HGAfter Colony

OZ-13MSX1B-S Vayeate Suivant & OZ-13MSX2B-S Mercurius Suivant

Two sisters, two beam cannons, one very generous P-Bandai box.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

Vayeate Suivant & OZ-13MSX2B-S Mercurius Suivant · 1/144 · 2023

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2023

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a genuinely fun twin build that punches above its HG weight class on gimmicks, even if the fit and finish keep reminding you it is still an HG.

I built both suits back to back in one sitting because the frames share so much in common, and the beam cannon deploy mechanism on Vayeate Suivant is the kind of thing that makes you grin at the sprue tree before you even glue anything. Mercurius Suivant's expanded Planet Defensor array is the real showpiece here. It just needs a careful hand on a couple of joints.

Best for: Gundam Wing collectors and G-Unit manga fans who want the Armonia sisters' upgraded suits without waiting on an MG

The full review

What it is

This P-Bandai exclusive puts the Armonia sisters, Soris and Luna, on your shelf in their upgraded G-Unit forms, and it does it with all-new molds rather than a recolor of the older HGAC Vayeate and Mercurius. Vayeate Suivant now carries two beam cannons with beam generators that swing and deploy, and Mercurius Suivant's Planet Defensor array jumps from 10 to 20 individual panels on new expansion frames. Building the pair together is efficient since the core frame is nearly identical between them, so once you have cracked one suit's assembly logic the second goes together fast. The new head sculpt on both is a clear step up in shape and color separation over the original release.

The catch

Seams show up in a few spots on both suits, most noticeably around the torso and cannon housings, and there is no getting around it with plain assembly since this is a straight HG snap kit. The shoulder joint holding the beam cannon assembly can work loose and let the weapon droop if you are not gentle when swapping poses, so I stopped fiddling with the arm once I found a stance I liked. The crotch joint is the one part I would flag hardest, it is tight but not forgiving, and forcing a wide leg pose risks popping or cracking it. Being P-Bandai exclusive also means it comes at a premium price and limited windows to actually buy it.

Who it's for

If you already have a soft spot for Gundam Wing's OZ suits or you have been chasing the G-Unit manga designs, this is worth tracking down, the twin-kit value and the deploy gimmicks make it feel like more kit than a standard HG price point usually buys. New builders looking for their first Gunpla should look elsewhere, since the crotch joint fragility and loose shoulder need a light touch that comes easier with a few kits under your belt. If you mainly want a clean stationary display piece, seam work with an X-Acto and some paint on the cannon joints will get you most of the way to a great looking pair.

The build story

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

Gate placement is standard HG fare and cleanup is quick, the shared frame between the two suits means your second build benefits from lessons learned on the first. Fit is snug rather than loose across most joints, which is part of why the crotch area needs a gentle hand rather than force.

The standout engineering is the beam cannon deploy mechanism on Vayeate Suivant, which folds and extends the beam generator smoothly, and the sheer part count Bandai packed into Mercurius Suivant's expanded Planet Defensor frames. Color separation on the new head molds is noticeably better than the original HGAC release, cutting down on what stickers have to cover.

Lore & trivia

01Vayeate Suivant and Mercurius Suivant are piloted by sisters Soris and Luna Armonia, known together as the Armonia Sisters, in the G-Unit manga.
02The kit uses completely new molds rather than reusing the original HGAC Vayeate and Mercurius tooling, and the finished suits stand slightly larger as a result.
03Mercurius Suivant's Planet Defensor count doubles from the original Mercurius kit's 10 panels to 20 on the Suivant version.
04G-Unit, the manga these suits come from, does not feature any of the pilots or Gundams from the Gundam Wing anime, it tells an entirely separate story set in the same After Colony timeline.