HGGundam Build Divers Re:RISE

Fake ν Weapons

A ten dollar backpack and rifle that turns any Core Gundam into Alus's hollow copy of the real thing.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Fake ν Weapons · 1/144 · 2020

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I like this kit a lot more than its price tag suggests I should.

It is not a mobile suit, it is a weapons expansion, a backpack with fin funnel look-alikes and a rifle meant to snap onto a Core Gundam or Alus Core Gundam frame, and once I stopped expecting a full kit and started treating it as an accessory pack it clicked. The gimmick of building the backpack in reverse to get a double fin funnel spread is the kind of small design thought that makes a cheap set feel considered rather than phoned in.

Best for: Core Gundam and Build Divers collectors who want a budget way to recreate Alus's fake Nu Gundam funnel array

The full review

What it is

This is a High Grade Build Divers accessory set built around one idea: give you the backpack and rifle that Alus's AI-piloted Core Gundam wears when it copies Amuro's fin funnels, minus the ability to actually use them right. The parts count is small and the whole thing goes together in well under an hour, snap fit with molded color so you are not hunting for a paint booth. I went in thinking of it as filler for a shelf and came out actually enjoying the fifteen minutes it took, mostly because the backpack has a real hinge mechanism instead of just glued-on funnel shapes.

The catch

You need your own Core Gundam or Alus Core Gundam to actually wear this, it is not a standalone figure and the box makes that clear but it is easy to miss if you are scanning fast. Only two of the six funnel units actually fold out, the rest are fixed in place, which flattens the posing potential compared to a real fin funnel kit. It is also genuinely tiny for the price versus a full HG, so judged purely on parts per dollar it is not a great deal, you are paying for the gimmick and the character reference, not bulk.

Who it's for

Grab this if you already own or plan to own a Core Gundam platform and want the specific in-universe joke of Alus's fake funnel array, or if you are a Build Divers completionist working through the enemy Armor unit sets. Skip it if you want a real fin funnel experience, the RG or MG Nu Gundam kits do that properly with full articulation on every funnel. This is a supporting accessory, not a centerpiece, and it is happiest as the third or fourth kit in a Core Gundam display rather than the first thing you buy.

The build story

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

The build itself is short and low friction. Gates are clean, nub marks land in spots the funnel shells cover once assembled, and nothing here demands the cleanup discipline a bigger MG would. It is the kind of kit you build in one sitting while watching something else, which fits its role as a side accessory rather than a main event.

The standout is the backpack's reverse assembly trick, flip the internal frame and you get a double fin funnel look instead of the show-accurate single array, a nice bit of design thinking for such a small set. The rifle is simple but reads well next to the funnels. Articulation is really about how the backpack hinges against whatever Core Gundam frame you mount it to, since the set has no joints of its own beyond the two folding funnels.

Lore & trivia

01The Fake ν Gundam is Alus's Core Gundam styled as an armor copy of Amuro Ray's RX-93 ν Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, funnels and all.
02In the Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE story, Alus pilots the suit himself and cannot use the fin funnels with real tactical flexibility, since as an AI he lacks the spatial improvisation a Newtype pilot like Amuro brings to funnel control.
03The set released in Japan in June 2020 as HGBD:R kit number 030 and is designed to attach to the separately sold Core Gundam or Alus Core Gundam base kits rather than stand alone.