RGCosmic Era

MBF-P01 Gundam Astray Gold Frame

A tiny royal showpiece that looks better than its price tag suggests, if you can even find one.

MechaGrade Score

3.8/5

Gundam Astray Gold Frame · 1/144 · 2016

GradeRG

Scale1/144

Released2016

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the RG Astray line at its most decorative, and I mean that as a compliment.

Bandai took the same clever Advanced MS Joint frame that made the RG Red Frame such a hit and dressed it up in molded gold plastic with foil accents, and the result poses beautifully for a kit this small. It is not perfect, the gold parts vary in tone and the kit was a Bandai online exclusive that is a pain to track down now, but as a display piece it earns its keep.

Best for: RG collectors who already like the Astray Red Frame and want the ornate counterpart on the shelf next to it

The full review

What it is

The Gold Frame is one of three Astray prototypes built from salvaged Earth Alliance frame data, this one assigned to Orb nobleman Rondo Gina Sahaku, which is why it wears gold, the color reserved for Orb's ruling houses. In RG form it shares its core engineering with the excellent RG Red Frame, an internal Advanced MS Joint skeleton wrapped in outer armor, so the proportions and the walk-before-you-run articulation are already proven. What's new here is the finish. The gold plastic comes in a couple of different shades across the runners, foil stickers pick up the trim and eyes, and the whole thing reads as genuinely regal in hand for a 1/144 kit. Building it feels like assembling a piece of jewelry that also happens to have knee joints.

The catch

The gold is the headline and also the asterisk. Reviewers consistently flag that the plastic gold and the sticker gold do not perfectly match, so under bright light you can see the seams between molded parts and foil accents, and the glossy stickers are prone to silvering at the edges over time. Like most RG kits the parts are small and the polycap joints in the hands and ankles are genuinely delicate, so rushed nub removal leaves visible marks. The rear wing binders are heavy enough that the ankle joints can struggle to hold a standing pose without a display stand. And because this was a Bandai Hobby Online Shop exclusive back in 2016, secondhand prices have climbed well past what a standard RG release costs.

Who it's for

If you already enjoy the RG Astray Red Frame's engineering and want the Orb-noble counterpart for the shelf, this delivers the same small-kit thrill with a much fancier paint job built in. It rewards builders who go slow with cleanup and don't mind a display stand for the heavier poses. I would not point a first-time builder here, the part size and joint fragility punish impatience, and I would not point a bargain hunter here either given what secondhand copies go for. This is a kit for someone who already knows they like RG and wants one that looks like it belongs behind glass.

The build story

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

The runners are small and busy in the way every RG kit is, so a sharp side cutter and patience with nub cleanup matter more here than on an HG. No glue is required and the instructions are clearly labeled, but the gold trim pieces in particular are thin and easy to stress if you twist rather than pull them free from the sprue.

The inner frame is where this kit earns its reputation, an Advanced MS Joint skeleton with double-jointed elbows and knees, a ball-and-socket neck, and 3+1+1 articulated hands, all inherited from the acclaimed RG Red Frame. Color separation on the armor is handled almost entirely through molded plastic rather than paint, with foil stickers filling in the eyes and finer gold trim, which keeps this snap-fit and display-ready straight off the runners.

Lore & trivia

01The Gold Frame is one of three Astray prototype frames (alongside the Red Frame and Blue Frame) assembled by Orb nobleman and scientist Rondo Gina Sahaku from data and parts left over after the Earth Alliance's mobile suit development program
02Gold is reserved for Orb's ruling noble families, which is why this particular Astray frame was finished in gold rather than the red or blue given to the other two prototypes
03In Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray, Rondo Gina Sahaku piloted the Gold Frame against Lowe Guele's Astray Red Frame, a fight that ended with the Gold Frame's head destroyed by an energy blast
04This RG release was a Bandai Hobby Online Shop (P-Bandai) exclusive that first shipped in mid-2016, which is why it never got the wide retail distribution of the standard RG Red Frame