Earlier this year, I was at a little hobby show looking around for some small, fun MG kit to build in my down time. After scanning through the whole shelf which seems to be filled with mostly IBO kits, I spotted couple old UC kits and some Wing kits. Since I have been building quite a bit of UC lately, I figured it would be a good change of pace to build a Wing kit, thus, I picked up MG Shenlong Gundam.

Of course, I actually prefer Altron design more than Shenlong, but I bought this guy just a day before Super Nova Altron was released and I didn’t want to build them back to back as it would be so repetitive. No, I cannot justify spending so much on the P-Bandai Altron.

The kit has somewhat minimal accessories. It comes with a shield, Dragon Fangs, a Beam Trident and several pairs of interchangeable hands. It is interesting that Shenlong does not have any long range weapon – the longest one would be a pair of flame throwers mounted on Dragon Fangs. In its defense, I think Dragon Fangs on TV version can extend, but this Katoki’s redesign one doesn’t. This is a great thing! It emphasizes that Shenlong Gundam is meant to be a truly close combat MS.

Don’t you love it when the kit can carry everything that comes with it? I do. All the weapons included with Shenlong Gundam can be mounted on the MS. Shield & Dragon Fangs on each arm. Beam Trident can be mounted on the back via an interchangeable adapter.

The kit comes with a sheet of sticker decals & dry-transfer decals. I really, really want to use the stylized XXXG-O1S (top left on the dry-transfer decal sheet – picture borrowed from dalong.net), but I can’t really find a surface large enough to place it. No, I would not try to apply a dry-transfer on curve/angle surfaces. I tried that with Wing Ver Ka and….yeah… Not a good idea. So, I opted with the model number on its shoulder instead.

Just like all other Master Grades from Wing series, the build was quite simple. The inner frame is fairly simple to put together. A lot of mechanisms are starting to show their age as many can be found in today’s High Grade kits or from Full Mechanics line.

The most complex part to build would be Dragon Fangs which, to be honest, is also quite easy.

Despite being a simple build, color separation is nicely done! 99% of all parts are done with plastic. Pretty impressive for a 2011 kit. The only part I needed to paint is the vents on angle armors. No big deal!

There is great, but not as great as RX-78-2 Origin – today’s standard. Given Shenlong Gundam a dynamic pose can easily be done, however, I ran into couple annoyances regarding its stability. While Shenglong can stand and do all the crazy stuffs, I find many connections are not securely connected. For example, the shoulder peg that is inserted into the upper arm is just a straight beg. Twisting the arms several times will make it pop out. Same goes with the legs. Also, the skirt armors are easy to fall off. Apply some glue on the ball joint, let it dry and attached it back stiffened it up. It is not a major flaw, just enough to annoy me while I do the photo shoot.

I wish that the wrists can bend more to really give some cool Beam Trident poses. Currently, it is very limited for this type of weapon.

One awesome design I never noticed is the fangs on the bottom of helmet. Tiny but absolutely awesome!

MG Shenlong is one of the smaller, cheaper Master Grade kits out there, but just like other kits from Wing series, it is packed with quality. It has minor flaws, every kits do, but it is a simple fix. The iconic Dragon Fangs will surely stand out among other kits on your shelves – that is until you get a hold of Altron Gundam.

9.5/10

Minus 0.5 point for loose armor skirts & arm pegs.

Panel line

Change some decal placements

Gloss coated

Painted vents on angle armors

This is my opinion based on experiences and personal preferences. You are absolutely entitled to your own opinion.