RGUniversal Century

RX-0[N] Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee Norn [Final Battle Ver.]

The RG Unicorn formula pushed further, with the green psycho frame and the extra hardware that made the final battle count.

MechaGrade Score

4.2/5

Unicorn Gundam · 1/144 · 2019

GradeRG

Scale1/144

Released2019

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is one of the strongest RG kits Bandai has made, full stop.

It takes everything that worked about the original RG Unicorn Banshee and adds real value on top of it, new weapons, a green-tinted frame instead of the usual yellow, and the gimmicks to back it up. The price sits above a standard RG, but I don't think anyone who builds this one walks away feeling short-changed.

Best for: RG builders who already know the Unicorn platform and want the more loaded, better-accessorized version of it

The full review

What it is

This is the P-Bandai Final Battle version of the Banshee Norn, the upgraded Banshee that shows up late in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn with a green psycho frame instead of the yellow one everyone associates with the line. Structurally it is the RG Banshee Norn body, so you get the full transformation between Unicorn mode and Destroy mode, a psycho frame that shows through the armor gaps, and the beam magnum with its revolving launcher attachment. The new-for-this-version pieces, the Armed Armor DE shield and Armed Armor XC backpack, plus the beam jutte, are what actually justify the higher shelf price, and they're not filler. Building it feels like the payoff version of the RG Unicorn experience, more parts, more transformation gimmicks, more reasons to fiddle with it after the glue is dry.

The catch

The inner frame arm pieces are stiff straight out of the bag, you'll need to work them back and forth gently before the elbows and shoulders move the way they should, and a few builders report the arm pivot piece cracking under that stress (metal replacement joints exist for exactly this reason, which tells you it's a known weak point). The hip joints are another spot to handle with care, they can pop off if you push a pose too far. Being a P-Bandai exclusive also means it isn't sitting on shelves at retail price, you're paying a premium over a standard RG release, and that premium buys you extra runners and gimmicks rather than a simpler build.

Who it's for

If you've already built a standard RG Unicorn or Banshee and want the more decorated, more mechanically interesting follow-up, this is the one to chase down. It rewards patience during assembly and rewards it again on the shelf, the transformation and the added armor pieces give it more presence than the base kit. I'd steer a first-time RG builder toward the plain Banshee or Unicorn first, the fragile arm pivots and snap-prone hips are the kind of thing you want some RG experience going into, not the kind of thing you want to learn on your first kit.

What works

Green psycho frame and Final Battle loadout (Armed Armor DE/XC, revolving launcher, beam jutte) give it real distinction from the base RG Banshee
Full Unicorn mode to Destroy mode transformation baked into the same frame, not a separate parts swap
Articulation range is genuinely strong for 1/144, ball-jointed head and waist, elbows that bend past 90 degrees, a pose-holding structure that doesn't feel like a toy

Worth knowing

Arm pivot parts (commonly cited as G35) are stiff out of the box and prone to cracking if you force them before working them loose
Hip joints can pop out of socket under aggressive posing, so dynamic action poses need a light touch
P-Bandai exclusive pricing puts it well above a standard RG release

Sold? Grab it.

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The build story

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

The gate placement follows Bandai's usual RG standard, mostly on non-visible inner faces, but the small scale means cleanup still takes patience, especially around the frame pieces that show through the transformed armor. The stiffness in the arm assembly is the one build step worth doing slowly. Work the joints by hand a little at a time rather than muscling them into their first full range of motion, since that's exactly where the cracking reports come from.

Where the kit earns its price is the added hardware. The Armed Armor DE shield and XC backpack both fold and reconfigure as part of the Destroy mode transformation, the beam jutte gives you a melee option the plain Banshee doesn't have, and the revolving launcher attachment turns the beam magnum into a genuinely different-looking weapon on the shelf. Combined with the green-tinted psycho frame instead of the usual yellow, this kit reads as a distinct display piece next to a standard RG Unicorn line, not just a repaint.

Lore & trivia

01The Banshee Norn is piloted by Riddhe Marcenas in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, and its psycho frame renders green rather than the yellow associated with earlier Banshee appearances once it enters NT-D Awakening in the final battle.
02The Final Battle Ver. was originally released as a Premium Bandai exclusive in February 2019, ahead of a later Special Coating re-release.
03The kit's new-for-this-version equipment, the Armed Armor DE and Armed Armor XC, replaced the earlier Banshee's Armed Armor BS and VN loadout, and both transform in sync with the suit's Unicorn to Destroy mode change.