After the twists and turns of the Clanche build I inadvertently took a break during my next build the Master Grade GAT-X105 Buster Gundam. I started it while I was waiting for the Clanche’s water to dry but a few things including a heat wave stalled the build until now. But with the build back on track I ended up noticing a few pluses and minuses with the way they designed it.

The Buster basically uses the GAT-X100 frame that all the new SEED kits use except for the Aegis. This frame is really solid and sturdy, has some great articulation, and has a good amount of detail. The problem is though because this frame is supposed to be used for 4 different models it lacks a few things that a specific frame made for this specific model would have. For instance even though it has great articulation the Buster’s armor wasn’t necessarily made to accommodate this for example in the forearms if you try to bend the elbow to its max bend the armor will just pop off. Another issue is the lack of armor separation and detail. Since this frame has specific slots used for multiple armor sets the armor placed on it has to have somewhat simple connection points, because of this armor that should be separated into multiple pieces gets clumped together as one large piece for example the forearms again. This also results in pieces having somewhat awkward connection points that can be overly stiff, this happened to me with the backpack and caused a break.

This frame really gives me mixed feelings it’s works great as a functional default frame but once you build one it makes you feel like you have built them all kinda ending any desire for me to get any of the other new SEED master grades.