HGBuild Fighters

WD-M01MS ∀ Gundam Shin

An old favorite reworked into something sharper, built on tooling that shows its age but still charms.

MechaGrade Score

3.6/5

∀ Gundam Shin · 1/144 · 2015

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2015

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a P-Bandai reworking of the classic Turn A silhouette that I ended up liking more than I expected to.

It takes the softened, almost graceful original Turn A Gundam and gives it a harder, more Gundam-ish face and armor set, and that redesign is genuinely the best part of the kit. It is not cutting edge engineering, since it borrows heavily from the older HGCC Turn A runners, but the character underneath is strong enough to carry it.

Best for: Turn A fans and Build Fighters completionists who want the Shinya Shimizu redesign rather than the original silhouette

The full review

What it is

This kit reskins the 1999 HGCC Turn A Gundam into the custom look Shinya Shimizu builds and pilots in the final stretch of Gundam Build Fighters Try. The mustache fins get pushed down and out of the way, the face gets a proper Gundam mouth vent, and the chest, shoulders, knees, and front skirt armor are all resculpted to look more aggressive and modern. Building it, I kept noticing how much better the face reads on a shelf than the original ever did. It comes with a beam rifle and shield, and the changes are enough that it genuinely feels like a different mobile suit rather than a repaint.

The catch

The frame underneath the new armor is still fundamentally the old HGCC Turn A engineering, which means the waist and hip joints are stiffer and less generous than what a modern HG gives you, and a couple of the redesigned armor pieces fit a little more snug than I would like straight out of the runners. Color separation leans on stickers more than I want for the face vents and some trim, which is normal for a kit from this era but worth knowing going in. It is also a P-Bandai exclusive, so pricing and availability swing around depending on when you catch a restock, and it never had a wide retail run.

Who it's for

If you already have a soft spot for Turn A Gundam or watched Build Fighters Try and want the version Shinya actually pilots, this is worth tracking down. It is not the kit to hand someone as their first build, since the joints need patience and the sticker work takes real care to lay down clean. For anyone chasing a from-scratch modern HG experience with buttery articulation, look at a newer release instead. But as a curio that turns a beloved but somewhat stiff old design into something with more attitude, I was glad to have built it.

The build story

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

The gate placement and part fit follow the old HGCC Turn A runners closely, so nub cleanup is straightforward but a couple of the new armor overlays need a firm push to seat right. Nothing fought me hard, it just reminded me at every step that this is older tooling wearing a new face.

The redesigned head is the standout piece of engineering here, swapping the mustache fins for a proper Gundam faceplate without changing the core Turn A profile. Articulation is fine for dynamic shots from the shoulders up, but the waist and legs will not hold the deep lunges a newer HG manages. The beam rifle and shield round out the loadout well for a suit that never got much extra gear otherwise.

Lore & trivia

01The ∀ Gundam Shin is the custom build Shinya Shimizu pilots in Gundam Build Fighters Try, based on a fan redesign concept for the original Turn A Gundam.
02The kit reuses tooling from the 1999 HGCC 1/144 Turn A Gundam, with new parts for the face, chest, shoulders, knees, and front skirt armor.
03It was sold exclusively through Premium Bandai rather than general retail, and Premium Bandai later reissued it for the Build Fighters anniversary.