HGBuild Fighters

Jigen Build Knuckles (Round)

Thirty six martial arts fists that turn any HG wrist into a Jigen Haoh punch.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Jigen Build Knuckles (Round) · 1/144 · 2016

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2016

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I like this one a lot more than a spec sheet suggests it should be liked.

It is not a Gunpla, it is a bag of hands, but it is the single cheapest fix for the worst part of most HG kits: the fists. If you have ever looked at a stock HG hand and felt nothing, this kit is the answer.

Best for: HG builders who want expressive punching fists across their whole shelf without buying a new kit for each one

The full review

What it is

This is a support parts release, HGBC line, not a mobile suit at all. You get sculpted hands in the Jigen Haoh martial arts style from Build Fighters Try: fists, open palms, and weapon grips, each in small, medium, and large so they can be matched to whatever 1/144 kit you are posing. I built a set specifically to swap onto an old HG that always looked stiff in combat shots, and the difference was immediate. The knuckle detailing and finger separation read as genuinely expressive in a way stock HG hands never do, and the pivoting wrist joint on each hand adds a pose option most kits do not have out of the box.

The catch

The sizing system asks you to guess before you commit. Small, medium, and large is not calibrated per kit, so I had a couple of hands that were noticeably loose on one wrist post and had to try a different size for a snug fit. Kits with newer PS-only wrist sockets can run tight, and some cleanup or a touch of glue on the ball joint helps there. The plastic comes in a flat dark grey with no molded color separation, so out of the box the hands look like grey blobs until you panel line or paint them, which is a real extra step most buyers skip and then wonder why the hands look flat.

Who it's for

Buy this if you build a lot of HG kits and are tired of stiff, closed fists killing your action poses, or if you specifically want that Jigen Haoh martial arts look for a Build Fighters themed shelf. Skip it if you only own one or two kits and are not chasing pose variety, since the value is in spreading 36 hands across a collection, not in using a handful once. It is also a poor first purchase for anyone who has not built an HG before, since there is nothing here to teach you kit assembly and the fit tuning assumes you already know your way around a hobby knife.

The build story

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

There is barely a build here in the traditional sense, it is closer to sorting and test fitting than assembling a kit. The parts come off the runner clean with minimal gate marks, but the real work is trying each size against your target kit's wrist post until you find the one that seats without wobbling or cracking. I went through two sizes before landing on the right one for my kit, which is normal for this release rather than a defect.

The standout engineering is the wrist pivot molded into every single hand, which is a small thing that pays off constantly once you start posing. The fist sculpts in particular carry real presence, with clear knuckle and tendon lines that catch light and sell a mid swing pose far better than the smooth stock fists most HG kits ship with. For the price this is one of the highest value-per-dollar accessory kits in the format if you actually build enough HGs to use all 36 hands.

Lore & trivia

01This is an HGBC (High Grade Build Custom) release, part of Bandai's support parts line rather than a standalone mobile suit kit.
02The hand sculpts are modeled after the Jigen Haoh Kenpo School, the fictional martial arts style Sekai Kamiki uses to fight through his Gunpla in Gundam Build Fighters Try.
03The set includes 36 total hands (left and right in small, medium, and large) covering fists, open hands, and weapon grip variants that hold 4mm or 3mm saber grips.
04A companion release, the Jigen Build Knuckles 'Kaku' (Square), came out alongside this 'Round' (Maru) version with a different finger shape for the same purpose.