MG Wing Gundam EW

The final in my Master Grade Wing Gundam collection, ironically turns out to be the lead suit. With this, I’ve assembled the entire Gundam team from Wing. It feels good to finally finish a collection, especially one that’s been a long time in the making. It all started so long ago with Heavyarms…

I should point out right now that I’ve actually owned this kit before, in the form of the original Ver. Ka. release. However, being that it was like my second MG kit, it wasn’t exactly the most beautiful piece in my collection, and was thus sold off on eBay long ago.

Now that I’ve come to build the entire main cast from Wing Gundam, I found myself in need of this suit again. But thankfully Bandai released this newer version, complete with a new boxart, slight color difference, and action base connector!

Yeah, this isn’t actually a new mold. It’s the Ver. Ka. packed in a new box with those minor add-ons pointed out above. While I didn’t particularly like the original Version Katoki kit (hence why it was sold) I still needed this kit to complete the collection.

It’s worth pointing out that my original Ver. Ka. kit of this suit was a birthday present back in 2010ish. This particular kit, the new EW release, is also a birthday present from my lovely girlfriend this year. (To be fair I didn’t get around to building it until like 4 months later.) Things tend to come full circle.

The Wing EW shares (like its brethren) generally the same design as the Endless Waltz OVA suits. As such, it sports roughly 90% of the same parts and workings of the MG Gundam Wing Zero Custom.

Both kits were released way back in the day (around 2004) and as a result are rather dated in kit design and build.

This is especially obvious when juxtaposing this kit to the rest of its brethren, who all received mid-decade upgrades in the form of more advanced frames and ‘pla technologies.

Rather unfortunate that the lead suit of the series (ironically) is the most underwhelming and least complex kit in the series, due to Bandai not seeing a need to give it an overhaul, as it did for the MG Strike HD Remaster.

The articulation and general kit integrity suffers from this greatly, as the quality is extremely sub-par compared to modern standards. (i.e. the legs where they attach to the hips are ball joints, as opposed to the usual two-hinge joints that allow for splits and wider stances in today’s ‘pla.)

Bandai does, however, go out of their way to address one of the old kit’s more glaring issues that was hounded upon by many a modeler around: it couldn’t be comfortably displayed on a standard Action Base.

Back then, kits scarcely had custom connector pieces for their groins; it was all about making use of them claw clamps on the Action Bases. This new EW release sees to this issue though, adding a rather large and conspicuous clamp onto Wing’s butt for new-found  aerial superiority.

Most of the joints on the kit are fairly loose and weak, even right after assembly. I’m fairly certain this isn’t just something with my particular kit either, as my old Ver. Ka. had a similar problem.

The old-style manipulators also explain themselves, and while I don’t knock them for what they are inherently (I actually prefer articulated fingers to the new finger swap system) but they do an extraordinarily poor job wielding the suit’s armaments.

I’m fairly certain just one glance at this kit will yield the obvious – it can’t handle the behemoth of a cannon it comes equipped with.

Even from the days of the original release this was a common problem that various modelers found their own ways around, be it tightening the finger joints, making custom hands, or straight-up gluing the cannon into the hand (which I actually did with my Ver. Ka. back in the day).

Simply put, Katoki’s fetish for giant guns more or less turned against the general Guntoka populace, as Wing literally can’t hold its gun up. The weight is too much for both the fingers and the wrist joints to bear, so it starts sagging hardcore and eventually just drops out of its grasp.

The actual arms themselves also sag under the weight, and even holding the arm at its side with the cannon is nigh-impossible. It needs another base of support other than the one arm, and more often than not it’ll be the floor.

Getting Wing to wield it requires some extraordinary dark magic powers, but it certainly can be done.

The weapon itself is extremely unwieldy and impractical to begin with though; is a barrel of that length really necessary?

But those are really Wing’s main problems in a nutshell. Moving on…

The suit does come with a pair of spare ammo packs that I’m fairly certain also double as landing gear in Bird mode.

The reason for this is that the suit expends one of those e-caps per shot, much like the Unicorn Gundam. Naturally, for such a large consumption, the shots are godly powerful. Either way, this means the Wing Gundam has a maximum of 9 shots per sortie, so the ammo packs are rather essential.

They do attach to the forearms, but can be rather clunky and get in the way of movement. Not to mention they clip in between the stupidly fragile-looking claws.

Mine were painted by hand with acrylic Gunmetal paint; the original plastic color was actually a dark blue/off black.

The Wing’s only real on-board weapons: a pair of machine vulcans next to the head. I always thought these were a cool gimmick. Naturally you don’t really get much head articulation when they’re open.

Reaching into that shield…

Saber-action time, baby.

Yeah, the single beam saber handle this suit sports is stored inside the shield. Nothing fancy, just plugs right in there with no fuss or muss. Must be hell if you manage to lose your shield in battle though; your only melee weapon goes right along with it.

Quick view of the shield itself. I like the design, personally, and don’t be fooled – it may be ‘pla, but that tip is sharp.

Back to more beam saber action.

You get two beam effects with the kit, though only one hilt, so the other can be relegated for any other kit in need of extra beams.

Wing also doesn’t use the usual peg-in palm and weapon system. The beam saber literally just sits in the hand, and is actually prone to falling out if gravity works against it. Which means under-handed slashes are a no-go.

And naturally, Wing Gundam’s traditionally always been a transformable suit, so Bird Mode is an integral feature.

Transformation is basic, nothing too complex. I’m fairly certain one can figure it out using nothing but the source image alone; the instructions aren’t really needed.

The shield and giant cannon clamp onto the front to form Wing Gundam’s nosecone section, and in the end, that adds quite a bit of length to the Bird Mode.

Overall the MG Wing Gundam itself is a fair kit – not gonna lie, it doesn’t have much play value due to the extremely loose joints and unwieldy cannon, but I can definitely say it looks fair on the shelf. Given how dated it also is, I’d say the upcoming MG Wing Zero or the Wing TV Ver. is a better shot.

I did really only covet this kit for its role in filling the last hole in my EW collection though, and it does that job rather finely, so I can’t complain about much.