HGGundam Build Fighters

Giant Gatling

A cheap plastic weapon rack that turns any 1/144 or 1/100 kit into a walking artillery piece.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Giant Gatling · 1/144 · 2015

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2015

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This one is not a mobile suit, it is HGBC number 23, a modular gatling gun option parts set, and once you accept that it is a genuinely satisfying little add-on.

I like that Bandai built real customization into something this cheap: the barrel, ammo drum, and stock are all separate pieces you can swap and reposition into a handful of different gun shapes. It will not hold your attention the way a full figure does, but as a ten dollar accessory that plays nice with almost anything on your shelf, it earns its keep.

Best for: builders who already have HG or MG kits on the shelf and want a big, poseable support weapon to hand them without buying another full kit

The full review

What it is

The Giant Gatling is part of Bandai's HG Build Custom option parts line, released alongside the Gundam Build Fighters anime as a support weapon rather than a mobile suit. Two runners, one manual, no stickers, no paint required. You get a gatling gun body with a rotating barrel assembly, a large ammo drum, a stock, and a set of grip adapters sized for both 1/144 and 1/100 scale hands, plus a little tripod so it can stand on its own instead of always being held. Snapping it together takes maybe fifteen minutes and the reward is a genuinely big, chunky weapon that looks like it means business next to a Gundam.

The catch

It ships in a single flat gray plastic, no color separation and no decals, so straight out of the box it reads as a plain prop rather than a finished piece. Reviewers at the time flagged that it is oversized for a lot of 1/144 figures, it looks right in the hands of bulkier suits but can dwarf slimmer HG builds. There is also no articulation in the usual sense since this is not a figure, the barrel rotates and the modules reconfigure, but you are not posing joints here. If you were expecting a mobile suit kit you will be disappointed, this is strictly an accessory.

Who it's for

If you build a lot of HG and MG kits and want a big shared weapon to rotate between them, or you are building a custom Build Fighters style loadout, this is a fun and inexpensive way to do it. Skip it if you want a display piece that looks good on its own, the flat gray plastic needs paint to really pop, and skip it if your collection is all smaller or slimmer suits where the gun will look comically oversized. For everyone else building bulkier frames like Gundam or Zaku variants, it is a cheap way to add real presence to a pose.

The build story

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

This is a fast, simple snap together build, no cement or paint needed, and Bandai kept the part count low across the two runners. Fit between the modular sections is snug enough that the gun holds its shape when reconfigured, and the grip adapters click firmly into both 1/144 and 1/100 sized hands without wobble.

The clever part is the modularity itself: the ammo drum, barrel shroud, and stock can be rearranged into a few distinct gatling gun silhouettes rather than locking you into one design. For a roughly ten dollar accessory that is real design effort, and the bundled tripod is a nice touch for photographing it without a suit holding it up.

Lore & trivia

01The Giant Gatling is catalogued as HGBC number 23 in Bandai's HG Build Custom option parts line, tied to the Gundam Build Fighters anime rather than being its own mobile suit.
02It shipped in June 2015 at a retail price around 520 yen in Japan, translating to roughly 8 to 11 US dollars at import retailers.
03The set includes grip parts sized for both 1/144 and 1/100 scale kits, making it one of the few HGBC accessories built to cross scale lines out of the box.