I have a love-hate relationship with this gunpla because the build is fantastic, but the “advanced MS joints” made the kit floppy to handle, and this kit has a ton of moving parts I enjoyed, but at the same time, handling and posing this kit a time-consuming nightmare. So here we are, one of three gunpla I own that isn’t a gundam (the others are the GM Sniper II, and Mobile GINN), and building this RG Sazabi was a unique experience. However, there are a few quirks I don’t like or outright hate, and I’m gonna cover everything I experienced in this review.
REVIEW
I prefer MG kits because they’re just the right size for me, however, I’ll get the RG version of kits if the MG version is old, has issues, or too expensive. I didn’t want to get the MG Sazabi ver.Ka because as far as I’ve read, the kit is essentially a brick thanks to the polycap joints and the sheer weight of the kit that makes it it hard to pose. Oh and it’s very expensive. So I got the RG Sazabi instead and it’ll make a good pair for my RG Nu Gundam (review on that soon).
Anyway, I’m honestly not a huge fan of the Sazabi because, in my opinion, Char’s Counter Attack is just average for me, and seeing the Sazabi get outsmarted and lost a couple of its funnels to Amuro—who isn’t even in the Nu Gundam—early in the movie made the Sazabi less threatening. Even to this day the Providence Gundam is still my favorite villain MS because it reared its ugly head until the last leg of the war, and we saw it decimated everything without effort before it engaged with Kira and decimated the Freedom Gundam.
BUILD
Notes:
-I used panel liners
-painted some parts with gold and silver
-I used the included sticker decals
-Finished the build with a matte topcoat
This is a very fun build, especially if you’ve been building several gundams in a row. It’s fun building the very chonky inner frame, and then the kit quickly gains mass as you slap in the large sloped armor pieces together. And the best thing about RGs, especially for modern RGs, is the kits are solid for the most part because of the lack of any polycaps. I have no issues using polycaps for the joints, but they wear out very quickly, especially when you pose your kits often and not the type who build kits, pose them one or twice and then lock the kits away in a DETOLF in a standing pose. That said, the Sazabi has very tight joints, especially the shoulder joints and it felt like I’m stressing the plastic as I carefully move the arms around.
There are several testimonies saying the swivel joints that connects the arm to the torso are prone to breaking because those joints are so very tight. I almost bent my fingers trying to seat the pieces together for crying out loud, so I know that moving that joint around won’t be a good idea. Still, the other joints are fine. The RG Sazabi is a very complex kit with a ton of moving parts and sliding gimmicks that I had trouble applying paint or topcoat—these will add mass to the plastic, so if you’re not careful, the sliding gimmick will not work, and you’ll either hurt your fingers as you try to open the small hatches, or you’ll end up popping the tiny pieces off, and lose them forever.
I did several small painting here and there like painting the thrusters silver, and some of the inner frame with gold to give idea that they’re fin stacks or exhaust vents to prevent the Sazabi from overheating. I also painted the joints for the arms and legs in gunmetal to give the exposed inner frame a kind of a two-tone look like the armor pieces.
Unfortunately, the Sazabi doesn’t have a full inner frame—the arm/elbow and the belly area uses the black armor pieces for structural integrity. It’s minor you could say, but I expected more from the RG line.
ARTICULATION
The amount of moving parts in the RG Sazabi is staggering like the sliding armor to expose the exhaust vents on the shoulders, skirt armor, and the backpack, and despite its massive chest, the Sazabi can tilt its torso a bit forward. The arms have a unique gimmick that you can lift open the bicep armor, to extend the upper arm so you can bend the arm to around 70 degrees. The lower arm extends outward by lifting the wrist armor and this gives more room for the beam rifle to comfortably rest on the arm. And just like any modern gunpla, the joints connecting the legs to the waist can be moved forward and back for those dynamic leg poses. The kit couldn’t do a proper kneeling pose because the lower leg armor is too bulky, and the large skirt armor hinders the legs if you, say, want Sazabi do a convincing flying kick.
And speaking of the skirt armor, they’re all connected to the waist via advanced MS joint—the MS joint enables the skirt armor to move out of the way, and have 2 points of movement, and enables the kit to tilt side to side. However, it’s an advanced MS joint, so that means it’s very weak and loose. I had to anchor the side skirt armor to the thigh because the advanced MS joint couldn’t handle the weight of the massive shield, causing the kit to slowly tilt sideways.
Unfortunately, I think the Sazabi has way too many articulated points because it’s difficult to pose the kit without the armor pieces covering the exhaust vents, or adjusting the heel joints to match with the other heel for symmetry. Though if you have the patience, the kit will get into a pose you want.
LOOKS
The Sazabi looks amazing with a ton of details like large sticker decals, inner frame peeking through several openings on the armor pieces, and very imposing chonky stature. Actually, it’s one of best looking non-gundam suits I’ve seen.
ACCESSORIES
The kit comes with a massive shield that houses 4 missiles and the beam tomahawk with 6 different kinds of effects you can mix and match. The beam rifle is very good looking with a detachable magazine and a sliding gimmick action, and last but not least, the funnels. The six funnels are genius at how the wings spread and retract, but you still want to be careful moving those wings around, especially when the funnel gun barrel is stubborn and deploy. Sadly the kit doesn’t include an action base for the RG Sazabi and accessories if you wanna see the funnels deployed. In the pictures, I used several arm pieces that are included with the action bases you buy. Yeah, the arms work and the peg is compatible with the funnels.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The RG Sazabi is an overall fantastic kit, but it has issues like stiff joints, moving pieces not cooperating when you give it a pose, the sliding pieces are sometimes tough to move, resulting in aching fingers, and the MS joints made the waist the kit’s biggest flaw. Also, the RG Sazabi isn’t beginner friendly. But, again, take your time in posing the RG Sazabi and once you do, it’s one of best looking kits you’ll own.
8/10
If you have any questions, feel free to post in the comments section.
Want me to build and review gunpla? Feel free to help!
—SHiN @ Lazy Lily Fansubs
Lazy Lily Fansubs 