HGUniversal Century

RX-93-ν2 Hi-ν Gundam

The nu Gundam's beefier alternate-universe cousin, done cheap and done well.

MechaGrade Score

3.8/5

Nu Gundam · 1/144 · 2009

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2009

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is one of the better values in the whole HGUC catalog if you want a big-name Amuro suit without paying MG or RG money for it.

The panel line work and part separation on the body and shield are genuinely sharp for a 2009 mold, it balances fine on its own two feet even with the tail fin installed, and the price stays firmly in HG territory. The catch is the fin funnel rack, only two of the six funnels actually detach, so the signature gimmick of the design is more suggested than delivered.

Best for: budget-conscious UC fans who want a Hi-nu on the shelf without chasing the RG or MG release

The full review

What it is

The Hi-nu is Amuro's suit from the Beltorchika's Children novel, basically an alternate-timeline nu Gundam with a bulkier torso, a fixed tail fin, and a six-pack of fin funnels riding on its back rack instead of the usual four-funnel bit rig. Building this HGUC version, what struck me first was how confident the sculpt looks for a kit this old and this cheap. The molded color on the body is close enough to the box art that I did not feel pressured to paint anything just to make it look right, and the shield alone has more part breakdown than I expected out of a mid-2000s HG mold.

The catch

The fin funnel rack is the elephant in the room. Bandai only made two of the six funnels removable and posable, the rest are molded in place as static greebling, so if you bought this expecting a full six-funnel firing spread like the anime shows, you are getting a third of that. The elbows and knees also stop around 135 degrees rather than folding all the way, which limits how dramatic your action poses can get. A few reviewers flag the beam rifle and bazooka molded colors as slightly off from the reference art, and as with most HG kits from this era, foil stickers do real work on the face vents and torso accents rather than molded color.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already like UC Gundam and want the Hi-nu specifically, or if you want a big, bazooka-and-shield-toting Amuro suit for cheap without committing to the pricier RG or MG tooling of the same design. It is also a fine pickup for someone newer to the hobby who wants a kit with more visual weight than a standard HG without stepping up in cost. Skip it if the six-funnel firing display is the whole reason you want this suit, the RG or MG versions actually deliver that gimmick in full. For everyone else, it is a strong, low-risk shelf piece.

The build story

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

Assembly is straightforward HGUC-era snap-fit, nothing fiddly here, the gates sit in sensible spots on the shield and torso pieces and cleanup is quick. The polycap joints in the hips and shoulders feel like they will hold up over repeated posing rather than going loose after a few sessions, which matters given how top-heavy this design is with the tail fin and funnel rack riding on the back.

The standout is how much shape the sculpt communicates without paint. The chest vents, shoulder shields, and the distinct Hi-nu head crest all read clearly out of the box, and the shield's layered part breakdown gives it real depth instead of a flat slab look. Articulation is serviceable rather than exceptional, the hips and shoulders swing well, but the capped elbow and knee bend is the one place the engineering shows its age against newer HG tooling.

Lore & trivia

01The Hi-nu Gundam originates from Yoshiyuki Tomino's novel Char's Counterattack: Beltorchika's Children, an alternate take on the film written after an early two-hour draft of the movie script was cut down.
02In that novel the suit is textually still called nu Gundam, the 'Hi-nu' name comes from Yutaka Izubuchi's illustrations for the book, used to distinguish that design from the movie version and to pair thematically with the Nightingale.
03The design swaps the movie nu Gundam's four detachable fin funnel bits for a six-funnel rack mounted on a fixed tail fin, a visual signature this HG kit only partially replicates since just two of the six funnels detach.