MGUniversal Century

FA-78 Full Armor Gundam [Gundam Thunderbolt] "Ver.Ka"

Two kits for the price of one, and both of them are heavy.

MechaGrade Score

4.1/5

Full Armor Gundam [Gundam Thunderbolt] "Ver.Ka" · 1/100 · 2016

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2016

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is one of the best armor-stacking kits Bandai has ever put out, and I say that after watching the arms sag under their own payload.

The Katoki redesign turns the boxy original Full Armor Gundam into something genuinely mean looking, and the engineering behind swapping between stripped-down Gundam and fully loaded war machine is clever enough that I kept doing it just to watch the pegs click home. The stand is a joke and the pose range suffers once everything is bolted on, but as a display centerpiece it earns its shelf space.

Best for: Thunderbolt fans and MG builders who want a big, gimmick-heavy armor kit and are willing to buy a proper stand for it

The full review

What it is

This kit is basically two builds stapled together: a lean FA-78 Gundam underneath, and then an entire second layer of Katoki-redesigned full armor plating, backpack thrusters, and weapons that clip over the top. Building the base suit first is satisfying on its own, molded color is strong throughout so paint is optional, and the vinyl joint seals that reference the Thunderbolt Sector's debris-field lore are a nice touch of authenticity rather than just a gimmick. Once the armor goes on, the transformation is dramatic. Missile hatches pop open, the backpack arms have their own range of motion, and you get a genuine sense you built something with real mass, not just a bigger version of a normal MG.

The catch

The included display stand cannot handle the weight of this kit once it is fully armored up, it leans and sags, so budget for an Action Base separately if you want it posed off the ground. Several builders report the double-barreled beam rifle is heavy enough that the arms cannot hold it up unassisted even with the friction added by the shoulder tabs, so expect some droop in weapon-heavy poses. Those shoulder tabs also punish careless assembly: the pegs need to be pushed in fully before rotating to lock, and skipping that step snaps them. Stickers cover the thruster interiors and a few head and rifle details, and seams from the waterslide decals need a topcoat to disappear cleanly.

Who it's for

Get this one if you love the Thunderbolt aesthetic, want a kit that rewards fiddling and layering rather than a quick weeknight build, and don't mind picking up a stronger stand to actually display the finished piece. Builders who want a suit that holds every pose unassisted straight out of the box should look elsewhere, this kit trades some pose stability for the sheer spectacle of the full armor package. If you're newer to MGs, the two-stage build (bare suit, then armor) is actually a friendly way to learn the kit before committing to the more fragile locking mechanisms.

The build story

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

The build splits cleanly into two phases. First you assemble the FA-78 Gundam itself, which goes together like a well mannered MG with good color separation and no real surprises. Then comes the full armor layer: backpack, chest plating, leg armor, and shield array, all of which peg onto the base suit. The locking mechanism on the shoulders is the one spot that demands care, the tabs need the peg fully seated before rotating to lock, and forcing a rotation too early is how builders report snapped pegs.

Where this kit earns its reputation is the transformation gimmick itself. Missile hatches on the armor have working open and closed positions, the backpack thruster arms swing independently for better balance, and four shields plus dual beam rifle, rocket launcher, and three beam sabers give you a genuinely loaded arsenal for the price. Articulation on the bare Gundam is solid MG-standard, but every joint takes a mobility hit once the full armor goes on, which is the trade the kit asks you to make for its size and presence.

Lore & trivia

01The FA-78 was developed by the Moore Brotherhood, an independent Earth Federation unit operating in the debris-choked Thunderbolt Sector, and its joints use special seals to keep drifting wreckage fragments out of the mechanism.
02This kit is a Ver.Ka release, meaning the design was reworked under mecha designer Hajime Katoki's supervision rather than kept as a straight adaptation of the anime model.
03Io Fleming, the Moore Brotherhood pilot most associated with the suit, first made a name for himself surviving the destruction of his RGM-79 GM before earning a Gundam-type unit.
04The kit shipped with a large waterslide decal sheet plus a separate foil sticker sheet, most of the stickers reserved for thruster interiors rather than visible armor panels.