[CUSTOM] Bandai HG 1/144 RGE-G2100C/AVA.21 Clanche Custom (Avalon SDV-021)

Model Number: RGE-G2100C/AVA.21 Clanche Custom (Avalon SDV-021)
Designation: AVALON Limited Production Commander-Type Transformable Standard Design Variation

#CircuitBreakerBacklogChallenge Build #20 - one of the most underrated designs from Gundam AGE! Also, what a productive Circuit Breaker!
[Build is missing the clear blue visor, will be stuck at WIP stage for a while!]

Every established Force in the Gunpla Battle Nexus Online (GBN) had its own crest, headquarters and private communications channel. Once a Force has reached a pre-determined number of active members, more features were unlocked and opened up for use, such as the creation of a stable of pre-configured Gunpla templates for newcomers to utilise. These templates, referred to as Standard Design Variations or SDVs, were usually put together by high-ranking members of the Force, banking on their experience to create powerful Gunpla designs that greatly helped newcomers.

Avalon had one of the largest SDV stables in the whole of GBN, no doubt due to the efforts of its Captain Kyoya Kujo. Showcasing his preference for mobile suit designs from the Gundam AGE timeline, Avalon’s SDVs featured many customised iterations of AGE-era mobile suits, although more traditional U.C. designs such as the RGM-89DEW EWAC Jegan as well as designs from other timelines like the DT-6800A Daughtress. One of the most coveted designs in Avalon’s SDV stable was design number 21: the RGE-G2100C/AVA.21 Clanche Custom.

Its design supervised personally by Kyoya Kujo, Avalon’s Clanche Custom was fundamentally congruent with its AGE counterpart, save for a different colour scheme. Under the hood though, many enhancements and improvements were made, particularly to its particle generator, thruster output, transformation mechanism and armour density. Avalon’s Clanche Custom was no longer just a slightly souped-up grunt machine for commanders - it was now a formidable aerial combatant that was suited for all combat environments. As such, the design was not given to Force members willy-nilly, they had to earn the right to use SDV-021.

As a transformable commander-use mobile suit, the Clanche Custom boasted supreme speed and dexterity, although newcomers could not adequately control the immense thruster output. In the hands of seasoned veterans, the Clanche Custom could perform lightning fast attacks on enemy targets, alternating between the MS and Flight modes to throw the enemy off-guard. Avalon strengthened and improved the transformation mechanism to make the transition faster, smoother and more resilient, allowing Avalon Divers to shift forms multiple times without any fear of part breakage.

The Clanche Custom bristled with formidable beam weaponry in both modes: a DODS rifle, head-mounted beam vulcan cannos, a pair of wrist-mounted light beam sabers, a shield-stored handheld medium beam saber and a defensive shield in MS Mode allowed the Avalon Diver to address almost any type of enemy target while a pair of DODS Cannons only available in Flight Mode gave the Clanche Custom the ability to strafe enemy ground targets and dogfight aerial combatants.

The first Avalon Members to be granted use of the design were Emilia and Karuna, the Vice-Captains of Avalon. Both of them made substantial colour corrections to their own Clanche Customs in line with their personal preferences, and subsequently used the machines in many Force battles and GBN scenarios. The utility of Avalon’s Clanche Custom design was put on show during a highly publicised battle with the 7^th Panzer Division, when Emilia and Karuna took out the enemy’s Flag MS after combining the serviceable parts of both their damaged machines into what basically amounted to a third Clanche Custom.

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