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XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Custom EW

A walking ammunition depot built from a mold that already knew how to hold a gun.

MechaGrade Score

3.8 out of 53.8/5

Gundam Heavyarms Custom · 1/100 · 2016

GradeMG
Scale1/100
Released2016
Runnersn/a
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The verdict

This is the Heavyarms EW mold doing exactly what it was always good at, now with a darker blue-green paint job, two extra chest gatlings, and Trowa's unsettling clown mask faceplate snapped on for good measure.

I like it more as a display piece than as a poser. Once you get past the leg joints and the sheer weight of the twin gatling guns, what you have left is a kit that looks like it means business standing still or mid-battle with every hatch open.

Best for: Gundam Wing collectors who already love the Heavyarms silhouette and want the Custom colorway with more guns and less subtlety

The full review

What it is

This kit takes the older MG Heavyarms EW frame and dresses it in the Custom EW's dark blue-green scheme, bolts on a second pair of chest-mounted gatlings, swaps the main armament for a genuinely hefty double gatling gun, and includes the clown mask faceplate from the OVA so you can build Trowa's actual disguise moment if you want. Every armor panel and missile hatch on this thing opens, and when you pop them all at once the model reads as exactly what the show calls it, a walking ammunition depot. Building it feels like assembling a small arsenal that happens to have arms and legs.

The catch

The frame underneath is showing its age. Nub marks land in visible spots on some of the outer armor because this is an older tool being reused, so cleanup matters more here than on a modern release. The classic Gundam Wing leg joint is back too, and it does not hold big dynamic poses well over time. The gatling guns are heavy enough that the hands can struggle to grip them securely, and more than one builder has ended up gluing a hand shut to keep the weapon from sagging or falling. The ammo belt piece is also fragile and prone to popping apart if you handle it much.

Who it's for

If you are building a Gundam Wing squad and want Heavyarms represented as the up-armored, movie version rather than the plain TV kit, this is the one to get, and the extra gatlings and mask genuinely change how it reads on a shelf next to the standard EW release. Skip it if wide, held poses are your priority, since the legs will not cooperate and the gun weight fights you the whole way. Treat this as a suit you build, arm to the teeth, and mostly display standing, not one you pose through a fight scene every week.

The build story

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

Assembly leans on the same panel-heavy design the original Heavyarms EW used, so expect a lot of small armor pieces and hatch mechanisms rather than a straightforward frame-then-armor build. The waist-to-leg connection needs a firm push to seat, which is worth doing carefully rather than forcing blind, since that joint gets flagged for stress in build reports.

The standout engineering here is the hatch-opening gimmick across nearly the entire body, which genuinely pays off once the model is finished and posed with everything popped open. Weapon loadout is generous for the price band, twin gatlings, chest guns, an arm knife, and an optional beam saber attachment, which makes this feel like a lot of kit even before you count the alternate faceplate.

Lore & trivia

  • 01The Heavyarms Custom EW is piloted by Trowa Barton in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, replacing the destroyed original Heavyarms from the TV series.
  • 02In the story it carries a self-destruct system with enough explosive force to level several city blocks, and Trowa detonates it along with Deathscythe Hell and Sandrock Custom after the Brussels battle.
  • 03This MG release reuses the original MG Heavyarms EW tooling with newly designed dual gatling gun parts and includes waterslide decals plus the clown mask faceplate referencing Trowa's OVA disguise.
  • 04It is a P-Bandai exclusive first released in 2016 and has seen periodic reissues since, most recently confirmed for another production run.

What other builders say

This write-up is grounded in real reviews and builder discussion, not just one opinion. A few worth reading:

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