Here are the parts to the Schwalbe Graze:
Sometimes you can get a good feel for a how a build is going to play out just by looking at the runners and stickers. But I feel like this shot is deceiving. At first glance it doesn’t look like a ton of parts, but I can tell you that there’s more going on here than you might think. It’s a bit of an optical illusion; the Schwalbe Graze uses so many different colors of plastic that the parts are spread out among multiple smaller runners, rather than a few large sheets.
As for the decals, there aren’t that many, and most of them are easy to apply. The only ones I didn’t end up using are the grey ones in the center. Those are meant to be used on the shoulders, but I painted them instead.
Anyway, let’s get on with the build.
Axe
The axe is a single big piece of grey plastic. On it’s own, it looks kind of boring, but the way it’s shaped makes it easy to spruce it up with some partial painting. For example, in the photo below, I painted the handle black, but kept the two sides of the blade unpainted (aside from a bit of weathering on the edge):
I think it looks pretty good now.
Wire Claw
Note to self - if you’re going to use a metallic Gundam Marker, it has to be applied to bare plastic. If you apply it atop any sort of paint - even a layer of clear coat - you won’t get a perfectly smooth, glossy finish.
Alas, I learned that lesson the hard way. Again:
In this case, I think it worked out alright. I want to give this entire model a slightly weathered look, so this is right on brand.
Rifle
I don’t think I’ve seen a bad looking firearm from any IBO mobile suit. This rifle is no exception:
You’ll notice the extra pieces to the left. These help mount the rifle to the Graze’s arm. It’s something we see on the show, and to be honest I think it’s a little weird. Thankfully, it’s not required.
Head
A huge chunk of the decal sheet is used on just the head alone. As you can see below, its got two separate yellow “eye” visors, each of which is its own sticker:
Then there’s a third hidden sticker. You can pop open the top of the head to reveal an eye inside:
This is the Graze’s long range scanner. It’s one of those things that only really exists on the model because it shows up once or twice in the show. But I guess a gimmick is a gimmick.
In terms of the visual design, it’s actually quite a bit different than the regular Graze. That head looks more like something you’d see on a robot, whereas this one looks more like a knight’s helm or something.
Chest
Most Graze-type mobile suits have strips of yellow running along the front and back of the chest:
I’m not sure what they’re meant to be, but I suppose it adds a nice little bit of color.
Here it is all complete:
There’s actually a pretty decent amount of parts here, so it ends up looking pretty intricate.
Lower Torso
This is my least favorite part of the mobile suit. Visually, it looks like a bunch of airplane wings stitched together. Mechanically, there are zero moving parts:
To be fair, it looks a bit better when attached to the upper torso (since that’s where the side skirts are attached):
Feet
The feet are made out of a few pieces of rigid plastic:
They’re not at all fancy, but they don’t need to be. We only ever see the Schwalbe Graze fight in outer space, so it doesn’t have much of a need for fancy footwork.
Legs
Like the chest, the legs are surprisingly intricate:
They have thrusters built into the knees, and a surprising amount of armor separation.
But wait! There’s more!
On most mobile suits, these two sections would likely be mounted to the side skirts, but on the Schwalbe Graze they attach to the thigh:
This is one of my favorite parts of this mobile suit. They make it look even faster, but their dagger-like shape also makes it look more lethal.
Backpack
This is an unusual design. You have two long stalks coming off the backpack, each on a ball joint. Then each one has a thruster on a hinge joint:
What this means is that you can orient each thruster independently from the other, in all sorts of crazy angles:
As a gimmick, this is pretty cool, but it has its aesthetic challenges. If the thrusters at the wrong angle (in any direction), they can look a bit weird. If I could go back in time and tweak the design, I’d make each thruster a little bit shorter, so that they don’t go so far away from the body.
Shoulders
I love the engineering here. The outer armor connects to the inner frame with a clip joint, allowing it to move freely:
Visually, I love the little cutouts on the edges, and I love the thrusters coming off the sides.
Arms
I love the sharp, angular, but slightly curvy look of these.
I don’t love how short and stubby they are. I feel like they could stand to be even a quarter of a centimeter longer.
You may have noticed that the arms are asymmetrical. That’s because one arm needs to mount the Wire Claw, while the other needs to mount the rifle:
Granted, in the photo above, I have them in the wrong place. They should be swapped. But hopefully you get the idea.
Finished!
Here it is - the fully assembled Schwalbe Graze:
I’m really digging this one so far, so I can’t wait to come back with some (hopefully) cool photos.