HGPost Disaster

EB-06rs Carta's Graze Ritter

A Graze in dress uniform, and the frame underneath still does all the work.

MechaGrade Score

3.8/5

Carta's Graze Ritter · 1/144 · 2016

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2016

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the same excellent Graze frame that made the base HGIBO Grazes such a sleeper hit, dressed up in Carta Issue's blue and red command colors.

I like it a lot for what it is: a strong, poseable 1/144 kit with real presence, held back only by being a slightly pricier reskin of a mold you may already own. If you like the Iron-Blooded Orphans aesthetic and haven't built a Graze yet, start here.

Best for: IBO fans who want Carta Issue's commander unit specifically, or anyone who hasn't built the Graze frame yet and wants the fancier paint job

The full review

What it is

The Graze Ritter takes the standard Graze, the workhorse mobile suit of Iron-Blooded Orphans, and reskins it as a commander-grade unit for Carta Issue, the Gjallarhorn admiral who leads the Earth fleet in season one. The molded blue and red plastic covers most of the color work on its own, so a straight build already reads as a finished paint job from a few feet away. What struck me building it is how much the frame moves. The double-jointed knees and swiveling thigh mounts let it get into genuine fighting stances, not just the stiff A-pose a lot of 2016-era HG kits settled for. It comes with a knight sword, a battle axe, and a rifle, which is a generous loadout for the price band.

The catch

The commander paint job and extra shoulder crest parts push this above the price of a plain Graze, and if you already own one of the other Graze variants you are paying again for a frame you have built before. The sword is the weak point builders flag most: it is thin where it meets the hilt and some report it flexing or feeling fragile in the hand, which is easy to fix with a bit of care or paint but worth knowing going in. Sticker use is limited but present on a few small accent details, and the flat armor panels reward a panel-lining pass since Bandai leaned on molded color instead of engraved detail in a couple of spots.

Who it's for

If you are building an Iron-Blooded Orphans display and want Carta Issue's own machine, or you just like the blue-and-red Gjallarhorn command look more than the grunt-green Graze, this is worth the extra cost. If you already have a standard Graze on the shelf and are only chasing variety, I would look at a different Graze variant, or a different suit line entirely, before doubling up on the same frame in a new coat of plastic. New builders will have a good, confidence-building time with this one; the snap-fit design and forgiving joints make it beginner-friendly despite the fancier trim.

The build story

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

The build itself is straightforward snap-fit, no glue needed, and gates are placed in reasonable spots that keep visible seams to a minimum on the armor pieces. Beginners should have no trouble with this one; the parts count is modest and nothing here fights you the way some MG kits can.

Where it earns its reputation is the frame underneath. The Graze chassis carries genuine double-jointed knees, articulated hip and thigh swivels, and enough chest movement to get real dynamic poses rather than the flat stances a lot of same-era HG kits were stuck with. Add the sword, axe, and rifle, and you have a commander-type kit that both poses well and comes loaded out for display.

Lore & trivia

01Carta Issue is the commander of Gjallarhorn's Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet and a season one antagonist in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans.
02The Graze Ritter is a customized command variant of the standard Graze, redesigned as a Gjallarhorn peacekeeper unit with new shoulder armor and a head crest.
03Carta's personal unit is finished in blue with red accents, distinguishing it from the white-marked Graze Ritters used by the officers under her command.
04The kit was released in March 2016 as HGIBO release number 17, alongside the wider wave of Graze variant kits that followed the original HG Graze.