MGUniversal Century

FA-78 Full Armor Gundam [Gundam Thunderbolt] Last Session Ver.

One box, two builds, and a backpack that could sink a battleship.

MechaGrade Score

4.1/5

Full Armor Gundam [Gundam Thunderbolt] Last Session Ver. · 1/100 · 2017

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This kit earns its reputation as one of the biggest, most satisfying MG builds around, and I mean that literally, you are building a full Gundam and then building an entire second armor system to bolt on top of it.

The scale of the thing is the whole appeal. Where it loses points is in the parts of the design that clearly weren't stress tested against the final loadout, namely the stand and the shoulder joints. If you go in knowing that, this is one of the most rewarding MG sessions I have had.

Best for: MG builders who want a genuine event kit and don't mind reinforcing the display stand themselves

The full review

What it is

You get the FA-78 Gundam body built bare first, then you spend a second full session layering the Full Armor Gundam's shoulder cannons, leg armor, shield, and double barreled beam rifle over it, plus a battle damaged head, a cracked shield, debris parts, and a display frame with 12 posing arms for the December Sky diorama look. Building the inner Gundam alone is already a full MG evening. Adding the armor on top turns it into a genuine two part project, and watching a fairly ordinary looking Gundam disappear under Katoki's slab sided armor plating is a great payoff moment. Very few kits give you that much transformation in one box.

The catch

The included display stand is thin and undersized for how heavy this kit gets once the full armor and backpack cannons are on, and it leans or sags rather than holding a clean pose, so plan on an Action Base or similar third party stand if you want it displayed mid action. The shoulder joints use a tab-on-peg design that locks in with a rotate motion, and that peg has a documented history of snapping if you force it, so gentleness matters here. With the double barreled beam rifle and the backpack cannons attached, the arms genuinely cannot hold the weapons up unsupported for long.

Who it's for

Get this one if you already have a few MG builds behind you and you want a kit that feels like an event, not a quick weeknight project, and if you're fine picking up a proper stand separately. It rewards patience during the armor assembly stage and looks tremendous once it's fully dressed with the battle damaged head and debris base. Skip it if you want a kit you can pose freely right out of the box without extra support, or if a fragile shoulder peg sounds like more stress than fun. This is a display piece project first, a poseable action figure second.

What works

Building the base Gundam and then the full armor overlay genuinely feels like two kits for the price of one
Katoki's Ver.Ka redesign gives the armor real slab-sided presence that photographs beautifully once assembled
The Last Session extras (damaged head, cracked shield, debris parts, 12-arm display frame, decals) turn this into a full December Sky diorama piece rather than just a robot on a stand

Worth knowing

Stock display stand is too flimsy for the finished weight and tends to lean or sag
Shoulder tab-and-peg joints have a known reputation for snapping if the armor is forced into place
Fully armored, the arms can't hold the beam rifle or backpack cannons up unassisted for extended posing

Sold? Grab it.

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The build story

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

The build genuinely splits into two phases. Phase one is a standard, well engineered MG Gundam frame, satisfying and not especially fiddly. Phase two is where the kit earns its size, layering the full armor shell, shoulder cannons, and leg armor over the completed frame, and this is where you need to be patient with the shoulder pegs specifically since they lock by rotating into position and are the one part of the kit people report breaking if rushed.

Color separation is strong for an MG of this era, with molded color doing most of the work and only light sticker use needed for panel accents. The backpack's double barreled beam rifle and the extra armor pieces add real bulk and detail payoff once assembled, and the Last Session extras (damaged head, cracked shield, water slide decals, debris parts, display frame with 12 arms) push the part count and value well past what a standard MG box gives you, even if you end up buying an aftermarket stand to actually display it standing up.

Lore & trivia

01The Full Armor Gundam appears in the Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt manga and anime, piloted by Federation ensign Io Fleming during the fight against Zeon's Living Dead Division in the Thunderbolt Sector.
02This kit is Ver.Ka, meaning the design was supervised by Hajime Katoki, whose redesign gives the armor its distinctive slab-sided silhouette compared to the original 0079-era Full Armor Gundam.
03The Last Session Ver. release adds parts specific to the December Sky film's climax, including a battle damaged head, a cracked shield, debris pieces, and a display base built around that final confrontation.
04A director's cut edition of the first Gundam Thunderbolt season, titled December Sky, had a limited theatrical run in Japan in mid 2016 before this kit variant released.