When I started collecting and building Gunpla, I set my set a rule which states that I’ll only get kits from series that I have watched. It’s been well over a year since I started my collection and I have broken that rule a dozen times over. The Astraea Type F was that catalyst. With its box art bristling with weaponry and the central Mobile Suit clad in red, my favorite colour, I wasted no time in getting this kit and spending a whole night detailing and putting it together.

While never appearing in the Gundam 00 anime series, this MS was featured in the manga Gundam 00F. Piloted by Fon Spaak, the Astraea Type F was an MS build in the generation preceding the Exia. During the events of Gundam 00, it operated in the background in support of the main characters in the show.

Mobile Suit Design

Because Exia was built as the successor of the Astraea Type F, the design of this MS is very similar to Exia.

Noticeable differences are the shoulders, side of the head and waist. In fact, the kit is actually based off of the HG Exia kit and thus, has all the extra part necessary to build a red Exia.

While most of the kit is in red, there are sections that are dark magenta. Grey covers the inner frame parts as well as stickers used in detailing. The stickers for the legs also come in a very light pink.

Build Process

Being still new at the time in Gunpla building, the Astraea Type F took quite the night to complete. The plastic is fairly hard and difficult to cut and clean up. Many cuts to my fingers taught me how to, and how not to, handle a hobby knife. Large amount of time was used in building its many accessories as well as panel lining kit. This kit also contains very small parts, especially for the head, requiring patience of the builder to make sure it’s free of nub marks. Builders should be cautious when assembling the waist and legs portion of the kit. The two legs are attached to the waist by ball joints, these ball joints are in turn attached to each other via a bar with a round section in the middle. While this offers great hip movements, the ball itself might not fit well in waist housing, being a bit larger. This necessitates the use of glue or plastic cement to make sure the wait does not come apart by itself over time. Overall, though the kit and the build process is straight forward, I would not recommend this kit until you have gotten down your building process and have acquired all the tools you need to to build Gunpla.

Articulation

Articulation is standard fare for this modern HG kit. The head is on a double ball joint allowing it full range of motion as long as it does not collide with the collar section. While the elbows are single joints, they provide a bit over 90 degrees of bend.

The waist can twist in a full circle, but does not offer any stomach crunch. As mentioned before, because of the central round section of the waist, the his legs can slightly rotate on all three axis of movement.

But because of the ball joint attaching the legs, the Astraea Type F cannot do a side split. The legs themselves are able to bend nearly 180 degrees with its feet mobile enough to support a most ground poses this MS can pull off.

Accessories

If you’re like me, then the most likely reason you bought this kit was because of its accessories, and oh boy does it have those in spades.

Starting off with melee weapons, the Astraea Type F comes with the all the weapons that came with the HG Exia kit, additionally, it also comes with the GN hammer, which is a spiky ball on a wire, and the Proto GN Sword. As for ranged weaponry, I’ve decided to put it in a list for for easy reading:

GN beam rifle

GN launcher (bigger beam cannon)

Bazooka

2x pistols that can be placed in their own holsters

A missile launcher that can be attached to the forearms or, with an attachment, be griped like a gun.

Amazingly, with the exception of a few melee weapons, all of these items can be attached to the MS itself, giving off that “fully loaded” vibe.

The kit also comes with both Exia’s GN shield and its own Pro GN shield, though there’s only parts enough for the Proto GN shield to be used.

Personal Modifications

Not a whole lot of extra was done to this kit when I built it, the most noticeable modifications were the Testor’s Dulcote that I sprayed on and the GN drive that I attached on the back, which came from the Gundam Build Fighters Amazing Exia.

Final Verdict

This is one solid kit, both in terms of its physical characteristics and in terms of the kit’s value. Once built the kit has no loose part aside from the hip section, and its limbs can carry the the weapons without it slipping. For the price of about $23 CAD on Amazon, this kit is worth the money on the basis of providing as many weapons as the Astraea Type F can carry, which is a lot. Granted, if you are just starting out in this hobby, it might be best to sharpen you skills on other kits first and making sure you have all the tools you need before tackling this particular kit.

TL;DR

Pros

LOTS OF GUNS!

LOTS OF SWORDS!

RED MAKES IT GO FASTA!!!

You can make a complete red Exia with this kit.

Limbs are solid, will not limp under the weight of the accessories.

The Astraea Type F can wield or carry most of its accessories.

Cons

Not beginner friendly.

Hip joint at the waist doesn’t fit well and might require glue/cement.

Small parts can be difficult to handle.