Sunday, May 17, 2015

[Kit Insight] HGBF 1/144 XM-X1[MS] Crossbone Gundam X1 Full Cloth (Minovsky Stealth Mode) (Painted Build)



The community is still waiting with bated breath for the inevitable release of the HGUC Crossbone Gundam X1 Full Cloth, which is essentially a souped-up, upgraded version of the original X1, itself already a masterpiece of mobile suit design. Therefore, when Lucas Nemesis debuted his own version of the Full Cloth, fans worldwide metaphorically (hopefully not literally) shit their collective pants. Yes, the GBFT version looks a little different from the HGUC version, but its still a Full Cloth, right? Furthermore, the mobile suit managed to hold its own against both the Transient and The End together, that one-on-two battle sequence being one of the most memorable in GBFT.


Needless to say, many said fans were a little disappointed when the actual kit information was released. It has a kickass box art that showcased the Full Cloth with its primary weapons the Peacock Smasher and Muramasa Blaster, it came with the full suite of beam effect parts along with all the original weapons of the X1 (Beam Zanber and Buster Gun). However, the primary colour of the kit was done in pearl gloss white, a finish usually reserved for premium kits. Logically, fans should be happy that Bandai used such a premium molding technology for a regular release, but many of them were left frustrated as the white didn't really do justice to the Full Cloth. Having  pearl gloss finish was in fact one of the ways Bandai tried to differentiate the Type GBFT version of the Full Cloth with the HGUC one, that along with blue in place of black as well as that core fighter gimmick.
I agonised for a little (as usual) for my iteration of the Full Cloth. I liked the cloak, the heavy weapons, the overall look of the badass killing machine. Therefore, I decided to only do a colour correction build and not a full customised one. However, I gave it a pair of additional weapons not seen in either the anime or the HGUC.
The result was a Full Cloth that looks like it is in stealth mode, clad only in dull colours. The reds and yellows were completely removed in favour of chrome, silver and black, while the pearl gloss was replaced with solid pearl white. The blue cloak parts were changed to metallic black, and a lot of masking went into painting the Peacock Smasher. The theory is that the Full Cloth will use the stealth cloak to get in close to the enemy undetected, then unleash all its weaponry on its target. It arsenal of close-range, mid-range and long-range weaponry allows the Full Cloth to stay in theatre for a sizable amount of time after losing the element of surprise, using the stealth features of the cloak to escape once the tide turns against the Full Cloth's favour.

Expectedly, the cloak parts hinder the mobility of the kit a little, but after a while, you will get used to posing and manoeuvring the parts out of the way. Overall, its a great kit best tackled with a paintjob.
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