Pg daban astray red frame review

Posting something that I have had a lot of fun putting together. One of my favorite plastic kits from my favorite anime series, Gundam SEED. The Red Frame Astray looks amazing in the series and putting it together was a lot of fun too. So without further ado, lets get into the review.

The box as expected is quite big but not as big as the newer PG kits like Unicorn or Banshee. The packing is not as sturdy as well but does a reasonable job of protecting the runners.

Comes with the usual two booklets, one giving more details about the suit design and the other about the assembling.

The Plastic is pretty standard Daban quality, nothing horrible and snaps fit together easily without any major issues. The plastic can get stressed while cutting off the runner so better to be careful about it.

The finished legs with all the bells and whistles attached. Nice firm snap fit with no loose hanging pieces on it.

The finished waist attached to the legs. Pretty good snap fit and nice detailing on the legs. The articulation follows Bandai as much as I can tell.

The kit comes with an LED for the head which as expected will not last long with the LED on. I personally feel its too much of a hassle to change batteries when they run out but some may actually feel its worth the effort. You need to open the head carefully to pull out the LED and change battery. Not worth it, in my opinion.

Looks great so far, as always no loose pieces and snug snap fit.

Arms fixed and ready to snap on. I especially liked the articulation on the arms.

Finally all fixed together. Missing the weapons now

Since this isnt the kai version, it doesnt come with the second sword. So just one sword, beam rifle and shield. The sword looks very good though

I would like to thank my friend Station Wensin II for his effort in reserving this hot-selling kit for me thus allowing me the pleasure to review this kit for you guys.

This kit went out-of-stock the moment it touches down, so do go ahead and contact Station Wensin II to book your unit before the next batch is fully booked.

Manufacturer: Nillson Work

Scale: 1/60 Grade: PG Series: Seed Astray Price: TBA

Section 1: Runners

The plastic a bit in between Bandai and Daban, and feels a bit semi-gloss.

Parts separation is excellently done, and detailing are very nice too. This kit is the basic ARF without the Tactical Arm, thus not as intimidating as some other PG :)

Since the MG ARF is already one of the well-designed MG with excellent parts separations and mechanism, one would find that this PG is very similar to building a larger sized MG :p

Snap-fitting experience in excellent as I did not have any snap-fitting issue, and all parts seem to hold up pretty well, except the manipulators (hands) which I will write in more details later :)

On the plus side, this kit comes with: -

• 2 katanas
• 2 sets of inner-frame parts, one with brighter red and another one darker
• 2 sets of transparent parts, one in green and another in yellow

With the extra runners, there are 3 shades of red color for the inner frame where you can mix-and-match to your liking :)

This kit comes with a set of water decals, and usual foil sticker for the eyes and sensors.

Section 2: Legs

The feet are pretty straight-forward, but you can already spot the different shades of red here ;)

The ankle guard with great parts separation :)

Comparison of the 2 shades... which one do you like?

The right leg @ my mix-and-match red shades ;)

* recommend to apply a bit of glue for the air-vent/thrusters behind the ankle guard and the behind the shin to prevent them from falling out.

Very nice done. Excellent parts separation and articulation. Firm and sturdy.

Section 3: Waist

Very close resemblance the MG version :)

There are 2 options for the connector... the plastic version and the rubber (polycap) version. I used the plastic version before realizing the same in polycap, which I would have chosen. I strongly recommend the polycap version if you have no intention to color them ;)

The red cover of the side skirts could be removed to mount the katanas.

Section 4: Lower Body

This completes the lower body :) Sexy!

Section 5: Chest

Again, very similar to the MG version ;)

Excellent parts separation and detailing. Very good shoulder articulation.

* recommend to apply some glue for the 2 tiny red pieces on the chest plate to prevent them from falling off.

Very slim-fit body :)

Section 6: Arms

Very solid arms with excellent parts separation.

The only disappointment is the manipulators (hands). While their posing flexibility are excellent, they did not have any ledge to "hold" the weapons like the Bandai version... they are able to hold the katana for certain pose, but definitely unable to hold the beam rifle without "assistance"... I uses some blu-tag to assist :p

Another thing to take note is when assembling the fingers... there are same to the waist connectors, the red section of the fingers comes in plastic and rubber version. For easy assembly, use the rubber (polycap) version.

And please take note of the direction these fingers are to be assembled from the picture below, as it wasn't clearly illustrated in the manual ;)

Section 7: Head

Excellent parts separation without and LED gimmick :p

I used the yellow transparent parts instead of the usual green.

Section 8: Backpack

The backpack is pretty straight forward but nice. This is where the 2 Beam Sables are mounted.

Section 9: Weaponry

This kit comes with 2 Katana, but it does not have the engraving of Kiku-Ichimonji or Gerbera Straight :p It also comes with a a Beam Rifle, 2 Beam Sables, and a Shield.

The katanas are not chromed, but instead with very good finishing resembling a real blade :)

It also comes with 4 other designs for the katana guard you can choose for something different ;)

I would definitely use the phoenix guard ;)

The beam sables are nicely done, but I do recommend a bit of glue for the top and bottom pieces ;)

The beam rifle is not the standard-issued used by the Strike Gundam but it works for me :p

And the standard-issued shield :p

Section 10: The Perfect Grade Astray Red Frame

Due to it's big size, I only took some standing pose... enjoy the pictures ;)

My Personal Experience

Looking at the size of the box, this does not strikes me as a 1/60 kit... even the normal NG 1/60 Exia box is bigger :p

I would say this is an excellent entry Perfect Grade, with fantastic parts separation, color separation, detailing, articulation, minus the LED gimmick and troublesome wiring.

Although there's not much "upgrade" one can do to the already awesome ARF design, Nillson Work inclusion of extra runner in different shade of red actually enable straight-builder like me to play with different shades of color with actually painting the kit, and I like this very much :)

The plastic quality is more than decent, which I would place them in between Bandai and Daban. The finishing is clean. The snap-fitting is excellent. The articulation is pretty fantastic. The idea of giving certain parts in plastic and rubber is very thoughtful.