Escalation. It’s a concept that permeates nearly all aspects of our world. From politics, global conflicts, and interpersonal relationships, to plot progression and character development. So when the show runners of Gundam Build Fighters Try had to give Mr. Ral a new Gunpla that can top the bad-assery that was the Gouf R35, they had to…. escalate.

Enter the Dom R35, the Gouf R35’s next stage of escalation. Like the Leopard da Vinci, the Dom R35 appeared in the last episode battling Meijim Kawagichi‘s Amazing Red Warrior, while being the only character to do so without breaking a sweat. It is based on the Dom from the original Gundam series. While the original Ramba Ral never piloted the Dom in that show, he was slated to get one, but didn’t due to Space Nazi (Zeon) internal politics. However Mr. Ral had no such difficulties in obtaining a Dom model kit and giving it the R35 treatment.

Mobile Suit Design

The Dom R35 is based on the original Dom but given heavy customization. The main features are Mr. Ral’s two tone blue colour as well as multitudes of thrusts around the kit. Lastly, articulated claws are added to the elbows and knees of the Dom R35, which, while certainly looks cool, has no practical application that can be ascertained thus far.

The kit itself has few number of stickers but the ones present get can be very… intrusive. While the little pink sticker for the mono-eye is just fine and dandy the kit comes with two light blue stickers for the shields as well as two for the back pack. These particular stickers are large and require bending around the edges. One would have hoped that these would’ve been plastic parts instead.

All in all, the Dom R35 boasts a bulky but deceptively fast and nimble design due to the inclusion of its large number of thrusters all over the kit.

Build Process

Despite the design of this kit being based on the original Dom, the Dom R35 is a completely new mold, though it does retain one awesome feature of the original HGUC Dom/Rick Dom kit. The head contains a fully movable mono-eye that can traverse in all directions within the confines of the face area. Covering the face is also a clear plastic part, carried over from the original HGUC kit as well. This feature was a welcomes addition since after HGUC Dom/Rick Dom, there were no Dom styled kits that came with this gimmick.

The rest of the kit snaps together just as you would any High Grade kit, everything being standard assembly. The chest section comes in large pieces, leaving the insides very hollow and quite light. The only negative comment about the assembly is the looseness of the ball joints in the foot and the knees coming apart too easily when playing the the knee joints. All in all this kit is fairly easy to put together and the mono-eye articulation is a welcomed addition.

Articulation

For a bulky MS, this kit is surprisingly articulated. As mentioned before, the head features a moving mono-eye that can move in all directs. The head itself has limited rotation and vertical movement though this compensated by the moving mono-eye when a pose requires the MS to look at more extreme directions.

The chest, despite looking large and cumbersome offers limited horizontal swivel and vertical ab crunch should the builder desires it.

Elbows and knees are both double jointed though the knee movements can be somewhat limiting due to the nature of its construction. Bending the knee too far can cause the lower leg to separate from the thighs, thus giving them about a 90 degree bend. The elbows, on the other hand, has no such limitations and almost do a full bend. Claws on the knees and elbows can open and close as well, though a sharp fingernail or and thin tool is needed to handle them.

Lastly, thrusters on the back of the waist and the back of the legs can move as well. While the thrusters on the back of the legs can only pivot up and down, the rear waist thrusters can extend out on articulated arms to provide a wide range of movements.

While the articulation quality isn’t something to write home about, the amount of places that can move and the amount of movement it has despite of the bulky design makes this kit very enjoyable to pose.

Accessories

The only accessories that comes with the kit are a pair of spikes shields, but these are no ordinary shields. The shields can be set into three different configurations.

The first is the obvious shield mode, the second form, done by bending the spiked portion of the shield downward, is a spiked gauntlet. Flip the shields backwards and have the hands hold onto a pivoting handle, the shield turns into ranged weapon. The shields pegs securely on to the wrists of the Dom R35.

Though shown in the anime, this kit lacks the heat sabers the Dom R35 uses when fighting in the last episode but these can be transferred form the Gouf R35 if need be.

Personal Modifications

Other than panel lining, I’ve added various water slides through out the body of the kit. The back pack also has peg holes that allows for other parts to be plugged in, I used them to attach a beam Gatling gun from the HGBF Leopard da Vinci and a missile launcher taken from the HGUC Ez-SR.

Final Verdict

This kit has a great design but only has average build quality. While the kit boasts features like the amazing mono-eye articulation to its use of thrusters all over the body, it lack in areas such has the knee joint and slightly loose feet joint, which can be thickened to provide better stability.

That being said, the Dom R35 is a great choice for any builder’s Gunpla collection. Oh, and did I mention that the mono-eye moves?

TL;DR

Pros

Awesome updated Dom design.

Pretty articulate for a bulky kit.

Shields can be set to three different modes.

Room for additional customization.

MOVING MONO-EYE!!

Cons

Weak knee joints.

Weak feet joint.

Missing heat sabers.