HGGundam Build Divers Re:RISE

Fake ν Unit

A ν Gundam costume for your Core Gundam, funnels sold separately and only one of them actually shoots.

MechaGrade Score

3.2/5

Fake ν Unit · 1/144 · 2020

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I like this kit for exactly what it is and not one bit more than that.

It is armor, not a mobile suit, a snap-on shell that turns a Core Gundam or Core Gundam II into Alus's copycat ν Gundam from Re:RISE. On its own in the box it looks like half an idea. Clipped onto a core body with the companion weapons kit and a donor set of arm extensions, it clicks into a genuinely fun little in-universe joke of a build.

Best for: Build Divers collectors who already own a Core Gundam and want the Fake ν gimmick, not first-time builders looking for a standalone kit

The full review

What it is

This is a Planet System armor set, head, chest and shoulder armor, waist skirt, hands, leg extensions, and a display stand, built to snap over a separately sold Core Gundam or Core Gundam II. The whole point is the joke it is telling. Alus, the AI antagonist of Build Divers Re:RISE, reverse engineered Hiroto's ν Gundam and built his own knockoff, and Bandai leaned into that by selling you the knockoff as a knockoff kit. I got a kick out of building something that is canonically supposed to be a cheap imitation. The molded color separation on the armor panels is solid for a parts pack, and the fin funnel binders read as ν Gundam at a glance even though the proportions are its own thing.

The catch

Here is the part that catches people out if they do not read the box closely first. This set does not include arm extensions, so you need a donor kit like Alus Earthree, base Earthree, or Mercuone armor to actually complete the arms. It also does not include weapons, the beam rifle, funnels, and shield are a separate Fake Nu Weapons kit sold on its own. And in a nice bit of lore-accurate cheapness, only one of the fin funnels in that weapons set actually functions as a poseable weapon, the rest are static, mirroring how badly Alus piloted the real thing. Buy this alone expecting a complete ν Gundam and you will be annoyed. Buy it knowing it is a costume piece and it delivers.

Who it's for

This is a kit for people already collecting the Build Divers Core Gundam ecosystem, or ν Gundam completionists who want the joke variant sitting next to their RX-93. Skill level 2, snap fit, no cement or paint needed, so the actual build is quick and easy once you have every piece it depends on. Skip it if you want a single box, single build, fully posable mobile suit experience, this will leave you short an arm and a functioning weapon loadout unless you are already buying into the wider Planet System line. If you get the concept and already own or plan to own a Core Gundam, it is a satisfying, cheap way to expand the collection.

The build story

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

Gate placement on the armor pieces is unremarkable but clean, nubs sit on non-visible surfaces of the shoulder and waist armor so cleanup is fast. Snap fit is snug over the Core body without feeling like it will pop loose in normal posing, and the leg extensions lock in with a reassuring click rather than a loose friction fit.

The real payoff is how well the fin funnel binders and V-fin head sell the ν Gundam silhouette at a glance despite being built over a smaller Build Divers frame. Articulation is whatever the Core Gundam underneath provides, the armor does not restrict the hips or knees much, but shoulder rotation takes a hit once the binder units are mounted. Value only makes sense once you count it as one piece of a multi-kit project rather than judging the box price against a full mobile suit part count.

Lore & trivia

01The Fake ν Gundam belongs to Alus, the AI antagonist of Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE, who reverse engineered the design from studying Hiroto Kuga's Gunpla data rather than piloting a real ν Gundam.
02In the anime, Alus never masters the fin funnels the way a Newtype pilot would, and the companion Fake Nu Weapons kit reflects that in plastic, only one funnel in the set is a posable functioning weapon.
03The kit released in June 2020 as HGBD:R #029, part of the modular Planet System line that lets builders mix and match armor sets over a shared Core Gundam or Core Gundam II body.