HGGundam Build Fighters Try: Honoo

HJ Build Weapon Caledbwlch Feder

A magazine freebie that turns into the sharpest looking accessory drawer in your Gunpla box.

MechaGrade Score

3.2/5

HJ Build Weapon Caledbwlch Feder · 1/144 · 2016

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2016

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This one is a weapon add-on, not a mobile suit, and I judge it as exactly that.

It was bundled into the January 2017 issue of Hobby Japan for about 972 yen and gives you the Caledbwlch Feder blade, its feather motif hilt work, and a V-fin, all sized to plug straight into any standard HG 1/144 kit's hands. On its own terms it is a clever, cheap little kit. As a standalone review subject it is inherently limited because there is no body to build around it.

Best for: Wing Zero Honoo fans and Build Fighters completionists who already own a base HG and want the Feder loadout without hunting a whole new suit

The full review

What it is

What you actually get here is a compact runner of feather-styled blade weapons and a V-fin, built to slot onto the Wing Gundam Zero Honoo family from Gundam Build Fighters Try: Honoo. I like that Bandai did not just print a sticker sheet and call it a day. The Feder blade has real shaping to it, the feather edge detail on the sword is molded rather than stamped on, and the V-fin swap gives a Wing Zero kit a genuinely different silhouette. Snapping it onto a base kit's stock hand felt like getting a free upgrade kit rather than a paper insert, and that is exactly the appeal of these Hobby Japan exclusives.

The catch

The obvious catch is that this is not a self-contained kit. You need a donor HG 1/144, almost certainly a Wing Gundam Zero Honoo variant, for the Feder parts to mean anything, and reviewers online are upfront that documentation on exact part count and runner layout is thin because Bandai treated this as a magazine bonus, not a retail release. Original availability was tied to that single 2016 print run, so tracking one down now means secondary market pricing well above the original 972 yen. There is also no frame, no articulation of its own, and nothing here to display without a base suit underneath it.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already have a Wing Zero Honoo (or any HG with standard grip hands) on your shelf and want the Feder weapon loadout without buying a second full kit, or if you collect Gundam Build Fighters Try: Honoo ephemera and want the magazine exclusive for its own sake. Skip it if you are looking for a first kit, a display centerpiece, or anything with its own frame and pose range, because there simply is not one here. This is a value-add for an existing collection, not a kit to build a review or a shelf around.

The build story

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

The build itself is short, this is a small parts runner rather than a full assembly project, but the parts that are there clip and fit cleanly onto standard HG polycaps with no looseness reported. Gate placement on the blade edges is tidy enough that visible seam lines stay off the feather detailing, which is the one area you would actually notice a bad nub scar.

Where this earns its keep is color separation on the Feder blade itself, the feather motif reads clearly in molded plastic with no paint needed, and the V-fin is a genuinely different piece rather than a recolor. For 972 yen as a magazine bonus, getting a shaped weapon and a head part swap with this much detail is a strong value trade, it just is not a value trade that means anything without a base kit to attach it to.

Lore & trivia

01The set was bundled exclusively into the January 2017 issue of Hobby Japan magazine, released in November 2016.
02Caledbwlch Feder parts are built to fit the Wing Gundam Zero Honoo line from Gundam Build Fighters Try: Honoo, a manga-side story tied to Gundam Build Fighters Try.
03Feder is German for feather, matching the set's feather-bladed weapon design language.