HGAd Stella

MD-0031UL Dilanza Sol

The grunt suit gets promoted, and the kit earns it.

MechaGrade Score

3.8/5

Dilanza Sol · 1/144 · 2023

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2023

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is what a Witch from Mercury HG should be, a mass production suit that stops feeling like a mass production suit the moment you pick it up.

The reused Dilanza body gets a new head, new shoulder shields, and new skirt armor, and that trio of swaps is enough to make it read as its own machine rather than a repaint. It moves better than its lineage suggests and the weapon storage gimmick actually works. I came away liking it more than I expected to for a suit that started life as cannon fodder for Jeturk pilots.

Best for: HG collectors who want a sharp, mobile Jeturk suit and don't mind a suit built around no polycaps

The full review

What it is

The Dilanza Sol is the upgraded, elite pilot version of the standard Dilanza that shows up in The Witch from Mercury, and Bandai built the HG around that idea directly. It shares its core body mold with the base Dilanza kit but ships with all new parts for the head, shoulder shields, and skirt armor, which is exactly enough to change its silhouette without losing the family resemblance. Assembly feels modern for the price point, the parts click together with confidence, and the double sided ball and socket neck plus ball jointed waist give it a looser, more natural stance than I expected out of a suit built on reused tooling. The beam rifle and beam torch both stow behind the shoulder shields when not in use, and that detail sold me on the design more than anything else on the runner.

The catch

The knee joints only bend to about 90 degrees, so deep crouches and dynamic kneeling poses are off the table, which is a real limitation if you like aggressive action shots. It is a polycap free build, which keeps costs down and holds up fine, but it also means the joints are doing double duty as both structure and articulation point, so there is less room to swap in aftermarket joints later if you want to. Because so much of the body is shared with the standard Dilanza, if you already own that kit this one will feel familiar fast, the new head and shoulder shields carry most of the visual weight of the upgrade. Or nub placement on the shield vents follows this line's usual habit of cutting across visible panel lines, so cleanup takes patience if you want a smooth finish.

Who it's for

Grab this one if you're building out the Jeturk faction from The Witch from Mercury and want the suit that actually looks like it belongs to a named pilot rather than a background mob. It is also a solid pick if you liked the standard Dilanza's proportions but wanted something with more personality and a functional weapon storage gimmick. Skip it if deep knee bends and floor level poses matter to your display style, or if you already have the base Dilanza and are only chasing the color scheme, since the shared body means you are paying mostly for the new head and shoulders. For anyone building the wider Ad Stella suit lineup, this one earns its shelf space.

The build story

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

The build moves quickly and the fit is confident throughout, which is typical of the Witch from Mercury HG line. The main body reuses the standard Dilanza tooling, so if you have built that kit the early stages will feel familiar, but the new head and shoulder shield runners are where the kit differentiates itself and they go together cleanly. Nub placement on the shoulder shield vents crosses some visible panel lines, so plan on a little extra cleanup time there if you want a clean finish.

Articulation is the pleasant surprise here. The double sided ball and socket neck lets the head tilt and swivel in ways that give posed shots real character, the waist rotates freely on its own ball joint, and the elbows are double jointed for a wider range than you'd expect from a suit this size. The front, side, and rear skirt armor panels all lift to clear the hips during dynamic poses. The one real ceiling is the knees, which stop around 90 degrees, so ground poses and deep lunges are not really in this kit's vocabulary. The beam rifle and beam torch both detach their effect parts and tuck behind the shoulder shields, which is a small design touch that pays off every time you handle the kit.

Lore & trivia

01The Dilanza Sol is piloted by Vim Jeturk, and its combat debut comes during the attack on Plant Quetta in The Witch from Mercury.
02In a key story turn, Vim Jeturk pilots the Dilanza Sol against the Dilanza Custom of the Kenanji company, only to realize mid battle that he is fighting his own son, Guel Jeturk.
03The kit reuses the core body mold of the standard HG Dilanza but replaces the head, shoulder shields, and skirt armor with new parts to represent the upgraded, elite pilot spec of the suit.
04It released in April 2023 as part of Bandai's HGTWFM (High Grade the Witch from Mercury) line, numbered HGTWFM-21.