HGPost Disaster

ASW-G-XX Gundam Vidar

A rebuilt Kimaris Trooper in a slim blue coat, with foot blades that turn every low kick into a real threat.

MechaGrade Score

3.6/5

ASW-G-XX Gundam Vidar · 1/144 · 2016

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2016

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

Vidar is a good-not-great IBO kit that nails the silhouette and gives you a genuinely fun gimmick in the Hunter's Edge foot blades, but a few structural joints are looser than they should be.

I like how the burst saber and twin handguns round out the loadout without feeling like filler. If you already own the earlier IBO frame kits you know exactly what you are getting here, refined a bit and repainted blue.

Best for: IBO fans and returning HG builders who want the frame refined a second time, not first-time gunpla builders looking for a rock-solid stance

The full review

What it is

Vidar is Gaelio Bauduin's rebuild of his wrecked Kimaris Trooper, reworked under Gjallarhorn's Arianrhod fleet into a leaner, more aggressive suit, and the kit captures that story well. The proportions read great out of the box, slim waist, bulky legs and side skirts, a torso that looks like it survived something. Building it is quick and low-friction since it reuses the familiar IBO inner frame, so gate cleanup and assembly are painless even for a first-timer. The real payoff for me was clicking the Hunter's Edge blades out of the feet and posing a low kick, it is a genuinely different pose language than most 1/144 kits offer.

The catch

The side skirts double as saber sheaths and look great, but they and the back wings are loose enough to fall off during posing, and more than one builder flags the torso-to-hip connection as soft, likely from the weight of the backpack. Hands and waist-mounted missile launchers can also feel underinsulated in their sockets. Color separation leans on the foil sticker sheet rather than molded parts in a few spots, standard for this HG line but worth knowing going in. None of it is a dealbreaker, but budget a little extra care (or a drop of glue) for those loose points.

Who it's for

Grab this if you are already invested in the Iron-Blooded Orphans line and want the Vidar redesign on your shelf, or if you want an easy weeknight build with a genuinely fun weapon gimmick in the retractable foot blades. It is also a fair pick for newer builders since the frame is simple and forgiving. Skip it if tight, rattle-free joints matter more to you than accuracy to the anime design, an aftermarket brace or a dab of cement will fix the worst of it, but out of the box it is not the tightest HG on the shelf.

The build story

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

This is a quick, comfortable build. The IBO inner frame is well-trodden ground by this point in the line so nub placement is sensible and cleanup is minor, and the plastic on this release felt a touch softer and more forgiving of stress marks than earlier IBO kits. Four runners keep the part count approachable for an evening session, with the foil sticker sheet doing most of the color separation work rather than extra molded parts.

The articulation is solid for the frame, dynamic poses come easily and the kit balances on its own feet without a stand, though the side skirts do bump into the arms and limit some wider poses. The loadout is the strongest part of the package: a slim burst saber for stabbing and slashing, twin handguns that store neatly on the hips, and the standout Hunter's Edge blades hidden in each foot, which unfold to turn a stomp into an actual weapon. That last touch alone makes the accessory set feel more purposeful than a generic sword-and-gun bundle.

Lore & trivia

01Vidar is a rebuild of Gaelio Bauduin's badly damaged Gundam Kimaris Trooper, secretly recovered and overhauled by Gjallarhorn's Arianrhod fleet.
02Unlike most Gundam Frame units in Iron-Blooded Orphans named after demons from the Ars Goetia, Vidar is named for the Norse god of vengeance, fitting Gaelio's arc after his fight with McGillis Fareed.
03The Hunter's Edge foot blades are split into a toe blade and a heel blade per foot, and the kit lets the front blade sit safely for standing display while the rear blade needs an action base to pose without tipping.
04The side skirt armor doubles in-universe as spare storage for the Burst Saber's detachable blade, which can also be used as a small explosive charge.