Gunpla Build - High Grade Gundam Ilfrith (Final)

21 Jun 23 21:39 UTC

In our final post, it’s finally time to bust out the accessories, starting with the official Witch From Mercury Weapon Display Base:

Several of the mobile suits from GWitch have weapons and equipment that move around independently from the suit itself. The most obvious examples are Ilfrith and Aerial with their GUND Bits, but there’s also the Pharact and the Darilbalde. The Weapon Display Base contains the parts needed to prop up these remote weapons alongside a standard Action Base.

However, this is Bandai we’re talking about, which means it’s never quite that simple:

  • If you’re using this to pose Ilfrith’s GUND Bits, you’ll probably want to buy two packs
  • If you’re using this to pose Aerial’s GUND Bits, you’ll definitely want two packs
  • I’m not sure if you need two packs for Pharact, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you do

Ilfrith and Aerial have seven and nine GUND Bits respectively, and a single Weapon Display Base can only prop up six weapons at most. That’s the main reason why you’d want two packs.

But there’s an additional reason. Each different shape of GUND Bit uses a different adapter for plugging into the Weapon Displays. And as it turns out, a single pack only contains one of each of these special adapters. So even if, say, you were okay displaying just six of the seven of Ilfrith’s GUND Bits, you don’t have enough adapters to do so with a single pack.

Here is the one and only runner. You can see the special adapters along the bottom

But is that really an impediment? Is there a way to jury-rig something together so that you can use all six weapon displays with the Ilfrith’s Bits? Thankfully the answer is YES.

All you have to do is use some of the other adapters - the ones that aren’t intended for use with Ilfirth’s GUND Bits. It’s not going to be a perfect fit, but they manage to stay in place well enough. And to sweeten the pot, if you happen to have any Jet Effect Parts lying around, you can use one of them to prop up the seventh GUND Bit. Here’s what I ended up with:

The three Bits on the left are connected to their normal adapters. The four on the right are not

A few observations:

  • You get two trapezoidal bases to plug the weapon displays into. There’s a connector you can use to attach one of them directly to an Action base, or you can simply have them free standing around the base.
  • Each Weapon Display has a hinge on the bottom and the top, so that you can adjust both their height and their angle.
  • The hinge pieces can get very tight. You need to be careful when taking them apart, or when you adjust them in any way. Somehow I managed not to break anything, but I attribute that entirely to luck.
  • You might worry that the two bases might tip over if not connected to the Action Base. I can report that this can happen, especially if any of the GUND Bits are positioned too far forward or backward. But in general I didn’t have too much trouble with them.
  • If you have two or more packs, you can combine multiple Weapon Displays to position the Bits even higher.
    Pictured right: The Weapon Displays come in two lengths

    Pictured Left: You can combine them to make them even longer

    • Visually, the Display Bases are not perfectly transparent, so they’re a bit of a distraction. And the GUND Bits don’t quite look the same without the swoopy blue contrails they emit in the show (If you want those, you’ll have to buy the 1⁄100 scale Full Mechanics Aerial, as well as this accessory).

    In an ideal world, we’d have something like this to use for 1⁄144 scale

    But this is all we’ve got, and it’s better than nothing.

    Nickel and Diming

    The fact that you should/need to buy two packs means that this feels an awful lot like the Jet Effect Parts all over again. Those game in a pack of three, despite the fact that they were specifically designed to be used with the Nu Gundam and Sazabi’s _six_ funnels. I don’t understand why they made you buy two $10 accessory packs instead of just selling a single, double sized pack at double the price.

    In the case of the Weapon Display Base, I can kind of understand it, since at least there are SOME GWitch models that can get by using just one pack. If they only sold a single, double sized pack at $20, people who want to pose Aerial with her GUND Bits would be thrilled, but folks who just want to pose the Dariblade or the Beguir Beu might feel a little salty. On the flip side, by selling smaller packs, Darilbalde builders can save money, and Aerial builders will still go out and buy two.

    Even still, this feels like part of Bandai’s usual attempt at nickel and diming hobbyists, and it doesn't quite sit right with me.

    In any case, now that we know how it works, it is time for some photos of the GUND Bits hanging out with Ilfrith:

    Looking back, if I had known that it would have been easier with two packs - and if I had known that I’d be buying Aerial only a few weeks later - and especially if I would have known that the hobby store would sell out of them before I got back there - I would have gotten a second one in a heartbeat. But at the very least I’m glad I was able to make a single pack work for Ilfrith. I’ll certainly try to have a second pack for when I build Aerial, but if I can’t, I’ll once again make due with what I’ve got here.

    I admit that I didn’t do much to move or reposition the GUND Bits while taking these photos. Part of that was laziness, but part of it was that I didn’t think it would make much of a difference. I tend to focus on Ilfrith herself in these photos. As long as the Bits are around her, that’s all that matters.

    Here’s some flying poses:

    And of course some sassy hands on hips poses:

    And finally, some action poses:

    Custom Display Stand

    I got this custom stand off of Etsy:

    It’s pretty nifty. It’s made out of acrylic, and you can place it either horizontally or diagonally. You can even screw it into the wall if you want. The only catch is that you need to provide the control arm yourself (I just used one of the ones that come with an Action Base 5).

    Conclusion

    And that’s it! After six months of waiting and worrying, and an anxiety-inducing build, I finally got to the finish line. And you know what? It ended up being worth it (and then some). This is a great looking, great-posing model, and I’m happy to finally have it on the shelf.