HGBuild Fighters

BN-876β Hot Scramble Gundam

The Scramble Gundam grows a pair of fin funnels and finally has something to say for itself.

MechaGrade Score

3.5/5

BN-876β Hot Scramble Gundam · 1/144 · 2021

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2021

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the Scramble Gundam done right, and it fixes the one real complaint people had with the original kit.

The base Scramble was gorgeous to look at and dull to fight with, no offense to speak of beyond a beam rifle. Bolt on Meijin Kawaguchi's fin funnel rig borrowed from the nu Gundam and suddenly the kit has a reason to exist beyond being a shiny display piece. It is still a Build Fighters HG at heart, meaning color and gimmick over frame sophistication, but the gimmick here actually lands.

Best for: Build Fighters fans and nu Gundam funnel enthusiasts who want a smaller, faster take on the fin funnel idea

The full review

What it is

The Hot Scramble Gundam takes the existing 1/144 Scramble Gundam mold, the translucent-blue, orange, and white speedster designed by Yajima Trading to stress-test Plavsky particle systems, and grafts on a set of six fin funnels lifted conceptually from the RX-93 nu Gundam. Four of them clip around the beam rifle barrel to turn it into a heavier funnel-rifle, and the full set stows on the back when not deployed, generating a pair of energy-wing panels for the flight mode the base kit already had. I like that this is a genuine functional upgrade rather than a recolor. The frame underneath is the same clean, transformable Build Fighters HG chassis, and building it feels like finishing the toy the original kit was always trying to be.

The catch

It is still an HG on the Build Fighters engineering tier, so do not expect MG-level frame complexity or crisp panel lining out of the box. Reviewers of the base Scramble kit flagged nub placement landing right in the middle of visible panels rather than tucked into seams, which is a real cleanup chore on the translucent blue parts where scars show. The stock orange also runs noticeably darker than the anime art, and the legs are a mostly flat expanse of white plastic that begs for panel lines or paint if you want it to pop. The fin funnel arms are small and light, so they are prone to drooping out of aggressive poses over time, a known weakness of small-scale funnel gimmicks in general.

Who it's for

Grab this if you already like the Build Fighters aesthetic or the nu Gundam's funnel concept and want it in a compact, less expensive HG footprint. It rewards people willing to do light seam work and maybe a paint pass on the orange and the legs. Skip it if you want out-of-box color accuracy with zero cleanup, or if funnels without an inner frame to back them up feels like a gimmick rather than a feature to you. As a display piece with the wings and funnels deployed it earns its shelf space, and as a snap kit straight from the runners it is merely fine.

What works

Fin funnel add-on gives the Scramble Gundam a genuine offensive gimmick the original sorely lacked
Translucent blue and clear pink parts photograph beautifully with the flight-mode wings extended
Same transformable HG chassis as the base Scramble kit, so the flight mode conversion is a real feature, not a sticker swap

Worth knowing

Nub placement sits in the middle of visible panels on the shared Scramble mold, making cleanup on the clear blue parts more visible than it should be
Stock orange plastic runs darker than the character art and the legs are a large flat white surface that needs paint or panel lining to look finished
Small, light fin funnel arms can droop out of dynamic poses over time

Sold? Grab it.

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The build story

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

This shares its core runners with the 2016 HGBF Scramble Gundam, so the build experience is familiar Build Fighters HG fare: snap-fit assembly, translucent parts that show every tool mark, and a handful of nub locations placed for molding convenience rather than for hiding the scar. Budget extra time for cleanup on the clear blue shoulder and skirt pieces specifically, since translucent plastic makes gate marks harder to disguise than opaque colors would.

The standout addition is the fin funnel array. Four funnels clip onto the beam rifle to form a heavier funnel-rifle, and the full set of six stows along the back, deploying into a pair of energy-wing style panels that echo the flight mode the base Scramble Gundam already supported. Articulation follows the transformable HG playbook, workable hip and shoulder range built around the flight-mode joints, plus the usual head vulcans and beam saber storage on the skirt armor. Between the multi-part color separation on the translucent runners and the funnel gimmick, this earns more part-count value than a plain HG at the same price point.

Lore & trivia

01The Hot Scramble Gundam was built by Meijin Kawaguchi III at the request of Nils Yajima specifically to give the Scramble Gundam's high mobility some actual offensive teeth.
02Its signature weapon attaches four fin funnels around the barrel of a beam rifle modeled after the RX-93 nu Gundam's, turning it into a funnel-boosted rifle rather than a standalone funnel array.
03The kit shares its core mold and translucent-blue color scheme with the 2016 HGBF Scramble Gundam, a kit originally built to test new Plavsky particle systems in the Build Fighters continuity.
04In Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost ON, the Hot Scramble Gundam is piloted by Meijin Kawaguchi III at a 3000 cost with full transformation but no separate form change.