[REVIEW] Daban MG Jesta Cannon

Since I'm well on my way on finishing most of my projects, I decided to get back on the MG scene starting with this latest kit from Daban, the MG Jesta Cannon.

Though the box's design generally follows Bandai's design, Daban's box is different from Bandai's Full-lid lift top box. Daban uses a Straight tuck/ Slide open box. I think this kind of packaging is much more sturdier.

One notable thing here is the inclusion of an LED unit for the head of the kit. This one's a red LED unit. It appears that this is the only "difference" to the original Bandai kit.

Initial inspections shows satisfactory details in the parts. 

And still Daban's dreaded MG 2.0 hands. 

The kit also comes with waterslide decals, same as with the P-Bandai version.

Also, initial inspection will show a few duplicate runners. Something tells me this will have tons of extra parts. :P

Now on to the build itself. I wont be doing a detailed review of this since this appears to be simillar with the previously released Daban MG Jesta with a few more pieces added. I will just be showing a few things I've noticed throughout my build, mainly focusing on the kits' quality.

This being a bootleg kit, expect to see some imperfections in the details.

Aside from a few flashes, there are some minor misalignment though it will not cause any issue with the other parts.

Here's one of the major issues I got with the kit. the frame pieces are supposed to lock together but apparently they will not fit the armor part. To fix this, I just trimmed the frame pieces to fit the armor part.

Now on to the dreaded MG 2.0 hands. one of the reasons this review took a bit too long was because of this hands. You really have to take your time working with these since they are known to be a bit too fragile and break easily.

First, I tried to remove as much runner piece from the part itself, I did this with a regular side cutter. then trimming the excess runner pieces using a hobby knife, taking great care not to cut myself.

Once all the runner pieces have been removed, it's time to align the fingers. the most critical part here is to not stress the finger's ball joints in the knuckles. To do this, I use a long nose pliers to hold the finger at its base near the ball joint and move it little by little. I just move it around in all directions but DO NOT TWIST IT just yet. I do the moving first to loosen the ball joint so the ball joint twists with the fingers and not stress the finger. I had to take my time slowly and repeatedly moving the ball joint to make sure it loosens. As you move the fingers, you will feel less resistance from the ball joint, this will be the time you start trying to twist the fingers. If you have clear eyes, you can see if the ball joint is twisting with the finger. If you still get a bit of resistance when twisting the fingers, stop twisting and return to moving the finger around.

No, I'm not doing the middle finger pose.

Aside from a few minor flashes, there wasn't any issue building this kit. Even the tight/ loose pegs were minimal. Joints appear to be a bit loose but it will still be able to hold its pose.

Another issue I encountered was with the right hand connection. Though similar with the left hand which did not cause any issue, the wrist armor prevents the hand from fully inserting into the hand joint.

Even after filing and trimming the wrist armor, the hand still isn't able to fully insert into the joint so I opted to not use it instead. It isn't noticeable anyway specially while holding the rifle.

Another issue I encountered was the hip joints being too loose that moving the legs would disassemble the joints. to fix this issue, I just put some glue in the peg where the 2 halves of the joint to secure it.

We do get a lot of extras with this kit. Some of the new parts are just recolors of the existing parts so we get a few almost completely unused runners. It also appears that the other extra parts can be used to build the regular jesta, sort of like a RE1/100 Gusion Rebake.

Generally, this is a very good reproduction of the original Bandai kit. Expect details to be a bit shallow, a few minor flashes, edges to be a bit uneven, very few tight/ loose pegs, and I find the plastic quality a bit soft/ less dense. Whenever I examin the plastic quality of the kit, I get that feeling that the plastic expanded as it cooled during the casting which explains the loss in detail, some edges appear uneven and less crisp.

Personally, I'm satisfied with the quality of this kit. Issues are very manageable and can be fixed with minimal effort. Considering that the original kit is P-Bandai which makes it more expensive, I can say that this kit is worth its price. I don't have the Bandai MG Jesta but I feel the differences can be noticeable once a closer look has been taken. I will still advice buying original Bandai kits, thought if ever you really want to complete the Londo Bell tristars team, I suggest you get 3 Bandai MG Jesta's and just put the cannon parts on one of them. >:P