has an awesome giant gun attached to him. In the lore, this thing will cause the Astraea to have less particle control due to removing one of it's clavicle antennas, but has higher firepower at that rate. The Astraea can also wield it normally, however it will have less power when doing so.
Finally, you get the Astraea's largest weapon, the NGN Bazooka, also the only weapon of the Astraea that does not use GN particles.
You also get a connector piece to attach the GN Rifle to the waist. Just take out the round part on the leg, and put the connector piece on.
Now you can attach the rifle.
That's not everything however, due to re-using parts of the Exia, you can also build it's weapons as well! The shield needs an extra polycap for it to be used, however I still find this a very welcome surprise. With this, you can dual wield GN Sword and Proto GN sword, although the GN Sword will have to be on the right arm.
The GN Sword is fully functional, you get all the parts for it, nothing missing.
You even get the GN Long Blade and the GN Short Blade. They are completely build-able with no missing parts as well!
This being the Astraea, you can build this kit as the Type-F (the version I chose and used for the majority of the review) or you can build it as the Type-F2. The parts on the left are the parts for the Type-F, and the parts on the right are the parts for the Type-F2. The Type-F2 parts are actually that of the Exia's besides the v-fin, so the Type-F2 is in a way, a hybrid of the Astraea Type-F and the Exia.
It pretty much works fine though, however I much prefer the Type-F over the Type-F2, as it's more unique and the clear visor looks awesome.
That's not everything to the HG Astraea Type-F however, oh no, the Astraea Type-F has one final secret unintentional trick that makes this kit even better. Due to using the same runners of the Exia, you get a lot of leftover parts from it, pretty much all of them. Through the picture above, you can probably see where i'm going at.
Using those leftover parts, you can use them with the Astraea to build a red Exia, and that's just freaking awesome. Sure, he doesn't have those strips on his shoulders, so it's not 100% accurate, but that's literally it, and it's good enough for me. You may want to paint those parts that aren't covered by stickers, however I think the fact that you get the parts to do so is what's really the gift.
The red Exia can use it's weapons work perfectly fine, it's essentially the same kit, hell it could even use the Astraea's weapons.
Beam sabers work, shield works, everything works, and that's just awesome!
Words cannot describe how pleasantly surprised I was with this.
The beam sabers are also placed differently on the Exia, and do hinge out for grabbing.
Verdict:
If it isn't obvious, I freaking love this kit. It's got very little flaws, as well as having a ton of playability, display options, and room for customisation. It's got a load of accessories that you can mess around with, and you can equip a large amount of them if you choose to build the kit as the Type-F. Even better, if you want to mess around with the kit even more, you can kitbash this kit with the extra Exia spare parts to make different custom combinations, equip a handful of the many weapons given to you and more! There are just so many options with this kit OOB! You get a lot of display options with this guy, and that's awesome. The Astraea by itself is a mediocre kit, similar to the HG Exia, with it's cool looks being the main strongpoint, but with the intense amount of accessories and spare parts, it just makes the kit that much better. Any fan of 00 owes themselves to get this kit, if you're interested in this kit or the Astraea in any way, I highly urge you to purchase this HG, it's a very good one.
Pros:
- Comes with a shit ton of accessories, including the Exia weapons. (!)
- Weapons are also very versatile and can be used, stored, and displayed in different ways, some which pack some nice gimmicks. (!)
- Weapons are also very versatile and can be used, stored, and displayed in different ways, some which pack some nice gimmicks. (!)
- Can make a red Exia with the extra spare parts. (!)
- Can be built as the Type-F or the Type-F2.
Cons:
- Stickers are a bit numerous
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