HGMobile Suit Victory Gundam (Universal Century)

LM312V04+SD-VB03A V-Dash Gundam

A quiet, competent HG that turns one Victory Gundam box into three different mobile suits.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

+SD-VB03A V-Dash Gundam · 1/144 · 2015

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2015

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a sleeper pick in the HGUC Victory Gundam run, and I mean that as a compliment.

It does not try to dazzle you with gimmicks, it just gives you a well-proportioned V2-era Gundam with the Overhang Cannons on its back and lets you build it as V-Dash, plain Victory, or the Core Booster on its own. I came away impressed with how much mileage Bandai got out of one modest parts count.

Best for: UC completionists and Victory Gundam fans who want the V-Dash silhouette without hunting down the pricier MG Ver.Ka

The full review

What it is

The V-Dash Gundam is the Victory Gundam with the Over Hang Cannon pack strapped to its back, giving Uso Ewin's mobile suit extra firepower and range in the show. This HG lets you build that configuration, or leave the cannon pack off and build a plain Victory Gundam, or split the torso down into the Core Fighter and attach it to the included Core Booster wings for a third look entirely. Gate placement is clean and the runners snap together with none of the wrestling that some 2015-era HG kits still had. I liked that the head swap between the standard head and the V Gundam Hexa head was simple and didn't feel like an afterthought bolted onto the sprue layout.

The catch

The core booster parts have no molded color for a chunk of the panels and no stickers are provided for them, so if you want the booster to look finished rather than all white plastic you are picking up a paint marker or panel liner yourself. The head can bow down almost comically far but barely tilts up, which is a small but noticeable asymmetry in the neck joint. It is also a kit built around its gimmick, if you never plan to build the Core Booster or swap configurations you are paying for parts you will never use.

Who it's for

Grab this if you are working through the Victory Gundam HGUC lineup or you want a display shelf that tells the Core Fighter to Core Booster to V-Dash story without buying three kits. It is also a fair entry point if you like transforming or combining gimmicks and want one that actually works cleanly in plastic rather than fighting you. Skip it if you only want a straight, no-fuss Victory Gundam display piece and don't care about the Core Booster angle, in that case the plain HGUC Victory Gundam covers the same base robot for less.

The build story

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

The kit spreads across seven part runners, one effect runner, one polycap runner, and a small sticker sheet, which is a modest count for a 2015 HG but every runner earns its place because of the multiple build options. Assembly is straightforward, nothing here fights you the way some contemporary HG kits did, and swapping between the V Gundam head and the standard head is a genuine snap-together choice rather than a compromise.

Articulation holds up well for the grade. The waist rotates a full 360 degrees using the ball joint at the torso, similar in feel to the RX-78-2 Revive kit, and both elbows and knees are double jointed for decent bend. The beam smart gun, beam rifle, and beam sabers round out a fair loadout for the price band, and being able to mount the Overhang Cannons on the back or leave them off for a clean Victory Gundam silhouette is the real value here.

Lore & trivia

01The V-Dash Gundam is the Victory Gundam fitted with the Over Hang Cannon booster pack, piloted by Uso Ewin in Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, giving it extra mobility, range, and firepower over the base unit.
02The Victory Gundam's Core Fighter can also dock with the Core Booster on its own, without the rest of the Victory Gundam body, forming a separate stand-alone fighter configuration.
03This kit was the HGUC follow-up after Bandai released the standard Victory Gundam and V2 Gundam in the same line, filling out the V-series roster piece by piece.
04The larger MG version of this suit, the MG V-Dash Gundam Ver.Ka, ships with four Core Fighters (two V-heads, two Hexa heads) so builders can also recreate the separate Top Fighter and Bottom Fighter forms.