One of the most revolutionary MG kits of its time

After completing this particular MG kit I actually realized a few things, Firstly that I remember why I love this kit. Secondly, I just remembered that I haven’t actually written proper lore for the Gramps.

Well, today we will cover all of that here and on today’s review.

Before I forget, its Kimi here and today I’m back with my final thoughts of the MG 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.3.0!

But before we get to the review, let us first talk about the history and lore of this awesome MS, since, well…ya know…haha…

The History and Development of the RX-78-2 Gundam

Model name:

RX-78-2

Classification:

Prototype Close Quarters Combat Mobile Suit

Weapon systems:

60mm Vulcan Cannon,

Beam Saber

Beam Javelin

Gundam Hammer

BAUVA*XBR-M-79-07G Beam Rifle

BLASH*XHB-L-03/N-STD Hyper Bazooka

RX*M-Sh-008/S-01025 Shield

Height:

18.5m

Armour Material:

Luna Titanium

Powerplant:

Minovsky Ultracompact Fusion Reactor (1380kw output)

Total Thrust:

2 x 24,000 kg

4 x 1870 kg

Effective Sensor Radius:

5,700 meters

Crew:

1 pilot (in the cockpit in torso with the Core Block System using FF-X7 Core Fighter)

Out of all the MS that we’ve talked about in this section, this is probably one that is by far the most interesting and one of the most feared MS out of all the MS that was produced by both sides in the One Year War conflict.

Yes finally we are going to be talking about the Famed RX-78-2 “White Devil” Gundam, the Earth Federations the most famous Prototype MS during the One Year War. The one that has been said to be one of the main reason why the Zeon lost the war.

Which begs the question, how did the Federation managed this? From them coming close to losing the war to…well winning it, towards the end?

Well, that might be due to Project V, well more specifically the RX-78-2 prototype unit that came out from that project in particular.

The RX-78-2 as the model name implies was the second unit out of three MS prototypes that were developed by the Earth Federation during the early days of the One Year War. The Gundam originally made to compliment the other two MS’s that was as well developed from the project V, which was the long-range MS the Guncannon and mid to long range artillery MS the Guntank.

That is why the Gundam was developed from the ground up to be a close-range MS, which is why the Gundam was quite agile to begin and aswell had alot of weapons on it that was meant for close encounters, like the beam sabers and the RX*M-Sh-008/S-01025 Shield. But not every weapon that the Gundam has is for close range engagement it was as well equipped with a Mid-range engagement beam weaponry, like the extremely powerful BAUVA*XBR-M-79-07G Beam Rifle. Which was as well very first compact Beam Rifle that was made especially for use on an MS, which gave the Gundam the capabilities to have a weapon that is as powerful as the ones seen on the Earth Federation Space Battleship’s beam cannons.

The gundam wasn’t just given powerful cannons, it was as well equipped with new kind of armor which used a new kind of material; the Luna Titanium alloy. Which was alot lighter and a much stronger material that the Super-Hard Steel Alloy armor that was used on the Zeon’s mass produced MS the Zaku II. The Gundam’s was so well protected that it managed to nullify the Zaku II’s machine gun armor piercing shots directly to its main body without sustaining any damage.

However, one of the most impressive features of the RX-78-2 was really the learning computer that was installed in the MS. What is a learning computer you may ask, well…its technically its just a modern black box that was installed to record the RX-78-2’s pilot data which can be used for the future development of the future Earth Federation MS.

But that is not the only thing the learning computer on the RX-78-2 does, it as well…as the name implies, learn from the data that was collected to improve the performance of the Gundam on its next engagement. The learning computer was as well said used to help lessen the time to train new pilots, since the data from past operators of the MS which had this system installed could be used to help untrained pilots to be able to operate the MS easily, hence cutting the time needed to train new pilots.

Honestly, the Earth Federation really managed to create something insanely powerful, in which the Zeeks really had no real answer to until the late stage of the One Year War with the Gelgoog and the massive Zeong. But it was already too late for the Zeons, because by the time they finally had something that is on par The Earth Federation was already mass producing the GM’s in massive numbers and using them to steamroll themselves into victory by then.

Even then, the Gundam was said to be at the forefront of the battle laying waste of everything until it was destroyed during the final stages of the A Baoa Qu battle. ‘

When I really look back, I do think that it’s insane to think that one MS manages to do all of this, within just one year of its introduction into the battlefield. But indeed it did, and I think that is why up until today hearing the name ‘Gundam’ would bring the fear of god to anyone that was unfortunate enough to hear it.

With that ends the History Lessons, Let us now move on to the review.

The Review

40 years, its really something that I find amazing that the Gundam series has reached the 40 milestone mark and what better way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the series that brought me to this awesome hobby, then to review the latest and the third edition of the MG kit from this beloved series.

It was really has been quite a while since I worked on another MG Grandpa Ver.3.0 kit and honestly, even with my previous experience with it, I was expecting this to be a much more familiar experience. However, I was really surprised that even after 6 years I was still taken into this rollercoaster of emotions and feelings as I worked on this kit.

I was still finding myself surprised, impressed, happy, and sad by what I experienced here. Honestly, I was as well baffled by it, and to think that this was my second run with the kit…..

I am genuinely impressed.

For a standard sized MG kit, I was really surprised that building this took me a lot longer to complete than all the other regular sized MG kits that I’m accustomed to. Partly it was due to the fact that there were some sections of the build that was quite challenging, but mostly it was due to the fact that this MG kit has ALOT of small bits.

Though it wasn’t as small as the Mecha Colle kit that I worked on last week, however, it was alot smaller than most MG parts that I’m accustomed to and when you factor in that it was aswell quite a number of them too here…. it kind of takes alot of your time away from moving on to other things. But honestly, while I was working on this, I can’t help to feel like I was building a 1/100 scale RG kit than an MG kit. It wasn’t as well helped with the fact that the overall design of this as well looked like the RG version of the Gramps too.

But, unlike the RG version, with the MG there aren’t any issues at all with the kit. In fact, I would say that this version more like an improved version of the two. Because there aren’t any fitting issues here, the MG Ver.3.0 parts here feels more secure than the RG version, the MG Ver.3.0 manipulator system was a joy to work on and most importantly it was definitely a much more stable platform when compared to the RG kit which an unstable mess.

With the MG Gramps Ver.3.0, you just feel really confident to pose the kit up. Unlike the RG version where every pose is an invitation for it to just crumble under its own weight. Which is quite funny, when both of them share the same overall Hyper Realistic design.

However, the question remains is this an improvement over the Ver.2.0 MG Grandpa?

The simple answer to that question…..is somewhat of a yes? maybe?

Why? Well, because honestly? There is without a doubt some improvement that was made on the MG Grandpa Ver.3.0, which you can see on both the looks of this kit and its articulation as well.

The MG Grandpa Ver.3.0 is without a doubt one of the best looking MG kits that I’ve seen to date, heck I would even go as far to say that this looked even better than the Ver.K.A version too. The Hyper-Realistic look of this Ver.3.0 is really something new when it comes down to the Gramps look and to be really frank, despite its ridiculous colors, looking at it one can really imagine the MG Gramps Ver.3.0 to be something that was used by the military.

Though amazingly the awesome looks of the kit weren’t just good at making the MG Gramps Ver.3.0 look badass, it as well helped improve some aspects of the MG Gramps that was a bit of a disappointment on the MG Ver.2.0, like both the articulation on the manipulators, which was improved with the introduction of the “Emotion Manipulator SP” (or aka the Ver.3.0 manipulators) on the MG Gramps Ver.3.0 and the old school verniers, which was totally revamped in the MG Ver.3.0.

Which is good, because now we have a Gramps that had a look that would match the awesomeness of the MG Zaku II Ver.2.0’s look!

However…..even though it does some of the things right MG Gramps Ver.3.0 does as well do some things a bit…wrong.

Because despite what we say about some of the elements of MG Gramps Ver.2.0’s look here. But let us not forget, that there is a reason why alot of the newer MG GM kits was based on the MG Gramps Ver.2.0 inner frame and not the MG Ver.3.0’s frame.

The MG Gramps Ver.3.0 inner frame just feels a bit lacking at some points, I feel

Because when compared to the MG Ver.2.0 the inner frame to the MG Gramps Ver.3.0’s inner frame, you would find that the MG Gramps Ver.3.0’s inner frame is a bit inconsistent at some points. Because I would find that there are some sections on the MG Gramps Ver.3.0 that would be insanely detailed, and at the same time I would find some sections of the MG Gramps Ver.3.0 would have parts which are not as detailed as the rest.

Which I do admit that I felt a bit disappointed with. Because for someone that has built a lot MG’s I guess it is quite normal to want to have more. But then again we can’t be asking too much on the MG line because if they really give this that insane level of detail, why do we then need the PG line up right.

Plus, as I looked at how good the articulation was here, as well on how solid the whole kit is and not to mention while still making the kit look thinner and a lot more handsome than the MG Grandpa Ver.2.0 you kind of don’t really mind some of the downgrades made. Plus if you are thinking of getting a good handsome grandpa which is as well a fun kit to build and work on, this is definitely the one that you should get! Especially to those that have built enough HG’s to move on to the bigger kits or to those that are thinking of getting an MG Gramps for the first time!

However, looking at this I do admit that I can’t help to feel a bit sad.

Because none of the newer MG kits of today really does right with what both MG Gramps Ver.2.0 and Ver.3.0 did. I still remember that alot of the MG’s that were released during this period really pushing the limits of what they can or cannot do with MG line up and when I compare to the ones that we get today, which alot of the new ones is either a kit with good looks but no substance or a kit with a recycled MG Ver.2.0 frame, with some updates to it of course or a ‘play it safe’ MG designs with ‘some’ details thrown in with somewhat good looks.

I’m not saying there isn’t a good new MG kit out there nowadays, there is. It’s just that nowadays there isn’t an MG kit that makes me go, oh ‘that is brilliant’. I realized that right after the release of almost all the Ver.2.0 kits (except the MG Seed Ver.2.0 kits and the Hyakushiki Ver.2.0) we really don’t get a kit that had parts that are as detailed and as revolutionary anymore.

Which is funny, because back when the Ver.3.0 was released I remember that even though I was disappointed by the lack of the detail on the inner frame, I thought at the very least the newer kits would go down the path of the RG by having MG kits look Hyper Realistic and badass. While they figure a way to slowly make the inner frame as well look badass for the MG line up and slowly stop churning out RG kits because they realized that it’ll just be better if they stick with the MG line up.

However, what happens instead it seems to me now that the RG kits are becoming more awesome and pushing boundaries of what an RG can or cannot do. While the MG’s… well it seems to me that they are the ones that are getting the short end of the stick.

Which is why I was a bit sad because it seems to me that the MG Gramps Ver.3.0 feels like the last kit that they really try to do something new and to know that we might not see a new MG line up that would be pushing boundaries like how the older MG kits did…

Really depresses me, if I have to be honest. I really hope that this is not the case and one day I will eventually get to build something that would blow my mind away like how both this and the Ver.2.0 did….a long time ago.

With that ends the review for the MG 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.3.0 (MG). What do you think of both the kit and the review for this awesome MG kit? Do you share the same thoughts with us or do you think that this kit could’ve been better?

Honestly, I do have alot of fun with building this kit, it was one that made me think alot of the state of how the current MG is nowadays and on kind of made me slightly sad but yet quite hopeful for what the future holds for the MG line up.

and for the RG line up too.

Anyways, we will be back again this week more Let’s Talk Gunpla Segment on the coming Wednesday and we will be back as well on the coming Sunday with a new unboxing or review! So, do look forward to that!

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We hope by sharing our love and passion for gunplas here, it’ll inspire you to pick up the hobby or reignite your love for gunpla!

Anyways, we shall see all of you again next week, and we hope that you all have an awesome week and weekend ahead! Have an awesome Gunpla building time there as well and until next time!

Ciao!