I already explained what the deal is with these SD Gundam World Heroes model kits, but in case you need the TL:DR, they require an absurd amount of painting and detailing in order to make them look as they do on the box.
Nevertheless, I have two of them, and I ought to at least give it a go and see if I can bring them to life. First up is the Sergeant Verde Buster Gundam, AKA the one that kind of looks like Robocop:
But first, a bit of background:
As far as I know, every one of the SD Gundam World Heroes is based on some existing mobile suit design. This is not at all uncommon for SD’s, but many of the World Heroes are based on some deep cuts.
In the case of Sarge here, its origins can be traced all the way back to the Buster Gundam from Gundam SEED:
I still haven’t watched SEED, so all I really know about it is that it is supposed to be a heavy artillery unit.
In any case, the Buster Gundam gave rise to the Verde Buster Gundam (which I think appears in some sort of SEED side story). While the name gives a clue as to its color scheme, that’s hardly the only thing changed. In addition to looking mean and green, the Verde has quite a lot of extra armor:
While the OG Buster looks very little like Sarge, the Verde Buster is the spitting image.
So there you have it. An SD Gundam based on a side story variant of a different mobile suit.
Wait …. HOW Much Painting?
To give you an idea of just how much detailing this kit requires, here is a photo bare and plain this model is without painting, let’s look at how it’s portrayed in official promo photos:
Now here’s a photo of a bare build (no disrespect to this person, it’s simply a good comparison):
This isn’t quite a fair comparison, as the build above uses none of the included decals. Still, those decals only go so far. The vast majority of the detail and coloring you see above is going to come from painting.
We’ll see just how tough it is in when we kick off the build in the next post.
Fun Facts
- All of the characters in SD Gundam World Heroes are based on a famous person (real or fictional) from a different international culture. Sarge is the lone exception. He's simply a police robot, even if he looks a lot like Robocop.