MBF-P03D Gundam Astray Blue Frame D – A Review
Looking back over the kits I’ve built over the years, I think this is the longest one has been in some sort of active build without being some kind of over-the-top mod. Started in April of 2022 and finished in May of 2023. It’s not because of it being particularly hard or complicated. No… it’s from something far less fun. My shoulder just isn’t what it used to be.
That said… this very pointy boy was one heck of a fun kit to make. = )
Here’s my review of the MG Astray Blue Frame D.
So… I Think it was either my birthday or the Christmas of 2019 that my friend gave this big ol’ box. It was the fist time I’ve had in my possession a proper Master Grade kit. It was the MG Astray Blue Frame D – one of the few Blue Frame Astrays that Bandai like to release and the something that wasn’t just another Red Frame like they REALLY Like to release.
I’m a fan of the Astray line and a sucker for them Blue Frame so this was a very nice surprise for me. It took a while to finally get around to it but, a couple of days before my birthday in April of 2022, I decided to start in on it. I’ve built 1/100th sized kits before and I used to build model planes with my Dad back in the day so neither the size nor the amount of parts really threw me. No… it was my shoulder that got me.
I’d start working on the kit for a night and, by the time I had the arms or the torso built, my right shoulder (My drawing arm) would Burn like some kind of weird twist on a G Gundam special attack. Instead of it telling me to defeat folks, it would angrily tell me to stop. I’d pack things up in the box and park them on my scanner – a tool I need regularly to, you know… scan the artwork for my comic – and that’s where it lived until I either needed my scanner or I felt up for working on it again.
‘Cause nothing keeps a kit on your mind like having to physically move a box of parts out of the way just about every week. = P
Smash cut to yesterday. I’d just finished up a recent Story Bit and I’m taking a break to do stuff like research things, practice drawing an old character in my Comic style and just trying to check things off my list. I also finally got my hands on the unobtaniaum that is the MGSD Freedom Gundam – a kit I swore I would start until I finished the Blue Frame. And that’s how we got here.
So what can I say about this build… Well, MG’s are definitely a different beast from the HG’s and SD kits I’ve been building. It really has more in common with the older military kits I built with my Dad as a kid than the ones I’ve built as an adult. Everything is so nicely detailed that I’m almost tempted to go through this thing an paint it. Thanks to the excellent color separation on the parts that could have that done for them, I wouldn’t have to paint much.
The part that kills me a bit is there is So Much that’s hidden. There are inner frame details and on parts like on the inside of the armor that are pretty much just there for one person and one person only: The one putting the kit together. It’s just a joy to make. = )
The flexibility is pretty great, too. Like my SDCS kits, it can balance on one foot without drooping or needing extra supports. In fact, the only time I could put this thing into a pose that it couldn’t handle was when I added the Striker Pack on the back. Even then, it was only a few non-standard poses. If I was hard up for it, it comes with a simple solid stand.
The Astray Blue Frame D is a Very pointy kit. Plenty of swords and stabby bits. It is one of those kits that kinda’ requires some extra touches. Aside form the traditional metallic camera and eye stickers (which don’t quite make sense ‘cause the eyes and head camera are a lovely clear green), it comes with some nice and simple dry transfers and a sheet of mediocre stickers for if you want to go the MG-style warning stickers galore. Although I plan to come back and do some panel lining later, I’m probably going to avoid the stickers. The dry transfers look to be mostly for the weapons system and I have better water slide warnings than what it came with.
All in all, this was a fun build. If you dig the Astray kits and want something with more swords than the fanciest of Exias, I highly recommend it. It has the articulation you’d expect from a more modern Master Grade and a level of detail that is just fun to deal with. = )
