HGAd Stella

CEK-043LGK／CEK-043LBR Beguir-Beu Torche

A land warfare grunt suit that trades pretty articulation for genuinely weird silhouette appeal.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

／CEK-043LBR Beguir-Beu Torche · 1/144 · 2024

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2024

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a kit you buy for the shape, not the poseability.

The greave-hover legs and the claw-like shin units give the Torche a profile unlike anything else in the Witch from Mercury lineup, and Bandai leaned into that instead of chasing a generic HG action figure. It builds fast, looks properly imposing on the shelf, and the two included head and marking options for Kenanji Squad and Ridrick Squad add real value for one box. Just do not expect it to hold a deep lunge.

Best for: Witch from Mercury completionists and shelf-display builders who want an unusual land-suit silhouette over a highly poseable action figure

The full review

What it is

The Torche is Bandai's land combat spin on the CEK-040 Beguir-Beu from the Vanadis Heart side of the Ad Stella timeline, and this P-Bandai exclusive box gives you both the Kenanji Squad and Ridrick Squad versions in one kit through swappable head and marking parts. I like that Bandai did not just recolor an existing frame. The shin-mounted greave units are a genuine departure, styled as hover claws for one-G ground combat, and they make the suit look like it is built to crush things rather than fence with a beam saber. Assembly moves quickly for an HG, with straightforward limb and torso construction that does not fight you.

The catch

Articulation is the real weak point here. The hip and knee setup is built around that greave hover unit rather than a conventional leg, so deep kneeling poses and wide stances are mostly off the table, and a few builders single out the wrists specifically as tight and awkward to pose with the included weapons. Gate placement on the wrist parts and a handful of other small pieces is rougher than Bandai's current HG average, with nub scars that show unless you clean carefully. There are more marking stickers than I would like, though you can skip most of them and only the head marking really matters for team identity.

Who it's for

Buy this one if you are building out the Ad Stella cast and want a suit that reads as a genuine ground-pounder rather than another beam-saber duelist, or if the two-team-in-one-box value at the HG price point appeals to you. Skip it if articulation and dynamic mid-air poses are your priority, since the greave-leg engineering trades that away for the silhouette. It is a shelf piece first and a play figure second, and it is honest about that trade the moment you start posing it.

The build story

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

The build moves at a normal HG pace with no major fit surprises in the torso or arms, but the wrist parts stand out as the one spot where gate placement is obvious and cleanup takes real care. The greave hover units on the shins are the most involved sub-assembly in the kit and they are worth the extra minutes, since they are the piece that actually makes this suit look different from the rest of the Beguir-Beu family.

Color separation is solid for an HG in this price band, and the head-swap system for Kenanji Squad versus Ridrick Squad is the standout value feature, effectively two display options from one kit. Articulation is the tradeoff: the rear boosters and kinetic pods do get some joint movement, but the legs are not built for a wide dynamic stance, so this suit rewards a grounded, planted pose over an acrobatic one.

Lore & trivia

01The Beguir-Beu Torche is a land combat variant of the CEK-040 Beguir-Beu, adapted by Grassley Defense System for ground use rather than the original's space-focused role.
02Its shin-mounted greave units double as high-mobility hover equipment for one-G environments and can function as crushing claws against enemy mobile suits.
03The kit is a Premium Bandai (P-Bandai) exclusive release from 2024, and it includes selectable parts to build either the Kenanji Squad or Ridrick Squad version of the suit.
04The suit is part of the Vanadis Heart manga branch of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, set within the show's Ad Stella calendar era.