HGPost Disaster

ASW-G-64 Gundam Flauros (Ryusei-Go)

A pink quadruped bombardment machine that never once feels like a gimmick kit past its prime.

MechaGrade Score

3.9/5

Gundam Flauros (Ryusei-Go) · 1/144 · 2016

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2016

Runnersn/a

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

This is one of the better surprises in the HGIBO line, a kit that leans hard into a weird transformation gimmick and actually delivers on it.

The shelling mode drop into quadruped stance works cleanly with no fuss, the upper body articulation is genuinely excellent, and the oversized backpack cannons look like a centerpiece rather than dead weight. The legs hold it back from greatness, but everything above the waist is a joy to pose.

Best for: IBO fans and gimmick lovers who want a transformation feature that actually works out of the box

The full review

What it is

The Flauros is Norba Shino's Ryusei-Go, one of the salvaged Calamity War frames Tekkadan drags back into service, and Bandai built the kit around its signature trick: it folds down into a four-legged Shelling Mode for long range bombardment. That transformation is the reason to own this kit, and it works. No forcing joints, no parts popping off, just a satisfying fold into a stance that actually looks purposeful instead of like an afterthought sculpt. The shoulder cannons extend on their own gimmick too, and the double ball-jointed neck and 360 degree waist rotation make the upper body shockingly expressive for a budget-tier HG.

The catch

The legs are the compromise. Where the torso, arms, and neck move freely, the hip and knee joints are noticeably more restrictive, so deep dynamic lunges are off the table even though standing poses and the shelling transformation both look great. The big backpack cannons rely on large foil stickers rather than molded color, and those stickers are finicky to align on curved surfaces without silvering or peeling at the edges. Accessories are thin too, just the machine guns and standard grip hands, no spare hands or extra face parts, which stings a little at this kit's position in the line.

Who it's for

Grab this if you are building through the Iron-Blooded Orphans lineup, want a kit whose gimmick actually pays off, or just want a striking pink and grey silhouette that looks unlike anything else on the shelf. Skip it if sticker work kills your enjoyment of a build or you want a loose stash of spare hands and face plates to swap around. For the price point this sits at, the transformation feature alone makes it worth the shelf space, and the upper body articulation is good enough that most builders will forgive the stiffer legs.

The build story

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

Gate placement is typical HGIBO fare, mostly on non-visible seams, and cleanup is quick since this is a low part count kit built for a straightforward evening session. The backpack assembly is the most involved part of the build since it houses the extending cannon gimmick, but the mechanism goes together without any fiddly tension or snapped tabs.

The transformation sequence between robot mode and Shelling Mode is the engineering highlight, folding the legs and torso into a stable four-legged stance without loose joints sagging under the weight of the backpack. Color separation on the body is solid molded plastic, it's just the big cannon stickers that ask more of the builder than the rest of the kit does.

Lore & trivia

01The Flauros is the 64th of the 72 Gundam Frames built by Gjallarhorn near the end of the Calamity War, originally designed to counter mobile armors like Hashmal.
02Tekkadan pilot Norba Shino recovers the frame on Mars and has it repainted pink, his favorite color, dubbing it Ryusei-Go (and later Ryusei-Go IV as it's upgraded), refusing to call it Flauros at all.
03Shelling Mode, the kit's quadruped bombardment stance, is unique among the Gundam Frames shown in Iron-Blooded Orphans and doubles as the machine's signature long range attack posture in the anime.