HGUniversal Century

RMS-154［W］ Weiss Barzam

The same clever, awkward Barzam frame, just painted white and given a reason to exist.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

［W］ Weiss Barzam · 1/144 · 2017

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I like this kit more than its reputation suggests I should.

The Weiss Barzam is the exact same HGUC Barzam mold recolored into white and dark blue plastic with a clear green mono eye, and that mold happens to hide some genuinely clever engineering under a design most people find weird. If you already like the Barzam's silhouette, this is the same excellent bones in a sharper coat.

Best for: builders who already appreciate the Barzam's odd Titans-mass-production look and want it in a cleaner white paint job without touching an airbrush

The full review

What it is

This is a straight recolor of the 2017 HGUC Barzam, reissued through the Gundam Build Fighters Battlogue banner in molded white and dark blue plastic so the Weiss color scheme comes out of the box with no painting required. The mono eye is a clear green part instead of the usual sticker or paint job, which is a small touch that pays off more than you'd expect once it catches light. Underneath the new colors it is the identical frame Bandai engineered for the original Barzam, no waist skirt, a chest that plugs straight into the legs, and a shoulder and elbow setup built to move. I went in expecting a reskin and came out appreciating the frame all over again.

The catch

The Barzam frame has one real design compromise and one real production flaw, and this kit inherits both. The lack of a conventional waist means the upper and lower body connect through an angled ball joint tucked under the chest, and that joint can feel loose in dynamic poses even though the range of motion it enables is excellent. The bigger issue is gate placement, the nubs on the hips, legs, hand guards, and backpack are reported as thick and awkwardly placed, so cleanup takes real patience if you want a clean build. Because this was a Premium Bandai exclusive tied to Battlogue, it is also not a kit you'll find sitting on a regular shelf, expect to hunt secondary market listings.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already have a soft spot for the Barzam's unconventional Titans look and want the white Weiss variant without breaking out paint, or if you're a Build Fighters completionist chasing the Battlogue exclusives. Skip it if the base Barzam design doesn't appeal to you, the recolor won't change your mind about the silhouette, and skip it too if you're not willing to spend real time with a hobby knife and sanding stick on those nub marks. This isn't a beginner-friendly HG in the gate-cleanup sense, even though the final articulation reward is worth it.

What works

Ball-jointed torso connection and double-jointed elbows give it a genuinely wide pose range for an HG, splits and near 180 degree knee bends included
Molded-color Weiss scheme plus a clear green mono eye part means the signature look comes straight off the runners, no painting needed
Shares parts with the well-regarded Barzam engineering, so you get MG-adjacent cleverness in an HG price and part count

Worth knowing

Nub marks on the hips, legs, hand guards, and backpack are thick and poorly placed, cleanup takes real effort to get invisible
The angled ball joint standing in for a waist can feel loose when you push it into extreme poses
Premium Bandai exclusive from Gundam Build Fighters Battlogue, so it's secondary-market only, not a shelf-stock kit

Sold? Grab it.

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The build story

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

The runners are the same layout as the original HGUC Barzam, just recast in white and dark blue plastic, so if you've built that kit before you already know this one. Assembly itself moves fast for an HG, the part count stays reasonable, but plan on slowing down at the hip, leg, and backpack nubs specifically, those are the spots reviewers flag as needing extra sanding to avoid visible witness marks on the finished kit.

The payoff is in the frame. Ball joints in the shoulders let the arms pull outward and swing well past what the boxy chest shape suggests should be possible, and the double-jointed elbows add a second bend point most HGs skip entirely. The lack of a waist skirt is replaced by that angled torso-to-leg ball joint, which is unusual to look at but genuinely functional in hand. Loadout is a beam rifle, a beam saber with an effect part, and swappable hand pieces, modest but exactly what the design calls for.

Lore & trivia

01The Barzam frame this kit reuses was designed in-universe as the Titans' intended replacement for the aging RMS-179 GM II, built off RX-178 Gundam Mk-II heritage
02Despite its Earth Federation lineage, the Barzam's design was shaped by former Zeon engineers, which is why it wears a Zeon-style mono eye instead of federation twin eyes
03The Weiss Barzam is a custom paint job that first appears in the second episode of Gundam Build Fighters: Battlogue, and this kit was sold as a Premium Bandai exclusive using the original HGUC Barzam's mold recolored in white and dark blue with a clear green mono-eye part