Axarion

I have been re-watching Gundam Seed with the release of the remastered anime series and it has reinforced my stand that this 10 year old series is still the best amongst all the Gundam anime released to date.

Re-watching the anime had inspired me to purchase and build an Aile Strike.

This kit was originally released a decade ago in 2002 and the Remastered edition basically uses the exact same mold but comes with an addtional part for action base adaptation. Do note that the base itself is not included.

The age of this kit definitely shows as it is nowhere near the quality of the recent HG releases like the Gundam Age kits.
 
First off, there is limited articulation in the legs and arms. The thigh to hip connection uses a ball joint which limits the range of motion and the elbow connector is a single joint. The head is practically immobile once the backpack is fitted.

Color inaccuracy is prevalent with this model. The antennas come in a single yellow piece and the white areas have to been painted on. Shoulder guards are also totally in white and I has to paint the frame gray.
The abdomen area was a solid red piece and the 2 vertical gray panels had to be painted. The upper fins were completely in black and the red portion had to be DIYed.

Under the backpack, on the back of the model itself, there are areas that should have been gray, and hence more work was needed there.

Lastly, the shield is made up of only 2 pieces . white & red. Yellow and gray parts had to be painted on.

Stickers provided are insufficient to account for the above color inaccuracies so alot of painting is definitely required.

I was able to get the model into a kneeling position but support from the shield is required to maintain this pose.

To achieve this pose, the Aile Strike had to use the the gun as a walking stick!

And speaking of the gun, there is another odd issue where the handle has been molded too small for some reason and does not fit snugly into the hand. This results in a weapon that must be held in certain positions so that it doesn't flop around.

One last gripe of mine is with the beam saber. The hand, hilt and saber blade is molded in one single piece and is totally in white. I just gave up on painting it and kept it in the box.


I do have to stress that this is a 10 year old kit, so many bells & whistles that come with newer models are non-existent here.

However, if you can manage to look past the shortcomings, this is a pretty nice model with good proportions and has a great design.