HGUniversal Century

LM314V23/24 Victory Two Assault-Buster Gundam

A great little Gundam buried under too much backpack.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Victory Two Assault-Buster Gundam · 1/144 · 2015

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2015

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I like this kit a lot more than I trust it.

The Victory Two underneath the armor is one of the better small-scale UC frames Bandai had going in 2015, but the moment you strap on both the Assault and Buster backpacks it turns into a balancing act. If you build it as the plain V2, it is a quiet joy. Build it as the full Assault-Buster, and you are managing weight distribution more than you are posing a robot.

Best for: builders who want a three-in-one V2 Gundam and are fine babying the backpack rather than expecting it to hold every pose

The full review

What it is

This is the LM314V23/24 V2 Assault-Buster, an HGUC that gives you three kits in one box: plain Victory Two Gundam, V2 Assault Gundam, and V2 Buster Gundam, all combinable into the full Assault-Buster loadout since none of the extra parts overlap. The base V2 frame is genuinely good, snap-fit with color-separated molding so you are not painting your way to an accurate look, and it holds a clean silhouette even before you touch the add-on armor. Building it in stages, watching the shoulders, hips and shield stack up into that dense UC-late-era design, is a satisfying afternoon. There is real design intent here, not just a reissue with new stickers slapped on.

The catch

The extras are where it wobbles. The sticker sheet is enormous, and the shield in particular leans on stickers rather than molded color for most of its markings, so you will spend real time with a hobby knife and tweezers if you want it looking sharp. The backpack mounted guns for the Buster half do not clip in with much confidence and can pop loose on handling. Fully assembled in Assault-Buster mode, the kit is back heavy enough that it struggles to stand unsupported, and the added shoulder armor eats into the articulation the plain V2 has. The T-shaped connector joining the Mega Beam Cannon and Spray Pod units is a known weak point too, the ball joints run slightly loose in their polycaps.

Who it's for

Get this one if you want the flexibility of building three different V2 configurations from a single box and do not mind some fussing to keep the heavy loadout upright, or if you are content building it as the plain Victory Two and shelving the extra armor as a display option rather than a daily pose. Skip it if you want a kit that holds dynamic action poses straight out of the box with no backpack management, or if you are not willing to cut and place a large sticker sheet carefully. Builders coming from RG kits who want something a size up with more forgiving assembly will still get a good afternoon out of this one.

The build story

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

Assembly on the base V2 frame is straightforward HGUC snap-fit, panel lines are on the fine side so panel-lining takes a steady hand and a thin marker or pen. Gate placement is typical for the line, nothing that fights you on cleanup. The trouble starts when you add the Assault and Buster armor, the connecting pegs and the T-shaped cannon linkage were not built with the extra weight in mind, so things shift and pop during posing rather than during assembly itself.

Where it earns its keep is color separation on the core body, you are not hunting for paint just to get an accurate V2 out of the box. Articulation on the plain frame is good for an HG of this era, once the Assault-Buster armor goes on the shoulders and hips lose range fast. The payoff is the silhouette, once mounted the kit reads as a genuinely imposing late-UC design, and the option to split it back into two lighter, better-posing configurations is a real strength of the engineering even where the fit isn't perfect.

Lore & trivia

01The kit lets you build V2 Assault Gundam, V2 Buster Gundam, or the combined Assault-Buster from the same set of parts since the two armor packages do not overlap.
02The Assault-Buster's forearm-mounted beam shields block both beam and physical projectile attacks, unlike a standard I-field which only stops beam weapons.
03In the Mobile Suit Victory Gundam story, Uso Ewin pilots the V2 Assault-Buster, using its stacked armaments for the series' heaviest firepower moments.
04This HGUC release (kit #189 in the HGUC numbering) came out in May 2015, part of Bandai's push to give the Victory Gundam line modern HG-quality reissues.