MGUniversal Century

RX-0 Unicorn Gundam "Ver.Ka" Shield Booster "Armed Armor DE"

A shield with a mega cannon strapped to its back, sized exactly right for the shelf, not the wallet.

MechaGrade Score

3.5/5

Unicorn Gundam · 1/100 · 2013

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2013

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I'll say it straight, this is a weapon accessory, not a kit you build a weekend around, and once you accept that it's a genuinely satisfying little add-on.

It takes the Unicorn's plain shield and turns it into a thruster pack with a mega cannon bolted on, which is exactly the kind of goofy overkill I want from a UC side kit. It only exists to slot onto an MG Ver.Ka you already own, so judge it as an accessory, not a standalone build.

Best for: MG Ver.Ka Unicorn or Banshee owners who want the Armed Armor DE loadout without hunting a Full Armor set

The full review

What it is

This is the shield booster the Banshee Norn wears late in the Unicorn OVA, sold on its own as a small expansion runner rather than folded into a full retail kit. It reworks the standard Unicorn shield into something bulkier, with visible thruster nozzles and a mega cannon barrel jutting off the back, and it was originally a bonus item bundled with a manga special edition before it circulated as its own release. I like that it exists at all. Most manufacturers would have made you buy an entire new grade line to get this loadout, and instead it is a cheap, quick add-on that plugs straight into the arm and shield mounts you already have.

The catch

It is genuinely tiny in scope, a shield, a booster frame, and a cannon barrel, so do not expect anything like a full build session out of it. There is very little to say about articulation because it barely has any moving parts of its own, it rides on whatever wrist and shield joints the base Unicorn or Banshee kit already provides. Because it started life as a bundled promo item, original copies can be pricier and harder to track down secondhand than the sticker price would suggest, and you need an MG Ver.Ka on hand for it to do anything at all.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already have an MG Ver.Ka Unicorn or Banshee Norn on your shelf and want the Armed Armor DE silhouette from the OVA's late episodes without committing to a whole second kit. Skip it if you do not own a compatible Ver.Ka body, because on its own it is just a shield and a cannon barrel with nothing to hang off. For UC completionists and diorama builders chasing that specific mega cannon pose, it is a cheap, worthwhile pickup. For anyone wanting a full build experience, look at the Full Armor Unicorn expansion instead.

The build story

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

There isn't much of a build here in the traditional sense. You're clipping a handful of parts into a shield frame and a booster block, and it's done in well under an hour with basic cleanup on the nub marks around the thruster vents.

The payoff is entirely in the silhouette. The mega cannon barrel and the visible thruster nozzles read as a real upgrade over the stock shield the moment it's mounted, and it plugs into the same grip and shield joint the base kit already uses, so there's zero compatibility fuss.

Lore & trivia

01The Armed Armor DE is the shield the Banshee Norn wears for the final episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, reworked with extra thrusters and a mega cannon for ranged firepower.
02This expansion set was originally bundled with the Mobile Suit Gundam UC manga bande dessinee special edition volume 8 before being available as its own release.
03It was released March 1, 2013, priced at 1,260 yen, making it one of the cheapest official ways to get the Armed Armor DE loadout onto an MG Ver.Ka body.