HGPost Disaster

ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos + Long Distance Transport Booster Kutan Type-III

The Barbatos you already love, now hauling a booster the size of a small car.

MechaGrade Score

3.6/5

Barbatos · 1/144 · 2015

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2015

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the standard HG Barbatos kit with a genuinely fun oversized add-on bolted to its back, and I think it earns its place on a shelf, but it is really two kits of very different quality glued into one box.

The Barbatos half is the same well-engineered, satisfying build that made this line's reputation. The Kutan Type-III half is a big, hollow, sticker-heavy booster that looks fantastic once it is finished and painted, but fights you a little to get there.

Best for: Iron-Blooded Orphans fans who already like the base Barbatos and want the deployment scene on their shelf

The full review

What it is

At its core this is the familiar HG 1/144 Gundam Barbatos, the frame-concept kit that started the IBO line, paired with the JEE-M103 Kutan Type-III, the long-range transport booster that ferries Barbatos into combat zones in the show. The Barbatos build is exactly as good as builders already know it to be: the partial inner frame in the legs, the deliberately scuffed and worn look built into the molding rather than painted on, and a suit that stands and poses with real confidence for an entry-tier kit. Clicking the Kutan onto its back and standing the pair up at 370mm combined is a genuinely fun moment, it looks like a proper deployment diorama piece straight out of the box.

The catch

The booster is the weak link. Several builders flag the Kutan frame as flimsy, thin plastic panels that do not always snap together with confidence, and more than one review mentions reaching for cement to keep joints from popping loose over time. Both halves lean on large color-separation stickers rather than molded color or decals, and on a booster this size the flat sticker panels read as flat plastic unless you paint or panel-line over them. None of this is exclusive to a bad kit, it is the usual HG-era tradeoff, but on a piece this big the stickers and the hollow feel are more noticeable than on the suit alone.

Who it's for

If you already own or want the base HG Barbatos and like the idea of the transport-booster scene from the show, this is worth grabbing, especially since it is priced as an add-on rather than a second full suit. If you only care about the mobile suit and have no interest in accessory boosters, buy the plain HG Barbatos on its own and skip this. And if flimsy joints and heavy stickers are a dealbreaker for you, budget for some cement and a few paint pens before you start, because this kit rewards a little extra care more than most HGs do.

What works

The Barbatos half retains the partial inner frame and worn, weathered molded finish that made the base kit stand out
Combined display at roughly 370mm is a real shelf centerpiece and recreates an actual scene from the show
Priced and packaged as a booster add-on rather than a second full-price suit, so it is efficient if you already want both pieces

Worth knowing

The Kutan booster frame is thin and flimsy in places, some builders needed cement to keep joints from loosening
Heavy reliance on large color-separation stickers on both the suit and the booster, which look flat without paint or panel lining
The booster contributes little articulation of its own, it is built for display in a fixed pose rather than posing

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The build story

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

The Barbatos build itself is the pleasant part, tight gate placement, parts that snap together with confidence, and the same partial inner-frame assembly in the legs and torso that builders praise on the standalone release. The Kutan booster is a different experience, larger thin-walled panels, less confident fit, and a couple of joints that benefit from a drop of cement rather than relying on friction alone. Neither half is a nightmare build, but expect the booster half to take more patience than the suit half.

Barbatos keeps its well-known articulation for an HG, a double-jointed ball neck, shoulders that raise with the armor lifting out of the way, elbows that bend past 90 degrees, and a waist that rotates a full 360, so it holds dynamic poses well on its own. The Kutan Type-III is designed to convert between its transport and assault configurations and can be worn directly on Barbatos's back or displayed separately, giving the set two real display options instead of one static accessory.

Lore & trivia

01The JEE-M103 Kutan Type-III first appears in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans episode 11, ferrying a mobile suit into a combat zone.
02Kutan Type-III shares its main body with the shorter-range Type-I booster but adds larger boosters and propellant tanks for extended travel distance, plus additional side armor with small arm functions.
03In the show's continuity, Kutan Type-III's boosters and side armor can be operated separately from the main booster body, and Teiwaz records show the boosters being mounted directly onto a mobile suit without the rest of the transport craft.
04This release carries the catalog number HGIBO 007 in Bandai's numbered High Grade Iron-Blooded Orphans line, released in December 2015.