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EDM-GA-02 Gundam Lfrith Thorn

A gangly, top-heavy brawler that looks strange standing still and fantastic flying.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

Gundam Lfrith Thorn · 1/144 · 2023

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2023

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

The Lfrith Thorn is a genuinely fun small kit that asks you to accept its weird proportions before it rewards you.

I went in skeptical of a Gundam with forearms and thighs that dwarf everything else on its frame, and came out liking it more once I stopped trying to make it stand at attention like a UC suit and started posing it mid-lunge instead. It is not a showpiece on a shelf at rest, but in an active pose with the shoulder-mounted phase array cannon fanned out, it earns its screen presence.

Best for: Witch from Mercury fans and HG builders who want an unconventional silhouette and don't mind an action stand

The full review

What it is

This is the HG rendition of Norea Du Noc's mobile suit from Witch from Mercury, a Dawn of the Fold Gundam built off the same Lfrith pre-production frame as Sophie's Lfrith Ur. The build itself is classic modern HG, snap-fit, no glue, no paint required, and done in an evening. What struck me building it is how much personality Bandai packed into a suit defined by absurd proportions, long forearms, short shanky legs, a huge shoulder-mounted phase array cannon that folds out into a wide dish. Snapping that cannon open the first time is the moment the kit clicks, it transforms the whole read of the suit from odd to genuinely striking.

The catch

The proportions are the whole conversation around this kit and they are not for everyone. Roughly ninety percent forearm and thigh means it looks unbalanced in a plain standing pose, and several reviewers note it was clearly designed with aerial poses in mind rather than ground stances, so a display stand basically becomes mandatory if you want it to look its best. The kit leans on foil stickers for the chest and back-weapon shell effects, and builders who've done it recommend skipping the backpack and gun stickers in favor of paint since they read as too flat and obvious straight off the sprue. At 1,760 yen it is priced like a standard HG, not a premium one, so don't expect MG-level finishing.

Who it's for

Grab this one if you're already invested in Witch from Mercury or the Dawn of the Fold storyline, or if you specifically want an HG with an unusual silhouette instead of another standard humanoid frame. It's also a good pick for anyone who owns an action base and likes posing kits mid-motion rather than parked on a shelf. Skip it if you want a kit that reads well standing still with no support, or if foil stickers are a dealbreaker for you and you're not up for a light paint job on the gun and backpack panels. As a straightforward HGTWFM build with no glue or paint required, it's still an easy recommend for a relaxed evening kit.

The build story

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

This is a straightforward modern HG build, no cement needed, snips and a hobby knife for gate cleanup are enough. Part fit across the frame is tight and consistent with other WFM-era kits, nothing rattled loose once I had it together, and the runners are laid out sensibly so you're not hunting for tiny pieces buried in sprue clutter.

Where this kit earns its keep is engineering around that odd silhouette. The double ball-socket neck, swinging shoulder mounts, and deep knee and elbow bend all work together so the suit can actually hit the dramatic lunging and diving poses its proportions suggest. The included beam diffuse gun with its secondary grip, twin beam sabers, and shield give you a real loadout for an HG price, and the phase array cannon opening on the back is the single best transformation moment in the kit.

Lore & trivia

01The Lfrith Thorn is piloted by Norea Du Noc and fights alongside Sophie Pulone's Lfrith Ur as part of the anti-Spacian group Dawn of the Fold in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.
02It is a heavily modified derivative of the XGF-01 Gundam Lfrith pre-production model, sharing its frame lineage with the Lfrith Ur.
03Its long-arm, short-leg proportions are an in-universe design choice meant to give the suit a stable center of gravity for intense close combat.
04The suit's Beam Diffuse Gun is built for wide-area suppressive fire and includes a secondary handle so the Thorn can brace it with both hands.