There are many aspects of Gunpla that I have yet to dip my toes into. Take painting, for instance. Or waterslide decals. And of course there are accessory packs. In the case of the latter category, I know that there are packs of weapons and other gimmicks you can buy to add some extra pizzazz to a model. I also know that there are both official and unofficial products. But beyond that, I couldn’t tell you who makes what, or where to find any of it.
In any case, a few months ago when I was scouring the local Barnes and Noble for model kits in the clearance rack, I found this box in the model kit section.
I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but after staring at it long enough, over multiple trips to the store, I realized it was an accessory pack of some sort. When there ended up being only one left on the shelf, I grabbed it out of some misplaced sense of fear that I wouldn’t see it again.
It was only after I brought it home that I did proper research. It turns out that the box is indeed an accessory kit (or “Option Set” as the box calls it) for High Grade Iron Blooded Orphans models. It is part of a series of Option Sets marketed under the “Iron Blooded Arms” label. The sets are being released chronologically alongside the show - each one contains extra weapons for whatever new mobile suits recently debuted, along with a miniature mobile worker for good measure. The set I have is the very first one, so it’s weapons are intended for use with the first mobile suits we encounter, AKA the Gundam Barbatos and the Graze. Of particular note is the Barbatos’ Smooth Bore Gun, which the HG Barbatos kit does not come with.
I also learned that the pieces in these Option Sets are unpainted. The Smooth Bore Gun has some white stickers and a green scope decal, but that’s it. Any of the colors you see on the box have to be painted on by hand.
After learning this, I was just about ready to return the product. At a price of eight bucks for a handful of weapons, I expected them to be made out of pre-colored plastic. Am I missing something here? Is my mental price-to-value calculator for Gunpla miscalibrated? Actually, don’t answer that - I’m sure the explanation is that I overpaid by not buying online.
Ultimately I decided to keep the Option Set. Painting is something I ought to learn sooner or later, and this is a low risk way to practice.
What’s Inside
Inside the box, we find two runners and a decal sheet. The first time I saw this I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed. I figured these weapons would be a little more robust than usual, but clearly that isn’t the case. It’s going to take a lot of work to convince me that these Options Sets are a good value.
Building
Construction of these accessories was simple, so there’s nothing to write about in that regard. Here’s a breakdown of what you get.
First is the shield. It’s meant to be used with the Graze. It snaps together as you would expect it to. Looking at its design, I feel like there’s a way they could have made the front of it out of four separate pieces of plastic, which then would have allowed them to use two different colors.
Next up we have the submachine gun. It is the tiniest gun I have ever built, but it has a nice design. Not enough mobile suits have weapons of this size and function, so I appreciate the variety.
The SMG has, weirdly enough, a lance as an attachment. When you consider the type of combat that mobile suits engage in, a lance seems like a particularly worthless weapon. But it does look quite showy and regal, which makes sense considering the Lance is meant for the Graze Schwalbe, which is only manned by elite pilots.
I have no pictures of the fully assembled Smooth Bore Gun. It is the most complicated accessory by far, so I decided to wait until it was painted. I will say that, based on the instructions, it isn’t as fancy as I assumed. For instance, I thought that the barrel of the gun could somehow fold up, to make the gun easier to store. In actuality you can simply remove the barrel and attach it to the stock. This still makes for easier storage, but is not nearly as sophisticated as I had in mind.
Last but not least is the Mobile Worker. I thought it would be much bigger than it is, and would be made of more pieces. As is the trend with this post, my expectations were dashed. It is very tiny, and made out of only four parts. I have no idea how I’m going to paint the thing.
All in all, I’m not too psyched with what comes in this box. My only hope is that by painting them, I will breathe some life into these accessories.