[REVIEW] Daban MG RX78-2 ver. 3.0 review

I just finished building most of this kit. So here's a bit of mini review for this. I'll just talk about my build experience with this kit for now. 

The kit looks really good overall. I guess I got lucky since my kit didn't have any defect unlike some that I've seen around my gunpla groups. There were others that had defects like parts not fully molded. 

Snap building the kit required a bit more strength since pegs are a little too tight. This is something fixable if you can spend more time on the kit. 

Upon closer inspection, this is where the imperfections and issues become more noticeable. One of the issues that stand out for me are the uneven panels. The MG RX78-2 ver. 3.0 is known for having too many pieces on the armor parts for color separation. The Bandai kit doesn't have problems with this since the pieces are supposed to line up and level with each other. 

The issue with the Daban kit is most likely due to the manufacturing process where pieces aren't molded as well as they should be. Hence those hairline gaps between parts. Also due to the quality of the manufacturing process was the tight pegs that either require more force to fit or actually prevent parts from fully snapping together.  One example would be the pic of the knee armors directly above. The upper knee pieces should fit flushed with the other knee parts but they can only go so far. It's the kind of things I notice since I already have experienced building the Bandai kit.

The knees and elbow joints are extremely stiff. When I got this kit, my 1st worry was the arm construction. The kit's arm construction is a bit complicated and hard even on the Bandai kit. Extra care should be taken in building the arm on the Daban kit and make sure that parts fit together before fully assembling so you don't break any part. 

Another selling point of the 3.0 kit is the sliding panels. Though the fitting issue in this kit can be considered minor, it does affect the sliding panel gimmick in most areas, specially in the leg and arm parts. The panels on the Daban kit barely move though it doesn't affect articulation. And since the joints are stiff, care should be taken in moving them so as not to break any part of pop off any piece.

Also take note of the Daban kit's leg joint. Specifically the rectangle armor piece behind the knee. The knee joints are hard to put together due to the tight pegs so it'll be hard to fit everything together. The rectangle armor piece behind the knee tends to keep popping off whenever the knee joint is moved. This can be fixed easily by taking time to fit the knee pieces well or by gluing that piece.

Daban's articulated hands are also hard to build. I actually broke one of the fingers. I prefer Dragon Momoko's version if not Bandai's. Daban's articulated hands joints are still too stiff and brittle, there's also a lot of flashes that sometimes gets stuck to the joints that cause them to break when moved.

Considering the price of this kit, it's hard to expect that this won't have any issues. Good thing that the issues I've encountered with this kit can easily be fixed of one takes his/her time assembling this kit. 

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[REVIEW] Daban MG RX78-2 ver. 3.0 unboxing

Here's an unboxing review of the recently released Daban MG RX78-2 ver.3.0 kit.

Same with the recent kits by Daban, the box has a flip opening on the side, different from Bandai's boxes. Not sure where they got the rear box art, but most of the box design came straight from Bandai's design albeit changing the words "Gundam" into "Fighter".

Again, typical Daban style, aside from the "Gundam" to "Fighter" changes, the manual is straight copied from the Bandai version.

Every runner is a direct copy from Bandai, almost. 

 

So far the L runner is the only one I've noticed that isn't a direct copy from the original kit. Though they did copy the design and parts placement, this might mean they have a different mold. But I don't want to speculate further. :P

  

For a bootleg kit, I'd say the amount of detail they were able to replicate is pretty decent. Details are not lost, though less defined, plus just some very minor mold flashes here and there.

Seeing this is a bootleg kit means that quality will be a hit or miss. Packaging isn't that tight but when I opened the plastic bags, there were parts and even runners that came out bent. Luckily there were no broken or bent pieces or anything that might prevent me from fully building this kit.

There was a piece that had something that looks suspiciously like a fingerprint. Good thing it was on the foot part so it wouldn't be noticeable anyway.

I'm not saying you'll get these issues if ever you decide to get this, but let's be realistic here. There's a reason this kinds of kits are cheaper. You may or may not get the same issues as mine, maybe your's is even worse. Point is, we can't expect too much from these kits. Having a lower standard towards these kits actually helps me enjoy the kit more when they actually pass my lowered standards. :P

Lastly, the kit comes with both clear stickers and water slide decals. I don't have any experience with Daban WSD but both the stickers and decals look crisp and might actually be useful. The stickers even has metallic finish for some parts, albeit not as metallic looking as Bandai's.

As of this writing, the kit is priced at almost 1/3 the Bandai version is. And please don't ask me if it's worth buying it or not. I think that's a purely subjective question and the reason I'm reviewing this kit is to try help you decide for yourself if it's worth spending your money on it.

Next would be the full review of the kit. I have built the Bandai version before so I feel that I can do an objective review of this kit.

Note: Credits to dalong.net for the comparison pics.

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