Release Date: 2002/01
GFF 0012 RX-178 Gundam Mk-II (Titans Version)/RMS-154 Barzam (Refine Type)
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Barzam // figures // Gundam Fix Figuration // Gundam Mk. II // Refine Type // RMS-154 // RX-178 // Titans
September 11th, 2007 at 5:49 am
First off, this is my first and only GFF purchase. I’ve liked the Refined Barzam ever since first seeing it in a friend’s Gundam Sentinel mook in 1996, and have failed to find either an official model, or else suppicient parts to customize one. Ten years down the line, I’ve finally broken down and bought the last GFF MK-II I could find here in Melbourne (a good thing, since the shop was now selling it for AU$50.00 — close to the cost of an HGUC). I didn’t really bother with the Gundam MK-II config since I already have 2 HGUCs of them one in Titans color, the other in the process of a refit and repaint). The resulting Barzam has left me with mixed feelings. I hadn’t really given much thought to the MK-II since the Barzam was the main reason I purchased it.
The good parts: Naturally, the detail on the GFF is incredible; it’s not quite Master Grade Detailed, but the Hajime Katoki touch is very apparent with the way the entire thing is set up. Tte Beam Rifle and Hyperbazooka, as well as the MS itself are far beyond what most modellers can do on a 1/144 kit (at least, not without a lot of experience and lots of detailing tools and decals). In fact, if I weren’t fond of the effort when putting a model kit together, and the ability to customize my kits (as well as the lower cost of kits as opposed to GFFs), I’d have probably preferred buying GFFs instead, for they look quite gorgeous on static display on your desk or on a shelf.
Even more impressive was the fact that the tiny ‘extra’ parts all can be removed and still work together. If there was any complaint I had with the two MK-II HGUCs I had, it was the sore lack of extra magazines for either Beam Rifle or Hyperbazooka, to better make use of those side armor hardpoints. The GFF has these in abundance. The Grenade Launcher and Hyperbazooka use the same clips, which can attach to the GFF’s side armor. The Beam Rifle can also attach to the side armor, albeit only on the left side. E-Caps can be placed on the Beam Rifle or on the Shield, and the Shield can be carried in ‘compact’ configuration, much like the HGUC. And the Bazooka/Grenade Launcher clips even detail the open ‘top’ of the clip, showing a 360mm Bazooka round locked and loaded.
Now come the gripes. First is the height: The box itself declares that the MK-II/Barzam is 1/144 scale. That’s not completely accurate; the GFF MK-II is noticeably shorter than it’s HGUC relatives. This probably will not affect a diorama setting, but standing them up side to side makes the GFF look a bit on the chunky side, while the Vulcan Pod looks anemic; the HGUC MK-II Vulcan Pods are noticably larger–but I’ll chalk this up to the HGUC dimensions and material; GFFs are made of the kind of rubbery plastic used in McFarlane Toys (it even smells of it), while HGUCs use Styrol plastic, but both have different tolerances and traits.
The niggling issue I have with the GFF is the way some of the parts go together. The ability to swap parts between the MK-II and Barzam is nifty, and I like the idea of mixing and matching some parts around. But the problem is that the plastic used by the GFFs seems to have a mind of it’s own–in particular the underbarrel grenade launcher used by the Barzam. It attaches to the Beam Rifle in much the same way as the E-Cap clips, and it looks good–until you decide to more the arm–then it just decides to drop off. I’ll chalk this up to the weight, as the combined GL and a 360mm clip is much heavier than the E-Cap clips that normally go onto this device. I’m debating whether or not to glue it permanently in place (since I bought this GFF primarily for the Barzam config, anyway).
Another, similar issue exists with the shield. Like the GL on the Beam Rifle, it has a bad habit of being easily knocked off when trying to pose the GFF. In cases, this is worse than the GL problem, since the shield is a much lighter and wider attachment. I also dislike the fact that the shield can only be attached conventionally–i.e. on the shield latch of the MK-II/Barzam–thus it’s always beneath where the elbow bends. While this is traditionally correct, I liked the HGUC’s option of putting it on the outer forearm, for posability purposes. And unlike the GL, gluing the shield on is not an option.
owever, I think the real disappointment I have with the GFF is that point for point, it has less posability than the HGUC kits. The arms are generally okay, the same level of articulation as an HGUC, but the knees don’t even go to 90 degrees of bend. There’s no torso twist, and it’s annoying to find that while the GFF’s MK-II feet can bend much like the HGUC MK-II), the Barzam’s feet are a solid block, with a little less flexibility in positioning (severely limiting what few poses I can make with this GFF). I would love to put some minor edits to improve the GFF’s posability, but since I have no experience working with this kind of plastic, and I dread the possibility of mangling my only Barzam, I’m afraid I’ll have to leave it as is.
Overall, my opinion of the GFF is that it’s quite beautiful, but also flawed. Not hopelessly so, but enough to be a bug under my skin, since I like displaying my Gundam models in varied poses–not much chance of that with the Refined Barzam. At least it looks incredible just standing up. It’s just unfortunate that for Barzam fans (and there are quite a few), this figure is pretty much the only game in town, unless Bandai finally relents to make an HGUC kit for it–and when they do, I’ll be first in line.