RGUniversal Century

RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 03 Phenex (Narrative Ver.)

A tiny RG dressed in three shades of real gold plating, and it looks every bit as expensive as it is.

MechaGrade Score

4.2/5

Unicorn Gundam · 1/144 · 2020

GradeRG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the RG line showing off, and it mostly earns the right to.

Bandai plated this thing in three distinct tones of gold chrome instead of one flat color, and next to a matte gold paint job the difference is obvious the second you catch it under a lamp. It keeps the full destroy mode transformation and the RG Advanced MS Joint frame underneath, so you are not paying the premium purely for shine, you are paying for a small kit that still does everything the line promises. It is a P-Bandai exclusive and priced like one, which is the only real asterisk on an otherwise excellent little kit.

Best for: RG collectors and Unicorn fans who want the Phenex's signature triple-gold finish without picking up a spray gun

The full review

What it is

This is the RG take on Phenex, the gold Unicorn from Narrative, and it leans hard into the one thing that makes this suit different from its siblings: the finish. Bandai used three separate types of gold plating across the armor panels so the gradient reads as intentional rather than uniform, with the clear blue psycho frame parts glowing through the joints and chest the way they do on screen. Underneath the plating it is a standard RG build, meaning the transformation from unicorn mode to destroy mode is a real mechanical sequence, not a part swap, and the frame handles it in 1/144 without feeling like a compromise. Popping it into destroy mode for the first time and watching the armor split to show that blue frame is a genuinely great moment.

The catch

The gold plating is the whole appeal and also the thing you have to handle carefully. Plated and chromed runners are notoriously unforgiving of gate marks, a nub trimmed even slightly wrong leaves a bright white scuff that plain sanding and re-coating cannot fix at home, so cleanup demands more patience than a normal RG. This is also a P-Bandai exclusive that has run north of 12,000 yen (around $120 to $130 depending on the release), well above a standard RG price band, and it has been reissued more than once rather than staying in general retail, so availability and price both swing depending on when you catch it. The antenna also has to be swapped by hand between modes rather than transforming automatically.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already like the RG Unicorn line and want the Phenex specifically for that gold-on-blue color story, or if you are chasing a display-shelf standout rather than a cheap first build. It rewards builders who are comfortable being deliberate with a hobby knife, since careless nippers will show on plated parts in a way they never would on molded color plastic. Skip it if you are gate-mark anxious, on a tight budget, or looking for your first RG, since a standard-release RG Unicorn or Banshee will teach you the line's engineering for a fraction of the price without the plating risk.

The build story

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

Treat every plated runner like it is made of glass. Test your nippers on a spare tab first, cut a hair proud of the sprue, and clean up with a sharp blade rather than sandpaper, because sanding through gold chrome exposes bare plastic underneath and there is no touch-up marker that matches it. The plain frame parts behind the armor build like any other RG, small and a little fiddly but satisfying once the polycaps seat.

The Advanced MS Joint frame is where the RG line earns its reputation, and Phenex is no exception. Elbows and knees have real bend, the shoulders push forward for extra reach, and the double-jointed knees let it hold a deep lunge without the leg armor fighting the pose. Loadout covers the Beam Magnum, a beam saber, and the Armed Armor DE units that give the suit its winged silhouette in destroy mode, so the accessory count backs up the price better than the finish alone does.

Lore & trivia

01Phenex is the third Unicorn-type unit, built in secret by the Earth Federation using data recovered from Unicorn units 1 and 2, fitted with an earlier prototype version of the full psycho frame
02Unlike Banshee's black psycho frame or the original Unicorn's white, Phenex pairs its gold armor with a blue psycho frame, and its NT-D never fully deactivates once pilot Rita Bernal reaches full resonance with the machine
03This RG release was a P-Bandai online exclusive first sold in February 2020 and was popular enough to be reissued again in 2023