XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Custom
The gunner suit that looks the part but can't quite hold its own guns up.
MechaGrade Score
Gundam Heavyarms Custom · 1/144 · 2022
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This is a kit I wanted to love more than I ended up loving it.
The double gatling guns and the opening missile hatches nail the Endless Waltz redesign, but the engineering underneath the paint job doesn't back up the concept. I had fun posing it in short bursts, then kept fighting the same two problems, sagging arms and a loose chest, every time I picked it back up.
Best for: Gundam Wing completionists who want the Endless Waltz five on the shelf, not a first HG purchase
What it is
This is the P-Bandai HGAC take on Heavyarms Kai's space-spec upgrade, the version Trowa Barton pilots in Endless Waltz with the darker blue-green shell and the backpack reworked for orbital combat. The core idea is great on paper. Twin double-barrel gatling guns fold onto arms on the back when not in use, and the chest, shoulders, and legs pop open to reveal missile pods for the full burst pose, which is the whole reason anyone buys this suit. Assembly is quick, I was done in about three hours, and the modern HGAC frame gives you a double ball joint neck, double jointed elbows and knees, and a full 360 degree waist that let me get into the wide stances this design wants.
The catch
The gatling guns are the letdown. The polycap wrist and shoulder joints are not built to carry two oversized barrels each, so the arms droop under their own weight and the backpack holsters aren't strong enough to rack them either. Color separation is the other soft spot, especially the small, non-flat blue panel on the chest that the sticker sheet handles badly and that is genuinely hard to paint around given its shape. The chest doors and the head knob are also looser than I like, they pop off with normal posing, not rough handling. None of this is exclusive to review copies either, it shows up across build write ups.
Who it's for
If you are chasing the full set of Endless Waltz Gundams or you specifically love Heavyarms as a design, buy it, the full burst pose is worth building for and nothing else replicates this exact loadout at this scale. If you are picking your first HG or want something that holds a dynamic gatling stance without babysitting it, look elsewhere in the line first, this is a suit you pose carefully and photograph fast rather than one you leave standing mid action on a shelf. Budget extra time for panel lining or a light paint pass on that chest piece if color accuracy matters to you.
The build story
What the build is actually like, and the engineering worth knowing about.
Gate placement is typical modern HG, nubs clean up fine with a sharp side cutter and the runners snap together without much fuss, which is why the build itself only took about three hours. The frustration shows up at the posing stage rather than the assembly stage.
The standout engineering is the hatch system, shoulders, chest, and legs all pop open on hinges to expose the missile pods for the full burst attack, and that mechanism is satisfying every time you trigger it. The letdown is load bearing joints, the same wrists and shoulders that handle the light hatch panels fine buckle under the twin gatling guns, and the backpack's folding gun mounts don't rack them securely either.
Lore & trivia
- 01The pilot in Endless Waltz isn't the original Trowa Barton, he was killed early on, the suit is flown by Triton Bloom, an amnesiac technician who took on Trowa's identity
- 02Trowa built a scaled up version of his circus performer's mask for the Heavyarms Custom to wear, a detail carried over from his backstory as a circus hand
- 03In Endless Waltz's climax the Heavyarms Custom is written as critically overspecialized, once its ammunition runs dry it has no meaningful backup weapon
- 04This HGAC release added a second pair of chest mounted gatlings on top of the arm mounted double gatlings, expanding the suit's already ammo heavy loadout from its TV series version
What other builders say
This write-up is grounded in real reviews and builder discussion, not just one opinion. A few worth reading:
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