RGFuture Century

GF13-017NJII God Gundam

A tiny martial artist with an MG's worth of joints packed into a 1/144 frame.

MechaGrade Score

4.3/5

God Gundam · 1/144 · 2022

GradeRG

Scale1/144

Released2022

Runnersn/a

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

This is the RG line doing exactly what it exists to do, and doing it about as well as it ever has.

Bandai chased a full human range of motion for Domon's Gundam and mostly got there, the folded-arm pose alone is worth the price of admission. It is not a beginner-friendly build and the arms can feel a little loose under their own ambition, but as a display piece it earns every bit of its shelf space.

Best for: RG collectors and G Gundam fans who want a genuinely posable God Gundam without stepping up to MG size

The full review

What it is

I went in expecting the usual RG trade-off, tons of detail, articulation that fights you the whole way. Instead this kit chases a real human range of motion, ball-jointed head and torso, double-jointed elbows and knees, a rotating waist, and it mostly delivers. The signature crossed-arms stance actually locks into place thanks to the telescoping shoulder gimmick, and once I had it posed on an action base I kept finding new stances I hadn't planned on trying. For a suit built around a martial artist protagonist, that felt like the right priority, and it is the first time an RG God Gundam has actually moved like Domon fights.

The catch

The strength in the upper arm and forearm joints is genuinely on the softer side, several builders flag it and I felt it too, big dramatic poses need a stand or they sag over time. Small RG parts mean careful gate cleanup, the God Finger thumb mechanism and the effect parts are fiddly and easy to stress if you rush them. Some panel lines and the tri-color face detail lean on stickers and a bit of paint know-how to really pop rather than molded color alone. None of it derails the kit, but go in patient.

Who it's for

If you already like RG scale and want the definitive small-format God Gundam, this is the one to get over the older HG or the bulkier MG, it has better articulation than either at this size. Builders who want a first kit or who hate handling loose small parts should look elsewhere in the catalog first, the joint tolerances and part scale reward experience. For anyone who grew up on G Gundam or just wants a display piece that can actually throw the Shining/God Finger pose without help, I'd put this near the top of the RG lineup.

The build story

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

Runner cleanup is standard RG-small, thin gates and delicate effect parts mean I slowed down more than usual, especially around the shoulder telescoping mechanism and the movable thumb shaft for the God Finger. Fit between the frame and outer armor is snug and satisfying almost everywhere, the exceptions being the arm joints, which take the articulation ambition further than the plastic tolerances comfortably support.

The engineering is the story here, a three-axis neck lets the head pull in and jut out, the knees have a rear dent for realistic bend, and a new toe mechanism helps the feet plant on uneven poses. Accessories include the alternate expressive hands and effect parts for the signature attacks. For the part count and detail on offer, it undercuts what an MG God Gundam costs while getting closer to that range of motion than any RG before it.

Lore & trivia

01God Gundam (called Burning Gundam in the English dub) is piloted by Domon Kasshu and was developed by Dr. Mikamura as the successor to the Shining Gundam.
02Its Hyper Mode is triggered by Domon's emotional state and opens the chest to reveal the Energy Multiplier, boosting overall performance by roughly 30 percent.
03Its signature move, the Erupting God Finger, is an upgraded version of the Shining Gundam's Shining Finger, and its ultimate attack is the Sekiha Tenkyoken.
04This RG pursued the widest range of motion in the RG line's history up to its 2022 release, built specifically to reproduce the suit's martial-arts fighting stances.