HGGundam Build Fighters Try

SD-237S Star Winning Gundam

A chibi brawler that snaps apart into a real 1/144 fighter, and somehow nails both forms.

MechaGrade Score

3.8/5

Star Winning Gundam · 1/144 · 2015

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2015

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is one of the smartest gimmick kits Bandai has put out under the SD banner, and I mean that as a real compliment.

It gives you a proper SD Gundam Build Fighters Try Winning Gundam AND a legitimate 1/144 Real Mode conversion in one box, and both modes actually stand on their own. It will not out-articulate a real HG, but for what it is asking of you and what it costs, it delivers more play value than kits twice its price.

Best for: Gundam Build Fighters Try fans and anyone who likes a kit with an actual mechanical trick up its sleeve

The full review

What it is

The Star Winning Gundam is Fumina Hoshino's upgraded Gunpla from Build Fighters Try, and this kit's whole pitch is the SD-to-Real Mode swap. You build it chibi first, then break down the head into a Core Fighter, the torso into a Core Booster, and clip the backpack on to form the Mega Core Booster, which then reassembles into a full 1/144 scale humanoid mode. I went in expecting a novelty toy and came out genuinely impressed that both configurations hold together and look intentional rather than like a compromise. The beam machine gun and mega blade round out a surprisingly generous accessory set for the price.

The catch

The transformation gimmick taxes the articulation. Because so much of the frame exists to support parts-swapping rather than pure posing, the Real Mode form has noticeably tighter shoulder and hip movement than a comparable dedicated HG. All the green trim on the body is stickers, not molded plastic, so color separation depends entirely on how carefully you apply them and how they hold up over time. The SD proportions in chibi mode also mean small, fiddly connector parts that are easy to lose or misplace mid-build, especially the transformation joints.

Who it's for

If you are building out the Build Fighters Try roster, or you just want to hand someone a kit that does something a shelf full of standard HGs cannot, this earns its spot. It is also a fun one for builders who like tinkering with gimmicks more than chasing maximum poseability. Skip it if you want a display piece that holds dynamic action poses all day, or if stickers over molded color separation are a dealbreaker for you. As a cheap, playful, mechanically clever kit, it is easy to recommend with those expectations set going in.

The build story

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

The SD portion goes together fast and snap-fit clean, typical of the SD Gundam BB line, no glue and minimal cleanup on gates. Where it gets interesting is the transformation sequence itself: breaking the head into the Core Fighter and the torso into the Core Booster takes a bit of trial and error the first time, but once you understand the joint logic it clicks into place reliably rather than feeling like a forced compromise.

The engineering trick here is genuinely clever, using one part set to serve a chibi SD body, a separate booster/fighter mode, and a full 1/144 humanoid Real Mode without needing a second kit. The beam machine gun and mega blade give it real posing options once assembled, and the part count for the price point punches well above typical budget SD offerings once you factor in the transformation hardware.

Lore & trivia

01Fumina Hoshino built the Star Winning Gundam after her original Winning Gundam, designed purely to support teammates Sekai and Yuuma, lost a solo battle against Lady Kawaguchi and exposed its lack of standalone fighting power.
02Every Gunpla Fumina builds carries the model number '237' as a running signature, a numerical pun that reads as 'Fu-mi-na' in Japanese.
03The kit's core concept, described by its own designer as 'SD plus Real,' is expressed literally through its two selectable scales rather than just a paint or accessory gimmick.
04It released as HGBF #030 in the Gundam Build Fighters Try lineup while sharing shelf space with Bandai's parallel SDBF numbering for the same tooling.