Designation: Londo Bell Prototype Psychoframe Equipped Mobile Suit for Newtype
This kit is as old as I am!
Released in 1988 during the airing of Char's Counterattack, the Full Action 1/100 Nu Gundam is somewhere in between a HG and MG, way before any of those existed. While it has no inner frame per se, its construction necessitates the assembly of some early inner frame components and the die-cast parts (and screws) do function as pseudo-inner frames.
Although the die-cast parts have started to show their age, they are still in good serviceable condition (as with the rest of the model kit). Essentially replacing the inner frame in key sections of the Gunpla (shoulders, groin, lower legs), the die-cast parts add substantial weight and stability that allows the RX-93 to transcend its reality as a really basic model kit. In a way, the die-cast parts found in the MG 1/100 version of the Nu Gundam released in December 2000 pay homage to this kit!
The entire build took a little over two hours, with some light panel lining and application of some of the stickers that were still usable after more than three decades. While the kit might be simplistic as compared to modern 1/100s, Bandai still threw in a fully operational cockpit gimmick complete with a 1/100 pilot figure. All things considered, the Bandai Full Action 1/100 RX-93 Nu Gundam has aged better than many of its contemporaries, a testament to the timeless excellence of the Nu design.
While the kit struggles to hold up its own weapons, it does however manage to mount the fin funnels rather securely to the backpack, something even the formidable MG 1/100 RX-93 Nu Gundam Ver. Ka finds it difficult to do. As expected of a decades old kit, the articulation on the Bandai Full Action 1/100 RX-93 Nu Gundam is lacking at best. The basic joints have little range of motion and you need to exercise patience to coax out dynamic poses from the model kit. Thankfully, the die-cast joints help in stabilising the kit and the fin funnels don't fall off that often, which is pretty amazing considering its relatively low-end construction.
The best thing to use this kit is for display and size comparisons as the Nu Gundam looks like it just leapt out of the animation and onto your desk. Its anime-to-Gunpla conversion scale is basically perfect. Being a 1/100 scale model kit, the Bandai Full Action 1/100 RX-93 Nu Gundam scales really well with Master Grade and all other 1/100 scale units. The Nu Gundam serves as a pretty neat benchmark for scaling and size comparison purposes, assisted by the stability accorded by the die-cast parts.
This classic beauty will definitely occupy a space on my shelf (once that is ready)!
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