HGMobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt

Gundam Hajiroboshi 2nd Form

A P-Bandai deep cut that upgrades the frame and the drama in equal measure.

MechaGrade Score

3.8/5

Gundam Hajiroboshi 2nd Form · 1/144 · 2023

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2023

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a genuinely good HG hiding behind an obscure name.

If you know Iron-Blooded Orphans, you already trust the Gundam Frame formula, and the 2nd Form cashes that trust in with a reworked torso, bigger rear binders, and a mace that actually feels like an upgrade instead of a reissue with new stickers. It is not going to out-articulate a modern HG Barbatos, but it does not need to. It just needs to look mean standing next to one, and it does.

Best for: IBO fans who already have a Gundam Frame kit or two and want the Urdr-Hunt side story represented on the shelf

The full review

What it is

The Hajiroboshi 2nd Form is Bandai's plastic take on the mobile suit at the center of Urdr-Hunt, the IBO side story about a Gundam Frame unit found sleeping in the Radonitsa penal colony. The kit reworks the torso, shoulders, and waist backpack from the 1st Form release, and hands the suit a new melee weapon, the Cross Mace, that gives it a completely different silhouette in hand than the usual IBO sword-and-rifle loadout. Building it feels like building a familiar Gundam Frame skeleton wearing a new coat. The chest color separation in particular is handled through actual part breakdown rather than a flat paint job, and it shows the moment the torso goes together.

The catch

It is a P-Bandai exclusive, which means the usual headaches: you are buying secondhand or paying import markup, and it will not be sitting on a Gundam Base shelf next to the mainline releases. The color separation on the chest is good but the kit still leans on stickers for some of the finer color correction, the same complaint builders had with Marchosias before it. The enlarged rear binders and thruster unit add bulk and a bit of back-heaviness, so the stand becomes less optional than you would like for dynamic mace poses.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already like the Gundam Frame line and want the Urdr-Hunt story represented, or if the Cross Mace silhouette is what pulled you in. It rewards people who enjoy the small differences between frame variants more than people looking for a first kit. Skip it if P-Bandai hunting is not something you want to deal with, or if you want a suit with wide mainstream support for customs and aftermarket parts, since this one stays a niche pull compared to Barbatos or Gusion.

The build story

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

The build follows the familiar Gundam Frame HG rhythm: manageable part count, clean gate placement, and joints that snap together with the light satisfying click that line is known for. The new torso and shoulder pieces are the highlight of the runners, with enough part breakdown on the chest that you get real molded color instead of a painted block. The waist backpack is the fussiest section simply because of how much is packed into it, individual fin pieces that all need seating correctly before the whole thruster unit clicks into the frame.

Once assembled, the articulation holds up to the Gundam Frame standard: wide shoulder and hip range, a torso that twists further than it looks like it should, and knees that bend past ninety without popping the leg armor loose. The Cross Mace is the star accessory, a completely different weapon profile from the usual IBO rifle-and-blade kit, and the multi-axis thruster fins on the rear binders deploy individually for a proper burst-mode display pose. For the price point, the part count and the weapon swap feel like a real upgrade over the 1st Form rather than a reissue with a new coat of stickers.

Lore & trivia

01Gundam Hajiroboshi is a Gundam Frame unit discovered in storage in the administration sector of the Radonitsa penal colony, a place life describes as harsh and populated by descendants of criminals and political exiles from the Post Disaster era.
02Its name means 'Venus' in an old language, and it does not appear on the official list of the 72 Gundam Frame mobile suits built during the Calamity War, meaning in-universe nobody is sure why it exists or who built it.
03The suit is piloted by Wistario Afam in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt, a side story mobile app release that ran episodes from November 2022 to January 2024 and was later adapted into a theatrical compilation film.
04The 2nd Form's standout weapon, the Cross Mace, replaces the more common sword-and-rifle loadout seen on other Gundam Frame HG kits, giving it a distinct melee-first identity on the shelf.