Introduction
In this post I want to highlight the lovely technicalities that Bandai have built into the models. This post specifically I want to focus on looking at the HG GunPla arms … or more specifically my RX-78-2 Revive arm.
Before I go any further I must, I feel, apologise for the state of the arm. I have been doing a lot of testing different things with it. It has been painted, cleaned painted and generally messed with. It looks currently in a slightly sorry state. I will, soon I hope, restore it to a much better condition. When I get chance I will show it off in its restored glory!
The Arm Basics
So this model, and a few others I have built, follow a similar pattern for the arms. This model has a lower section which would serve as the ulna and radius. Then a top section that would be the humerus. The ulna and radius part has two parts clip over it, with the humerus having a piece slide down over it.
In the images above the parts have been colour coded. Firstly the red highlighted part is the humerus. Next is the blue highlighted part which acts as the ulna and radius. Finally is the green highlighted part which is the plate which holds them together. You can see in the next picture the top plate of that is in place holding the main “bones” of the arm together. In the first image the parts labelled 1 shows where the top and bottom part hook over the posts allowing them to pivot.
The following images show the arm being built up, and the level of movement it has once put together.
What do I like?
This design is both robust and flexible. Once put together it allows for a great range of movement bending the arm and thus allowing me to put the model into far more poses. The pieces can break (I did it on the other arm) but that was user headspace error, rather than the parts. There is a load of detail on the parts, but a lot of those details are also functional. It looks like there are grooves and sections, but a lot of them, as well as looking nice, aid in guiding, and holding, the pieces in the right places. The final thing I wanted to mention is the high quality / precision of the pieces. They fit together snugly, helping to hold everything where it should be, and provide a level of stability that looser pieces just couldn’t. All of these small details add up to make the arm a fantastic piece. Both from an engineered point of view, but also from a pure aesthetic point of view.
Conclusion
I am a massive fan of the thought and design that has gone into the HG Gunpla arms. Ultimately the models really shine because of the attention to detail.
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