HGBuild Fighters

GSX-40100 Lunagazer Gundam

Two beloved kits fused into one, and somehow it works better than either alone.

MechaGrade Score

3.8/5

Lunagazer Gundam · 1/144 · 2017

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is one of the sneakiest good value kits in the HGBF line, and I mean that as a compliment.

Bandai took the light movable frame engineering from the Hyaku Shiki Revive and grafted on the Voiture Lumiere binders from the Stargazer Gundam, and the result is a kit that moves better and looks more interesting than either donor suit did alone. It is not a flashy standout on the shelf, but every time I pick it up to pose it I remember why I like this hobby.

Best for: Hyaku Shiki and Stargazer fans who want both design languages fused into one HG without buying two kits

The full review

What it is

The Lunagazer is Lady Kawaguchi's build from Gundam Build Fighters Amazing Ready, and it is built on the Hyaku Shiki's inner frame with the Stargazer's wing binders bolted onto the back. That parentage means you get the Hyaku Shiki's clean proportions and swivel-happy head, plus a pair of big folding binders that open, rotate, and swing side to side independently. Molded color separation is genuinely strong for the price band, with almost no visible seams on the limbs, and the milky white plastic reads better in hand than in photos. Snapping the binders into their deployed pose the first time is a small joy every time.

The catch

The stickers are the real friction point. The holographic Voiture Lumiere sensor stickers look sharp when they land flat, but they do not want to wrap around the curved corners of the binders and sensor lenses cleanly, so expect some fussing and maybe a silvered edge or two if your hands are not patient. The white plastic is milky rather than pure white, which some builders like less under bright light. Runners are a mashup of reused Hyaku Shiki Revive tooling and new Lunagazer-specific parts, so panel lines and detail density are not perfectly uniform across the kit.

Who it's for

Grab this one if you already like the Hyaku Shiki's silhouette or the Stargazer's binder gimmick and want to see them combined, or if you just want an HG with more articulation and gimmick than the price tag suggests. Skip it if sticker application frustrates you more than it satisfies you, since this kit leans on stickers for its signature glowing-sensor look. It is also a fun pickup for anyone building a Build Fighters AR shelf alongside the source kits, since the family resemblance is obvious and rewarding once it is standing next to its parents.

The build story

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

The build itself goes together cleanly. Parts fit is tight without being a fight, gates are placed where you would expect on an HG from this era, and I did not run into the sink marks or visible nub scars that plague some budget kits. The trickiest part of the whole build is not the plastic, it is the stickers, particularly the holographic ones meant to sit on the binder sensors and the Voiture Lumiere emitters. Take your time with those or the effect falls apart on close inspection.

Where this kit earns its keep is the frame it borrows. The Hyaku Shiki Revive's light movable frame gives the Lunagazer a head, waist, and hip range that punches above typical HG expectations, and the binders on the back are not static decoration, they rotate at the base, swing outward, and fold flat independently of each other so you can build genuinely different silhouettes. Accessories include the beam rifle, a pair of closed fists, and the connecting adapter that ties the Stargazer backpack unit to the Hyaku Shiki frame, so for the price band you are effectively getting the engineering DNA of two separate kits in one box.

Lore & trivia

01The Lunagazer Gundam is piloted by Lady Kawaguchi in the Gundam Build Fighters Amazing Ready manga, a spinoff of the original Build Fighters series.
02The suit is a fusion build: it combines the MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki's light movable frame with the GSX-401FW Stargazer Gundam's Voiture Lumiere binder system.
03Because it borrows tooling from the Hyaku Shiki Revive kit alongside new Lunagazer-specific runners, the kit is often described by builders as effectively two classic kits merged into one HG release.