HGBuild Divers

PFF-X7II/BUILD DiVERS Re:Rising Gundam

Four kits, one golden finale, and a plastic recipe that fights you the whole way there.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

DiVERS Re:Rising Gundam · 1/144 · 2020

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is less a single kit and more a box of four kits wearing a costume, and once you know that going in, it makes a lot more sense.

You are actually building the Uraven Gundam, the Wodom Pod, the Aegis Knight, and the Ex Valkylander, all recolored into the golden Grand Cross scheme, then combining them into the Re:Rising Gundam's finisher form. It is a genuinely satisfying capstone if you followed the show or built the earlier releases, but the gold plastic is a real liability and this is not a first-kit recommendation.

Best for: Build Divers Re:RISE fans finishing the story who already know how to handle brittle gold runners with care

The full review

What it is

What you get in the box is the Re:Rising Gundam's finisher form built from four separate HG and SD kits, Uraven Gundam, Wodom Pod, Gundam Aegis Knight, and Ex Valkylander, all molded in the dazzling gold that the show uses for the Grand Cross Cannon sequence. Snapping each unit together and then locking them into the combined form is a fun bit of engineering theater, the kind of thing that only makes sense once you have seen the anime moment it is recreating. Assembly is basically four smaller builds stacked into one afternoon, and the payoff when the combined mega form clicks together is a real high point if you have been following the series.

The catch

The plastic is the problem. This kit runs roughly 95 percent gold coloring, and gold Gunpla plastic has a well known reputation for being more brittle and prone to stress marks than standard runners, and builders here report exactly that, including a cracked missile launcher on the Wodom Pod and a snapped skirt plate from ordinary handling. At an MSRP around 7,500 yen and typically $85 to $90 street price in the US, you are also paying a premium for a recolor of kits that mostly already existed in other releases, so the actual new engineering you get for the money is limited.

Who it's for

If you built the individual Build Divers Re:RISE kits along the way and want the golden finisher version to close out the shelf, this delivers exactly that payoff and is worth the price for the completeness alone. If you are new to Gunpla or have never dealt with gold plastic's brittleness before, go in slow, clip gates generously, and do not force any of the four sub-units into their locking points. Skip this one if you just want a striking standalone Gundam with no context, since a huge part of the appeal here is knowing what you are looking at.

The build story

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

Treat this as four small builds in sequence rather than one big one. Each of the four units, Uraven Gundam, Wodom Pod, Aegis Knight, and Ex Valkylander, goes together with the usual HG snap-fit ease, but the gate cuts need extra patience because the gold runners mark and stress-crack more easily than the usual white or blue plastic. Go slow on anything with a thin stalk or small connector point, the missile launcher and skirt armor are the spots builders flagged as fragile.

The reward is in the combination step. Locking all four units into the Re:Rising Gundam's finisher form is where the kit earns its keep, and the foil stickers included in the set do a nice job selling the gold, energized look from the show without needing any paint. It comes with a dedicated display stand built for the combined pose, which matters given how much bulkier the final form is than any single HG unit on its own.

Lore & trivia

01The Re:Rising Gundam is the combination form used by the four core Build Divers, formed from the PFF-X7II Core Gundam II with the JMA0530-MAYBD Wodom Pod Plus and parts pulled from the Ex Valkylander and GAT-X303K Gundam Aegis Knight.
02Its signature attack is the Grand Cross Cannon, a finisher that turns the mobile suit's body a dazzling gold as it releases the combined firepower of all four units.
03This kit released in September 2020 as a special color reissue box set, and it packages recolored versions of four earlier HGBD:R and SDBD:R releases rather than introducing an entirely new sculpt.
04Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE is set within the in-universe Gunpla Battle Nexus Online platform, the same fictional simulator premise used by the earlier Gundam Build Divers series.