HGBuild Fighters

KMK-B01 Kamiki Burning Gundam

Sekai's own take on the Burning Gundam legend, chunkier, redder, and more fun to pose than it has any right to be at this price.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

Kamiki Burning Gundam · 1/144 · 2015

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2015

Runnersn/a

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

This is the best-dressed member of the Burning Gundam family and I mean that as a real compliment.

It takes the Build Burning frame Sei handed down and adds real bulk, forearm guards, a bigger skirt, calf armor, so it reads as its own suit rather than a recolor. The molded plastic covers almost every color you need, and the flame effect parts are the best of the three Burning kits. It is not a technical showpiece, it is a personality piece, and it nails that job.

Best for: HG collectors who want the most dramatic-looking Burning Gundam variant and do not mind a few loose joints for the price

The full review

What it is

I went in expecting a straight repaint of Build Burning Gundam and came out with something that actually feels like Sekai's kit, not a hand-me-down. The Okawara-style bulk is the story here: bigger shoulders, forearm guards, a deeper red, and a chest that reads God Gundam without copying it outright. Assembly took under an hour and there is nothing tricky in the whole build, snap the limbs together, clip on the skirt armor, and you are posing it inside your first evening. The martial arts hands sold me on the whole concept before I even got to the flame parts.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the joints. The torso to waist connection and the shoulder joints both run loose out of the box, so big dynamic poses need a steady hand or a drop of glue or nail polish on the peg if you want it to hold. The neck runs on a plain polycap that some builders tighten the same way. Foil stickers cover a lot of the fine black trim (feet, shoulder accents) rather than molded color, so cutting and applying them carefully matters more than usual, and the sword's details lean on stickers too, where a paint marker gives a cleaner line.

Who it's for

Grab this one if you already like the Burning Gundam silhouette and want the version with the most presence on the shelf, or if you are building the God Gundam family of HGBF kits and want this as the visual centerpiece. It is also a fine second or third HG for someone who has done a couple of easier builds and wants their first taste of effect-part posing without jumping into MG territory. Skip it if tight, click-solid joints matter more to you than character, the Try Burning or Build Burning versions run a touch tighter for less flash.

The build story

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

The build itself is quick and beginner-friendly, snap-fit limbs, straightforward skirt armor, and no fiddly polycap wrangling beyond the neck joint. Where it slows down is sticker application, the foil sheet covers the black God Gundam-style accents on the feet and shoulders, and getting those placed straight takes more patience than the actual assembly does. A handful of builders swap a gundam marker in for the sword details instead of relying on the included stickers.

Where the kit earns its keep is the effect parts and accessories. You get the signature flame set (finally shaped closer to God Gundam's actual fire effect rather than a generic burst), a hip-mounted sword, and three separate hand sets so you can go from open palm to fist to the flat martial-arts strike without swapping wrists blind. Articulation is generous for an HG, the elbows and knees bend deep enough to hold a fighting stance, though the loose torso and shoulder pegs mean you will want a light touch or a dab of adhesive if you plan to keep it in an aggressive pose long-term.

Lore & trivia

01The Kamiki Burning Gundam is Sekai Kamiki's own Gunpla in Gundam Build Fighters Try, built with Shia's help and first shown battling the Leopard da Vinci in episode 25.
02It is the third entry in the Burning Gundam design lineage after Build Burning Gundam (Sei Iori's kit, built to fight in Reiji's style) and Try Burning Gundam, each sharing core joints but wearing different armor.
03The kit released in Japan in September 2015 as HGBF number 43, molded in vivid red, white, black, dark blue, clear blue, and clear orange plastic so most of the God Gundam-inspired color scheme needs no paint.