Elemental Cheese: Gunpla Review: HGBF Kamiki Burning Gundam

A new year comes with new resolutions. I plan to be productive this year since and so here's a review on Sekai's final gunpla: Kamiki Burning Gundam. Read the review after the jump.

He's graduated from awful smart phone effects to a much more awful Gimp effects

Before we start, let me comment quickly on the box art. Compared to the more polished box art of the entire modern kits, this one is, well, not as polished. It feels like a still from the show.

wow, he's criticizing box arts now

Aesthetics

First thing you notice is the colors. Sure it's the same color pallet as the other Burning Gundams, but it has more red. A lot more red. Makes the translucent blue bits pop up more.

Buy one. Build it. Stare at the colors... soo good

Compared to the Build and Try Burning, it has more armor: Forearm guards, bigger skirts, calf armor. All made obvious due to it being Red. It's also much beefier. Chunky, which makes sense since it was design by Okawara. It looks like a cross between the Altron Gundam and Rising Gundam with a pointy chest that looks like (or inspired the design of) the Freedom Flame Feder.

It now has even more exposed clear bits. Against the red, it really, really looks good. Makes the other Burning variants look plain and boring, even if one of 'em is on fire. Shoulder is asymmetrical, with a sticker with "Kami" on the circle bit. If you don't want that, you also get a black sticker to cover it.

Speaking of stickers, the black border on the feet and shoulders are black stickers which emulate the God Gundam. And I like the new backpack. If you paint the "ring" in gold, I bet it'll look even better. It has obvious panel lines, which I recommend you fill in since it breaks up the bulk of the thighs, lower legs and arms.

woody woodpecker

The only thing I don't like is the V-fin that looks like a beak. Good thing the head is not red or it'll look like Woody Woodpecker. It also features the new ankle mold from the revive RX-78; with the hydraulic details. There's also a flap at the back, but no ankle armor,

It's a huge departure from it's minimalist predecessors. The design screams 90s Gundam Wing to me, which I happen to like. Overall, it's a good looking kit. A bit different from angular Naoki designs from the anime.

Articulation

It uses the same joint set as Try Burning, which means it has almost the same amount of articulation.

Double jointed neck (connected via traditional polycap), bicep swivel, near 180 elbows, double waist joint. The new bow tie tummy armor though means it can't ab crunch forward as much as the simpler Try Burning.

The toy-industry standard yawn test

Ab-crunch

The shoulders are a marked improvement. It does not pop out as often Try-Burning. Not sure if it's only in my copy, but if you try to pose the torso too much... you'll end up splitting it in half. The polycap connection is weak on mine. You may want to put some floor polish or nail polish to tighten it up.

I like to move it move it

And yes it still has the chest joint to bring the arms closer forward.

you can already preview what that joint does.

The new skirts does not limit the articulation at all. You get the same movement as with the Try Burning.

Jai-ho!

It can do the now industry standard Iron Man pose.

If it can't do this pose, it's garbage apparently

The only thing is it's not as well balanced. It tends to topple over when just standing, despite the lack of a backpack. I believe it's due to the new ankles. Also it's not as deep (still pretty good) as the Try Burning.

Can you spot what he is on about?

Still, as with the Burning Family, articulation is superb am I am very much satisfied with the kit.

Weapons and Extras

As you've seen in all the shots (box art included), it comes with a sword and sheathe. And the same plethora of hands as all the Burning kits. The sword is molded and white, and the sheathe is grey and a yellow piece on the top bit of the sheath. If you want it to look good, you'll need to paint it. As you can see, I made a hash of the sword handle.

Plethora... good to see you're actually reading now. Maybe there will be less errors on your grammar in the future eh

The sheath connects to the rear skirt via a "claw". The sheath has indents where it clips in.

get your human hands off the image!

Couple the sword with all that poseability and you get some pretty good dynamic display.

Ishiki!!

Mumyou Jinpuu Ryuu Satsujin Ken. Kudos to you if you know this one

The double joints in the shoulder allows it 2 hand the sword... just.

Not a traitor

You get the same effect parts as the Build and Try Burning Gundam (and the Denial Gundam). But it has no orange clear bits to replicate assimilation. I now have more than enough parts to create some relatively impressive poses.

that's impressive?

It does have new flame parts which replicate the ring of fire similar to God Gundam, except it's made of fire.

glassed tempered by the flame effect part

It is, to me, flame moonlight butterfly.

Unicorn episode 7 anyone?

Overall, A+ for accessories. All you need is the red Tamashii flame effect and you're all set for a fanstastic display.

Size Comparison

It's a pretty average height gundam. Below is the Kamiki, standing next to a Try Burning

It's literally on fire

Not quite as tall as the lanky Denial Gundam...

Nor is it as tall as Kylo Ren's ashen idol.

No spoilers. He has not seen the movie yet. Traitor

Summary

If you want a variation of the Build Burning, I would say this is the kit to get. You get the same effect parts, a new big effect part, a sword and a color scheme that simply pops. It's fun and poseable and requires little painting to look good with it's excellent parts separation (the red bit in the v-fin is a separate piece). While I recommended the Try Burning before, I would say if you have to choose, I'd choose this over the other Burning kits.