HGBuild Divers

YG-III Gundam G-Else

A jet-black G-Self remix that asks you to earn its shine, one foil sticker at a time.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

YG-III Gundam G-Else · 1/144 · 2020

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I like this kit more than I expected to, and I say that as someone who groaned when I saw the sticker sheet.

The G-Else takes the old 2014 G-Self frame, drops it in glossy black plastic, and trims it in pink and white so it reads as its own suit rather than a recolor. The legs move beautifully. The arms remind you exactly how old the base mold is. That contrast is the whole review in miniature.

Best for: Build Divers fans and G-Self collectors who don't mind sticker work for a color scheme nothing else on the shelf matches

The full review

What it is

The G-Else is Zen's ride from the Build Divers Break side story, built on the YG-111 Gundam G-Self chassis and dressed up with a Grow Up Unit that adds hidden weapons at the wrists and ankles. Bandai reused the 2014 HG G-Self runners for the core body, so the shapes underneath are familiar if you've built the original, but the black plastic with pink and white trim genuinely changes how the suit reads on a shelf. The leg-mounted photon cannons use clear plastic centers instead of paint or stickers, which is a small touch I appreciated every time I looked at the finished kit. It stands out in a crowd of white and blue Gundams, and that was clearly the point.

The catch

The sticker count is the headline problem. This kit ships with around 39 foil stickers to cover the pink chrome accents, and foil stickers are unforgiving: they show fingerprints, they don't like curves, and one bad placement is visible from across the room. The arms also carry over the G-Self's original single-jointed elbow, so the pose range up top is noticeably behind the double-jointed knees and well-articulated ankles on the same kit. If you're allergic to sticker sheets or want uniform articulation front to back, this one will frustrate you in both directions at once.

Who it's for

Grab this if you already like the G-Self silhouette and want a version with real presence in an all-black color scheme, or if you're a Build Divers completionist chasing the Break-era designs. It's also a reasonable pickup for someone practicing foil sticker application, since the payoff for getting it right is obvious. Skip it if you want an HG with modern double-jointed arms throughout, or if 39 stickers sounds like a chore rather than a challenge. The joints are tight enough to reward patience, but this isn't a kit that forgives rushing the sticker sheet.

The build story

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

The A1 runner supplies most of the body in hard black plastic straight from the original G-Self tooling, so gate placement and part fit feel exactly like that earlier kit: solid, a little old-fashioned, nothing that fights you during assembly. The bulk of the build time here isn't clipping parts, it's sticker application, since the foil sheet covering the pink chrome trim demands careful alignment and patience with curved surfaces.

Where the kit earns its keep is in the legs. Double-jointed knees and a wide-range ankle joint let it hold dynamic poses that the arms simply can't match, since those still use the G-Self's original single-jointed elbow bend. The Grow Up Unit hardware at the wrists and ankles adds a bit of extra bulk and a couple of hidden weapon gimmicks without requiring any additional runners, and the leg-mounted beam cannons' clear plastic centers are a nice bit of color separation that saves you from painting or stickering that detail.

Lore & trivia

01The G-Else is built and piloted by the character Zen, and it first appears briefly in Gundam Build Divers before becoming a central design in the spinoff manga Gundam Build Divers Break.
02The kit reuses the A1 runner from Bandai's original 2014 HG Gundam G-Self, meaning much of the core frame is over five years old by the time this variant released.
03The suit is a modified YG-111 Gundam G-Self fitted with a 'Grow Up Unit,' which hides extra offensive weapons and functions at the tips of all four limbs.