The Gundam Astaroth is complete. Let’s take a looksie.
While the Astaroth may not appear in the Iron Blooded Orphans TV show, this mobile suit most definitely comes from the IBO universe. The frame is the spitting image of the Gundam Barbatos’, and it is highly exposed in a number of areas. This is partly due to stylistic decisions - just about every unit in IBO exposes some of its frame - and partly due to the fact that the Gundams in this setting are very old, often incomplete, and in the case of the Astaroth, equipped with the wrong armor. Naturally there are going to be some unintended gaps.
Personally, I like the look, at least to an extent. If the Astaroth didn’t have this scrappy, asymmetrical look, I might think it cheap and incomplete. Speaking of the asymmetrical look, it looks better or worse depending on what angle you’re viewing the model from. Much of the promo art shows the Astaroth from a side angle, and in real life it looks pretty good like this.
From the front, however, it can look a bit thin and anemic, especially if the arm joints aren’t pushed all the way in.
Here it is from the back. Again, you can see a lot of the frame, but I really like the red bits on the legs. You can also see the “arm” on the backpack, which the Demolition Knife attaches to when not in use.
I haven’t tried to test the limits of the Astaroth’s flexibility, but it has been amenable to all the poses I’ve attempted. The kit’s inner frame gives it at least as much flexibility as any other High Grade, and possibly a bit more in the arms. And because the feet are so simple (two pieces on a ball joint really), they tend to support whatever fancy footwork you might come up with.
The biggest problem I’ve had so far is with the manipulators. The fact that you only get two closed fists means the Astaroth can never put its finger on the trigger of its gun, nor can it hold its weapons at any point other than their handle. It really makes me miss the manipulators with the three finger/trigger finger split that come with Real Grades. They’re a bit delicate, but they support every single grip and pose you’d need.
The other problem I’ve had with the manipulators is they struggle to support the weight of the Astaroth’s weapons. If held at the wrong angle, even the gun will cause the ball joint to give way and the hand to droop down. Usually I’m able to straighten it out, but in some cases I’ve had to just give up.
Alongside the EZ8, this is probably the most fun I’ve had posing a finished model. I’m not exactly sure why; perhaps it is because it is so cheap, and I don’t care if it gets banged up. Or maybe it’s the design. The Astaroth may not be complete, but in a way this makes it look raw and ready for a fight. Plus it has that freakin’ sword. It just isn’t hard to make it look cool.
Final Verdict
This one’s a no brainer for me. It’s got a unique design, and it’s a lot of fun to play around with. After all that angst from the last two builds, this was a good palette cleanser. Plus I’ve finally got a good handle on which paints/inks/etc work well with each other, and which don’t. I think I’m finally ready to get out of this experimentation phase and step up to another good challenge.
Other Thoughts
- Someone on Reddit claimed that black Sharpie marker will eventually fade to a brownish-purple color. They were right…
- The stabilizer fins on the Astaroth are reminiscent of Gundam SEED’s mobile suit designs, which I’m not a fan of. Here, however, I think they work. Without them, the model would appear much too skinny and exposed.
- The “extra” hand on the right arm does help a little bit when holding the Demolition Knife, but it isn’t a terribly drastic improvement. It does, however, double as a small shield, so it has that going for it.
- The instruction book has a sketch showing how the combat knife is supposed to be storable in one of the stabilizer fins. It doesn’t actually work in the kit itself, which is disappointing.
- On the same note, there’s at least one section on the fins that is not color accurate. I’d say it is due to the kit’s low cost, but I honestly don’t know how they could fix it even with access to more pieces.
- I initially thought the Astaroth would be shorter than my last two High Grade kits, but it turns out it is a bit taller than both of them.
- I’m still kind of shocked this kit cost so little. If I could get more High Grades at this price then I’d be indulging in this hobby a lot more than usual (which I guess I’ve technically been doing lately, but you get the point)
Here is a link to the full photo gallery.