TT Hongli 1/144 HG Strike Noir Review

 

The GAT-X105E "Strike Noir" is a mobile suit that is featured in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: Stargazer OVA. It is part of the Actaeon Project alongside the Blu Duel Gundam and the Verde Buster Gundam. What makes this mobile suit interesting, is because it has pistols and a glorified Batman look, at least for me.

At first glance, this thing looks amazing from the box art. This guy has no bad angles whatsoever, it is all dynamically pleasing. But then I remembered, this is a bootleg. Nothing comes out good when you hear that word, right? Well, the finished product is actually not that bad. It's a typical bootleg that needs to be moved carefully or you will activate the bomb inside of it.

Let's first look into the runners in this kit.

Runner A

Runner B

 

Runner C

Runner D, PC Runner, and Foil Stickers

The runners don't look good to be honest, the red parts is moldy, and the runner C parts isn't a pleasant runner to look at. I do however, like the color of runners A and B because it looks cheap but durable. All the parts fit fairly and sometimes, a bit tedious. The PC Parts is something that I will discuss later on, but the foil stickers are definitely bad, not only do they stick to the sheet, the paper is so weak that most of the stickers I applied got broken. It's probably a noob move, but that is just some hellfire you made me do.

And this is what comes out of the box when all parts are combined together!

And here it is, all combined together! As you can see, I really struggled with the stickers because of how strong the adhesive is plus how weak the paper is. But it definitely looks great and worth the effort when you look at it in it's powerful stance! But if you are a hardcore Bandai Gunpla collector, you will know that there are some color inaccuracies here which to me, is subtle in this figure because it only has the missing added grey highlights in the shoulder guards, the red color underneath it, the upper v-fin should be white, and the black isn't that strong than it is supposed to be. You can even notice that the mold of the mask in the head is bigger than you anticipated, which is a bum because that's what the mask does; it gives you the overall gundam look, believe me, I have seen many gunpla figures without the head mask and it looks so incomplete without it. 

Now you might be asking, but where is the wings? Isn't that part of the mobile suit look? Well, that is certainly true, but it just doesn't stand properly with it on :>>>>> 

The AQM/E-XO9S "Noir Striker" is the reason why you see the main mobile suit in the color black. Not because the mobile suit name is literally Black Strike, but because it uses the Variable Phase Shift Armor, that when it equips Striker Packs like this one, it changes the mobile suit's armor colors for some reason that you could easily find the answer to in the Gundam Wiki. Overall, it's not bad and looks pretty, it's just not something that I would like to see on a mass-produced suit, which is fortunately true because this mobile suit is too complex. It also has some color inaccuracies, like the red on top of the barrel of the gun which is a sticker, but it got destroyed before I even had the chance.

To attach the Striker Pack, it has a peg on the base of the pack, and there is a hole in the mobile suit's back where you can put the designated Striker Pack.

 

And after that, you get the full look of the Strike Noir!

 

The disadvantage now is that it can barely stand on it's own, which is why it has a stand that is included like every other TT Hongli kits. Sweet move for TT Hongli that sells kits for $10 less than Bandai. (Not saying you shouldn't buy Bandai, please keep doing so, they own the hobby's rights.)

 Let's dive in to the mechanics this guy can do. 

If you want the guy to get into his flying position, (similar to what the Xi Gundam can do, watch Hathaway's Flash, it's really good!) you would have to raise the wings up, then turn it until it looks like the pointy part is in front. Now you have him in a flying position! But there's also another mechanic for this position.

 

 

 

  

Just pull up the guns forward, then turn it 90 degrees, and straighten them out. Now you have the MAU-M3E4 Linked Linear Guns! It's basically artillery guns whenever the mobile suit goes into flight mode.

There's one more feature in the wing and that is, these little swords in the base of the striker pack.

Just take them off the wing (Be careful! The wing is incredibly wiggly, you might break the whole thing.) And attach these purple effects on the edge of the sword. There is an indent on the purple part so you know which side it goes through.

And now we have the MR-Q10 Fragarach3 or the beam swords of this mobile suit. I really like this dual swords because beam sabers have been used in pretty much any mobile suit, so a new change for it's melee weapons is a good change You can attach them with the fist hands, but it doesn't connect to the hand, you just have to balance it out. Big bum but I don't really want to use this pose often.

Speaking of hands, let's get to the pair of hands in this kit!

Closed Fists

Open Hands

Trigger Hands

We have the normal pair of closed fist hands, open hands, and the trigger hands which will make it better to hold the beam pistols! or the M8F-SB1 "Shorty" beam rifle if you like your guns complicated.

The beam pistols are the vocal point of the mobile suit's uniqueness in retrospect. I really like them, but I encourage you to panel line them with a different color other than black. Even with the trigger hands, it can still easily get off on it's own, but I think a little support is really cool! You can also connect these guns in the side skirts, there is a hole designated for the beam pistols.

The last accessory is this rocket anchor launcher thingy. Or the EQS1358 Rocket Anchor Launcher. This one is pretty meh, the poseable wire isn't in the runner, but the little tip is. You can attach it in one of the open hands, there is a little gap that the wire can enter through, but it's quite loose if not put in correctly. You can also put it in the back of the Noir Striker, but I just learned that now.

And that's all for it's accessories and armaments, let's move on to the articulation!

The head can move up...

and down, side to side too but the head is at an angle so side movement is impossible to stay.

The hand is connected to a ball joint, so it can move sideways this far...

move forward and backward...

Shoulder guards can move up and down...

Arm can twist with an elbow bend...

And hands can rotate 360...

Front Skirts move up...

and side skirts too...

can also spin 360!

Legs are connected to a ball joint, so it can only have a decent spread...

can move this far forward, and move this far backward...

legs can bend, but not double bend...

Feet can move forward and backward, but not freely...

but it does have a wonderful pivot!

 And now for the striker pack!

The two connectors can move up and down...

can also move sideways...

The peg that connects the wing and connector can move 360 depending on what pose you want it to be...

and both wings can move up and down.

And that's pretty much it for the articulation! So to summarize it up, 

This kit is not bad. I genuinely enjoyed the build. Sure, it had some junky issues with the legs and striker pack, along with the disastrous foil stickers. But it's a perfectly great figure and definitely worth the time! You can put some extra effort in there like panel lining, and a repaint would fit this, but out of the box, this is what you will get in general. A Batman Striker Gundam with decent colors, forgivable plastic quality, and a great showoff! From 10, this will be a 5 in my pocket!

Now, let's go crazy with this figure!

 

I hope you liked my first review in the blog! Do consider following my page for future reviews from bootleg to original and authentic Gunpla! Criticism for my review is always appreciated and noted, so please drop your opinion on the comments below! This is Churros, saying see you next time on the next review! Happy Building!