Review: Strike Noir (Dragon Momoko)

Here's another kit coming from Dragon Momoko. Yet another version of the strike. Don't get me wrong it looks great and all but what's new with this one.



The Strike Noir is one of the main suits used in Gundam Seed Stargazer. It’s basically a specialized Strike E. with a more melee/close ranged IWSP pack.


For those who don’t know, Dragon Momoko a manufacturer of third party kits. The designs they use are redesigns of Bandai so the details of the details of their kits are different from Bandai’s (more on that later). Did they bring their “A” game with this kit? So with that in mind, here's the review of Dragon Momoko's Strike Noir. 




THE BOX







Again with the same white cover. The same white manual. Even the same brown box that we know and love. It comes with 33 runners, carefully placed in 9 plastic packaging. The manual has another momoko trademark, the unusual, unexplainable names of the runner (like pj2 or xb?? Like what the heck?) Other than that it's more or less the same as the other strike. It also comes with the usual sticker and waterslide decals. 

THE KIT

Sharpen your hobby knives cause yo gonna do a lot of shavin'. The Noir keeps its signature Dragon Momoko tight fitting pegs. Almost all polycaps needed it. Some armor panels (like the back armor, elbow, details on the wing) also like to pop out. Nothing out of the ordinary for a third party kit.

BUT THE DETAILS… Incredible work from DM for the details. Really really nice. It's all I can say about it. Really good job. Aside from that, it comes with 2 bendy wire for the rocket anchor. But I'm not really a fan of that. 

PLASTIC

Good plastic quality. It's not coated so awesome for straight build. Not really daban standard, but really far from hongli. 

POSABILITY

Very posable. Arms doesn't go falling off. Make sure you hear a snap when fitting the legs, so it won't go falling(just like the dm tallgeese). Overall good posable kit. 

MY THOUGHTS

Shoulder armor is hard to snap. Results into stress marks.

Be very careful with the articulated hands. It is prone to tearing when you're not careful. (I lost a finger and the connecting joint to the gunpla gods)

Non articulated hand have problems holding the handguns.

 Super tight fit when changing the hands. 

VERDICT

It's a cool looking gundam. DM really did a great redesign with this kit. The tight fit issue is not really a big problem. Overall, awesome kit. Get this kit! It's worth the moolah.

85/100 

peace

Review: MG Akatsuki Gundam (Dragon Momoko)

The Akatsuki Gundam created by the nation of Orb in the Gundam Seed Destiny series. 

This particular model kit is based on the Dragon momoko strike inner frame which is basically a sligtly modded strike RM  inner frame.

This kit comes with both the Oowashi and Shiranui backpacks 2 beam sabers, a number of beam effects, beam rifle, a number of different fixed hands, a pair of version 3 hands and a shield.

As I have said. The DM( Dragon Momoko) Akatsuki uses a modified Strike inner frame and this results in a very flexible and posable kit. Unfortunately this kit comes with the disadvantages of that innerfrane design. Issues with the frame are tight joints and very loose ankles.

Most of the inner frame parts are not undergated (nub marks are hidden under the part so they wont be seen) except those from the O and M  runners.

Did I say that the ankles are loose? Yes? Well... I'll tell you again. The ankles sre very loose. Annoyingly loose.

Let's discuss the main suit.

Obviously, this kit is colored gold. And its a good thing that the gold in this kit is not plated but rather injected because not all armor parts are undergated and you might want to touch it out repaint it .

Some parts in the wrists, shoulders, thighs and ankles are prone to nub marks.

A confession: I dont like this pack. It's too bulky, it really doesn't look cool (my opinion).

To be more objective the back connector is loose and the pack keeps falling off.

The Oowashi pack. In my opinion the better looking of the 2 Akatsuki backpacks. This is a transformable booster with missiles and 2 cannons.

Equipping it on the Akatsuki doesnt make it too unbalanced plus the addition of black, white and red accents help break up the monotony of gold.

Conclusion:

Posability: even though the frame is very posable. By adding all the armor, its overall range of movement is reduced. Also... loose ankles and be careful.of the flexible hands. They have been know to lose fingers

Plastics: same as the DM strike. Armor parts are mostly undergated. Frame parts are not. Plastic quality is good softer than Bandai but still crisp. The gold color isnt plated so you can paint over it.

Extras: 2 backpacks, water slide decals, a number of beam effects, stickers. It doesnt have a stand/action base included

Final thoughts: its not as gold as i expected it to be. And those ankles irritate the heck out of me. But aside from those issues I would say this is a very detailed and unique kit

Should you buy it? Yes.but wait for the hype and price to go down a little. Its not as good as the sword and launcher strike detail wise.

Rating: 85

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