MGBuild Fighters

Sengoku Astray Gundam [Metallic]

A samurai-armored Astray dressed up in Gundam Base chrome for its second lap around the frame.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

Sengoku Astray Gundam · 1/100 · 2025

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2025

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the 2014 MG Sengoku Astray reissued in a metallic red and pearl white finish, and I think that's exactly the right kit to give the treatment to.

The Astray inner frame is still a genuine pleasure to build over a decade later, the Sengoku Yoroi armor gives it real silhouette you don't get on the base Red Frame, and the hidden shoulder arms are still a great gimmick to fidget with. It's not a flawless kit, but it's a good one wearing a great finish.

Best for: Astray fans and Build Fighters collectors who want the samurai-armored variant with a nicer finish than the 2014 original

The full review

What it is

The Sengoku Astray is Nils Nielsen's samurai reinterpretation of the Gundam Astray Red Frame from Gundam Build Fighters, and this release keeps the 2014 MG's engineering while swapping the plastic to a metallic red frame and armor with pearlescent white accents. Underneath the new Sengoku Yoroi armor is the same Astray skeleton that made the line famous, a frame built around actual musculature-style joints rather than a slab of covered plastic. Building it, the shoulder blocks that hide the extra pair of mechanical arms are still the highlight. Popping them out and posing the suit wielding all four arms at once (two swords, two hands) is a genuinely fun moment mid-build, and it doesn't feel like a gimmick tacked onto a normal kit, it's built into the frame from the start.

The catch

The small parts are the weak link. The helmet horn assembly and the shoulder ornament pieces are held on loosely by nature of their size, and if you rush gate cleanup on those nubs you'll end up with parts that pop off during posing rather than parts that snap in confidently. The added shoulder armor also puts real weight up top, and combined with the Astray's already generous ankle articulation, the ball joints there can loosen over time and leave the suit leaning in a standing pose. Some of the decoration is sticker-reliant rather than molded color, and this metallic release doesn't add new plastic color separation to fix that, so careful sticker placement still matters for the finished look.

Who it's for

If you already like the Astray Red Frame's engineering and want it dressed as a samurai with a nicer finish on the shelf, this is worth the upgrade over the standard 2014 release, especially if you never built the original. It's not a beginner kit though. The small parts demand patient gate cleanup, and the ankle stability issue means you'll want to manage the weight distribution when you pose it standing. Skip it if you want a rock-solid stander straight out of the box, or if you're not already sold on the Astray frame concept, since the metallic coat is a finish upgrade, not a re-engineered kit.

The build story

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

The build itself moves at a steady MG pace, nothing about the Astray frame is unusually complex, but the samurai armor pieces (the Sengoku Yoroi) add an extra layer of small parts on top of the base frame that reward slowing down. Gate placement on the helmet crest and shoulder ornaments is tight, and shaving those nubs flush rather than twisting parts off the runner makes a real difference in how snugly they seat when finished.

The standout engineering is still the concealed pair of mechanical arms in the shoulder blocks, a Build Fighters-era gimmick that folds away cleanly when not in use and deploys for four-armed sword poses. Both samurai swords stow on the shoulders between the folded arms, so the silhouette stays clean when you're not mid-pose. Articulation through the frame is strong for its era, particularly the hips and the ankle range, though that same ankle range is what makes the joints prone to loosening once the shoulder armor's weight is factored in.

Lore & trivia

01The Sengoku Astray is built by Nils Nielsen in Gundam Build Fighters, a customized samurai variant of the Gundam Astray Red Frame designed to reflect his Japanese heritage.
02The new shoulder and knee armor pieces are called the Sengoku Yoroi, created in-universe to address the base Astray Red Frame's lack of armor coverage.
03This metallic release is a Gundam Base Limited exclusive that arrived November 22, 2025, priced at 6,600 yen, recoloring the original 2014 MG into a metallic red frame with pearlescent white armor.