HGMobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

Tickbalang

A flying flatbed for your other kits, and one of the sleeper-fun builds in the whole Witch from Mercury line.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

Tickbalang · 1/144 · 2023

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2023

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I did not expect to enjoy a kit whose entire job is carrying other kits around, but the Tickbalang won me over fast.

It is quick to build, packed with more moving parts than its size has any right to have, and it actually does something once it is finished. This is a support vehicle, not a mobile suit, and once I let go of judging it by mobile suit standards it turned into one of the more purely fun HG builds I have put together this year.

Best for: Witch from Mercury collectors who want a display piece that actively shows off the suits they already built

The full review

What it is

The Tickbalang is Peil Technologies' flight support rig from Witch from Mercury, a flatbed hauler built to ferry mobile suits long distances rather than fight on its own. The kit nails that concept. The footrest slides in and out, the landing gear deploys, and the six thruster nozzles are posable so you can angle the whole thing like it is banking through a turn. At around 13cm long in 1/144 it is a small shelf piece, but it reads as a vehicle the second it is built, not a generic sled. Snapping the sliding cover open to reveal the action base socket is a small touch I did not expect and appreciated anyway.

The catch

This is not a suit, so if you came in expecting the articulation and part count of a normal HG you will be disappointed on both counts. The build is short, closer to a side project than a main event, and there is no way around that since it is a support vehicle by design. It also does very little by itself. Its whole appeal is towing a Zowort or another HG suit on the action base, which means you are buying an accessory piece and need to already own or plan to own the suits it is meant to carry, plus the action base itself, which is sold separately.

Who it's for

Grab this if you are collecting the Witch from Mercury line and want a display piece that turns a shelf of individual suits into an actual scene, suits being ferried into battle instead of standing in a row. It is also a nice change of pace for anyone who wants a fast, low-pressure build between bigger kits. Skip it if you only build one suit at a time and have no interest in dioramas, or if you do not already have (or plan to get) an action base, since without one the Tickbalang loses most of its reason for being.

The build story

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

This is a short session, not an evening project. Parts count is low and the runners are simple, so cleanup is light and there is nothing fiddly about the assembly itself. Snap-together sturdiness is solid throughout, nothing here feels like it will pop loose with handling.

The engineering is all in the gimmicks rather than the frame. The sliding footrest, retractable landing gear, and the cover that pops open to expose the action base peg are the reason to own this kit, and each one clicks satisfyingly into place. Color separation is fine for a support vehicle, mostly molded plastic with a light sticker sheet for panel accents, and the nose-mounted beam cannon is a nice detail even though it is meant to be operated remotely by whatever suit is riding along.

Lore & trivia

01The Tickbalang is named for the tikbalang, a creature from Filipino mythology usually depicted as half-man, half-horse.
02In-universe it was designed by Peil Technologies as a long-range flight support system, able to carry two standard mobile suits at once, one riding on top and one hanging from handles underneath.
03It carries six vectored thrusters for propulsion and a nose-mounted beam cannon that can be fired remotely by a mobile suit it is transporting.
04It is kit number 15 in Bandai's HG Witch from Mercury lineup, released alongside suits like the HG Zowort that it was designed to carry.