HGBuild Divers

AGMF-X56S/l Impulse Gundam Lancier

A cheap, honest HG that trades polish for a genuinely fun swap-parts gimmick.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Impulse Gundam Lancier · 1/144 · 2018

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2018

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a solid budget HG that earns its keep through its gimmick, not its detail.

The Lancier is a Build Divers reimagining of the Cosmic Era Impulse Gundam, built around a lance, a shield, and a back-mounted underwater booster, and it's designed to pair with its sibling kit, the Impulse Gundam Arc, so the two can trade Leg Flyer parts. On its own it's a fine, simple 1/144. With its partner sitting next to it, the whole thing gets a lot more interesting.

Best for: Build Divers fans and gimmick lovers who plan to pick up the Impulse Gundam Arc alongside it

The full review

What it is

The Lancier is the melee and aquatic-combat half of a two kit set, and Bandai clearly built it around that split personality. It comes across as light and simple in hand, snapping together off 12 runners with no cement or paint required, so it's an easy weekend build rather than a project. What won me over is the underwater navigation booster clipping onto the back and the lance sitting naturally in its hand, both of which sell the aquatic specialist idea the moment it's posed. It doesn't try to be a showpiece. It reads as a fun, unfussy kit that knows exactly what job it's doing.

The catch

Color separation leans on molded plastic plus a foil sticker sheet rather than deep part breakdown, so a few panel accents and eye details come down to how careful you are applying stickers rather than any actual paint app. The lance and shield are described in Bandai's own materials as provisional pieces, which is a tell that the real payoff is meant to come from combining or swapping parts with the Arc, not from the Lancier alone. Builders shopping it as a standalone display piece will find it a little plain for the price compared to a same-scale HG from a mainline Gundam line, since a good chunk of the design intent is locked behind owning both kits in the pair.

Who it's for

Buy this if you're building the Impulse Gundam Arc too and want the full swap-gimmick experience the pair was designed around, or if you just want a cheap, quick, no-cement HG to get someone building. Skip it if you want a single standalone kit with heavy color separation and a dense accessory loadout, since the Lancier's best moments only show up once its sibling kit is on the shelf beside it. As a solo build it's a pleasant, low-effort afternoon. As half of a matched set it's a genuinely clever little kit.

The build story

What the build is actually like, and the engineering worth knowing about.

This is a straightforward build off 12 runners with a single foil sticker sheet and no cement or paint called for, which puts it solidly at the easy end of the HG range. Bandai's own listing flags it as skill level 2, meaning basic nipper and gate cleanup work but nothing fiddly beyond that. Fit reports on the newer production runs describe the plastic quality holding up well, with parts seating properly rather than needing extra pressure or filing.

The standout piece of engineering here is the swap system with the Impulse Gundam Arc: the two kits can trade Leg Flyer parts to change each other's performance characteristics, which is a genuinely clever bit of design for a budget HG pairing. The underwater navigation booster mounts to the back and immediately changes the silhouette toward the aquatic specialist role the Lancier is meant to play, and the lance gives it a distinct melee identity next to the Arc's presumably different loadout. Articulation is reported as generous for the price point, holding action poses without a fight.

Lore & trivia

01The Impulse Gundam Lancier is a Gundam Build Divers reimagining of the ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, rebuilt in-universe by the character Karuna, who also pilots it.
02It was designed as one half of a matched pair with the Impulse Gundam Arc, and the two mobile suits can swap their Leg Flyer parts between them to change performance characteristics, a gimmick Bandai carried directly into the plastic kits.
03The kit includes a mountable underwater navigation booster, reflecting the Lancier's role as the aquatic-combat specialist of the two sibling units.
04It released in September 2018 as part of Bandai's HGBD (High Grade Build Divers) line tied to the Gundam Build Divers anime.