Review: 1/100 MG Sword Impulse

I know I said I'd probably get an Infinite Justice and I did but I also got this Impulse so I built that first. My Infinite Justice is halfway done since I only have head, limbs and weapons left to build. Not quite sure when I'll find time to finish building it since I'm going to the Bridex exhibition tomorrow with my friends. I'll be blogging about that before my Infinite Justice so it'll probably have to wait till next week for me to review it.

First of all let me just say it's been years since I've been a Master Grade kit and I was impressed at how much they've changed the template for these kits. Impulse had runners going from A to S with some doubles so it had a lot of parts to it. They also limited stickers to only the head so everything else is completely plastic. The box is also quite large compared to my Wing Zero Custom despite it having a lower height and has the same dimensions as my 00 Raiser's box. I guess that's a testament to the quality of 00 kits, I can't wait to see the MG 00 Raiser which better have stronger GN drive shoulders.

In terms of gimmicks, I'd have to say there really isn't anything else they throw in there to make it better. In fact, it feels quite excessive when you're trying to build it. Each part moves like it's supposed to in anime. They even gave "tyre" parts for all the Flyers which I didn't bother cutting out for the chest and legs. Some of the decals look pretty good too so I'll probably put them on sometime in the future. The Excalibur swords are the most impressive thing about this kit by the way. You actually have to compact the size to let Impulse stand properly with them docked.

The articulation for this kit is superb for everything except the head. The back part of the head is widened at the bottom so it really interferes with moving the head so you'll have to shave it clean to get better mobility there. Arms and legs are quite tight but that's good since the swords will stay in place. The slot for the hands are too tight in my case. Every time I want to switch the hands I end up pulling off the forearm plate at least 3 times to get them on. The elbows and knees move according to the limbs' positions but they are quite loose in contrast to the joint. Same goes for the shoulders, they're like Exia's ones so they can look off if you try to lift the arms.

In terms of appearance the kit is hardcore with all the minute details, darker colors and altered proportions. Unfortunately I think the arms are a little short but I guess that must have been done to lift the swords properly. In addition to that, the fingers look unnaturally large in comparison so they'll look funny if they're empty. It has pretty good posability but not on its own. Impulse always looks ready for battle with its red color scheme so you need another kit to bring out the best poses. Thankfully I have Infinite Justice to bring that potential out - as soon as I finish building it.

Box Art is awesome


The Manual


There's a special part so you can put on Strike packs


I need more display bases sadly I also need more money.






Decals


I keep the runners just in case


Joint runners for Impulse : Wing


Very hardcore looking






Pack has better proportions in this kit compared to others








CQC ready


Comparison shot with 1/100 and 1/144 versions

Now for a better look at each of the gimmicks:

Cockpit opens


Separated body parts


Sword Silhouette


Special base for Sword Silhouette + Flyer


The Silhouette Flyer. They give wheel parts for this and Core Flyer


Sword Pack sans Flyer


All four Silhouettes


Dagger slide pocket


Dagger's nicely made


Shield docks onto arm at lots of angles


It's big even when compact


Full size shield


The rifle docks onto the waist. Accidentally cut of the scope while building it


Beam parts for boomerang and swords.


They gave fixed hands with adjustable for the swords. Finger movable hands can still hold them.


Swords extend to full size which is pretty damn long


Full size is longer than Fate's Bardiche Zanbato Mode


Comparison shot for MG Excalibur against 1/100 Excalibur




Thigh plates shift when you move it


Swords combined

Now some for bonus shots:

Goddamn! Cherudim is an awesome kit


I think that some assault knives are actually on the same scale


Saber wishes to learn CQC


Konata prepared to engage in CQC


Big Swords = Awesome

That's it for my review. The pictures might look funny and that's because I used photobucket since for some reason I couldn't upload my pictures using blogger this time. My blog's layout automatically cuts wide pictures. I shall leave you this picture of my WIP Infinite Justice. So far I am impressed by how detailed it is. As I said, the review will probably be sometime next week but I'll also be writing manga reviews from now on to be scheduled to be posted in between big articles since my counter has finally made it into the 5 digit zone. A friend actually said it was scary I managed to get so many visitors for a blog like this so it'd be funny if I show him that it has a 6 digit count. I'm also glad to see that I've gotten over 3000 hits since I added my flag counter since it shows that I have repeat visitors since it only records unique visitors instead of each page visit.

Awesomeness