HGPost Disaster

V08Re-0526 Helmwige Reincar

A knight in bulky armor carrying a sword bigger than itself, and somehow still doing full leg splits.

MechaGrade Score

4.1/5

Helmwige Reincar · 1/144 · 2017

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is one of the best HG kits from the back half of Iron-Blooded Orphans, and I don't say that lightly.

The Valkyrja frame underneath all that armor gives you double-jointed elbows and knees, full 360 arm rotation, and real hip mobility, so a suit that looks like a tank moves like it isn't one. Add a sword that splits into two separate weapons and you have a kit that's fun to build and even more fun to pose. The only real fight is keeping it standing.

Best for: IBO fans and anyone who wants a big dramatic silhouette without giving up articulation

The full review

What it is

The Helmwige Reincar takes the Grimgerde's Valkyrja frame and buries it under thick knight-style plating, then hands it the Valkyria Buster Sword, a blade genuinely longer than the mobile suit is tall. I went in expecting the extra armor to choke the range of motion the way it does on a lot of HG suits, and I was wrong. The ab area has no armor covering it at all, so the torso stays tight and mobile, and the legs still pull off a full split thanks to double-jointed knees. Building it feels closer to snapping together a small mecha diorama than a standard HG, because the sword alone is a project.

The catch

The sword is the whole point and also the problem. It's so long and heavy relative to the kit that the feet, even with the wider expanded-mode foot parts included in the box, struggle to keep the suit standing without a stand once you start posing it holding the blade one-handed. It's top heavy in a way that's obvious the first time you try a dynamic pose. Nub and gate placement is typical HG (visible on some outer armor edges), and while sticker count is refreshingly low at just four (torso, both wrist cuffs, monoeye), that monoeye sticker is doing the only color work on the face, so alignment matters.

Who it's for

If you like the IBO knight suits, or you just want a big weapon-carrying mech that still articulates properly, this is an easy recommendation, including for newer builders since the frame and split-sword gimmick are simple to assemble. Skip it if display stability without a stand matters to you, or if you're chasing max color separation and want to avoid any stickers at all. For most HG shelves it's a standout, both for how it looks holding that sword and for how much it moves once it's built.

The build story

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

Assembly is straightforward for an HG, the armor shells snap over the Valkyrja frame in the same simple sequence as the Grimgerde it's based on, and the sword is really the only build task that takes real time since it's assembled as its own multi-piece unit before it ever gets handed to the suit.

The frame is the star: no torso armor over the abs means the waist articulation stays completely unobstructed, hip joints allow a full leg split, and the double-jointed elbows and knees give a working range most HG suits from this era don't get close to. The split-sword gimmick, where the buster sword's lower handle detaches into a separate short club, adds genuine playability rather than being a gimmick for its own sake.

Lore & trivia

01The Helmwige Reincar is piloted by Isurugi Camice, a member of the Arianrhod Fleet in the second season of Iron-Blooded Orphans.
02Its design is a heavier-armored reconfiguration of the Grimgerde, sharing the same Valkyrja frame but rebalancing reactor output toward supporting its heavier equipment load.
03Its head-mounted horns are electric shock weapons meant to be driven into gaps in an enemy's armor after the Helmwige Reincar has physically pinned it down with its own weight.
04The kit includes alternate wider foot parts representing the suit's expanded stance mode, meant to help it plant more solidly under the weight of the Valkyria Buster Sword.