G-Frame FA - Rick Dias

This is another vacation goodie. I’ve seen this thing for sale many times, but I need to be in a fit of vacation euphoria to finally pull the trigger on it. Which is weird considering it’s the Rick Dias, one of my all-time favorites:

It’s been a while since I’ve put together a G-Frame, and in the time since it appears that they changed to being G-Frame FA’s. What’s going on with that?

But first, a fun little fact I just learned (one that should have been obvious in retrospect, but I digress)

They’re Candy Toys!

Have you ever wondered why the box for these G-Frames look like it’s two boxes glued together? That’s because they are. In Japan, G-Frames are Shokogan Candy Toys, and the two “halves” are sold as separate items. One of the two, of course, has the mobile suit itself with the rigid inner frame, while the second box contains the poseable frame and all the weapons and accessories.

But I guess since Shokogan aren’t nearly as prevalent in the West, it wouldn’t make sense to sell them apart, which is why they’re always combined into one complete package for us.

The FA Difference

So what’s the difference a G-Frame, and a G-Frame FA? The big thing is a change to the inner frame.

Previously, the articulated inner frames were prebuilt, kind of like an old-school Real Grade Gunpla. But with the FA figures the inner frame now comes on a bunch of tiny runners, like a model kit, and you have to assemble it all by hand:

*With three runners of inner frame parts, this feels more like a Gunpla than the older G-Frames ever did*

*For comparison, this is one of the older prebiult frames*

My guess is that, just like with older Real Grades, maybe the prebuilt frames were getting floppy and noodly over time. Or maybe they were more fragile. Or maybe this is all just a psychological trick, where making you build the frame helps make the toy feel more substantial.

There’s at least one other change, and this is the one that likely what gave rise to the “FA” moniker. This toy news website explains:

The FA (Full Armor) version, an evolution from its predecessor, improves the rear of the arms and thighs with full armor coverage. The armor connection structure behind the knees has been removed, eliminating the need for forced holes in the rear calf armor to accommodate connection pegs. The chest armor is also less prone to detachment compared to previous versions, and the waist joint's ease of assembly and disassembly has been enhanced.

I forgot about that, but yeah, it’s true. On this older G-Frame, the backs of the arms and parts of the leg are left exposed and unarmored:

So “Full Armor” is quite literal, in the sense that now the entire inner frame is fully covered with armor.

Not that Kind of Full Armor

Can I say, thought, that my initial assumption was that "FA" meant the figures were meant to look more beefy and heavily armored, ala the Full Armor Gundam?

In my defense, the way they photographed the Rick Dias for the boxart, it really does look like it's wearing extra thick armor around its chest and lower torso, like it's wearing a bulletproof vest or something:

But as we will soon see, it doesn't actually look quite that chunky in real life.

Assembly and Feel

Some of these parts fit extremely tightly, and required a surprising amount of force to fasten. Or, conversely, it’s really hard to detach the armor from the prebuilt inner frame.

I also do not like how the inner frame attaches to the foot armor, mainly because it doesn’t really attach. It just kind of lightly clips into place, which means the armor loves to pop off. Then you’ve got a figure that’s hobbling around like it’s only wearing one shoe.

Finally, I found that the shoulder joint isn’t terribly secure. The arm didn’t fall off a ton, but it happened enough to be noticeable.

Plussing Up

This kid needed a bit of TLC, but not too much.

This interpretation of the Rick Dias has a lot more surface detail than normal, to the point where if you actually tried to panel line it all it would end up looking insanely busy and visually distracting.

*Sure enough, the backs of the legs and arms are fully covered in armor, but unfortunately the insides of the backpack binders are still hollow*

Well, I guess it wouldn’t be distracting in this particular case, because another thing they did with this figure is change the color. In its standard color scheme, the Rick Dias is a mix of dark blue and black (and a lighter blue-grey), but this one is just straight black (and blue-grey). You’re not going to even see your panel lines unless you use a lighter color.

Which is exactly what I did. But instead of using white or grey paint, I instead used this nifty metallic blue Gundam Marker, which I just so happened to get at the same shop as this G-Frame.

Again, the goal wasn’t to go for full panel line coverage. Just enough to give it some depth and texture, and add a little bit of shine:

*A bit of additional metallic coloring in the back for the rear thruster*

While it was completely unintentional, these blue highlights ended up being very similar to what I did with the Wodom Pod:

I think the blue gives the Rick Dias a fun, slightly hi-tech and futuristic vibe, without being too distracting.

No Topcoat

This is the first G-Frame I haven't topcoated. I thought it would be a bad idea with all that metallic blue paint (also, with Mr. Hobby paints being harder and harder to reliably obtain, I've got to conserve my Mr. Super Clear)

If I really want a Rick Dias with a clean matte coat, I've got multiple Gunpla versions on the backlog that I'm more than welcome to get off my ass and build.

Bad Lighting

I didn’t bother to check the initial photos to see how they look, which is why it wasn’t until the end of the photoshoot that I realized that many of the shots were overexposed, and some of them were even blurry. If this were a Gunpla I’d go back and retake them, but no, this is a Shokugan. It looks nice enough, but it’s still a relatively cheap toy with got hollowed out parts (and also for some reason a strange copyright statement stamped onto the inside of the Clay Bazooka):

I think it’ll be okay if I don’t give this one a, huge 50+ photo treatment.

Articulation

Speaking purely from an articulation standpoint, it turns out that the new inner frame helps out a ton. It can easily do two handed weapon poses thanks to its excellent cross body range:

*That being said, I want you to take a closer look at the right hand in this photo, and put a pin in it*

(that being said, I want you to take a closer look at the right hand in this photo) The legs are somewhat limited due to the bulk of the armor, but they can still move around quite a lot:

*Now I want you to take a close look at the area around the left knee, and put a pin in that too*

Even the head can turn left or right, which always helps with body language:

Overall, this thing moves at least as well as a decent High Grade, and in some cases even better. That’s quite an impressive feat.

Nevertheless, there are some problems. Not so much with the actual articulation, but rather other issues that eat away at that impressiveness.

Problem #1: The forearms are so big and chunky that the figure has trouble holding onto its Clay Bazooka. And rather than change this, the designers decided to work around it by putting the grip of the weapon on a hinge. That way you can either pivot the gun left or right (to get out of the way of the arm), or you can position the gun, and then rotate the grip (and thus the hand) accordingly.

It’s a clever solution I suppose, but sometimes it ends up looking really awkward.

You can rally see what I mean here. The gun looks fine, but only because the right hand is positioned horizontally, and to the outside of the weapon, with the grip swung as far out on its hinge as it possibly can

*Or you can keep the hand normal, and have the gun flop around to either side*

I guess I’m just not convinced that this reinterpretation of the mobile suit benefits all that much from its arms looking this particularly chunky. If they slimmed them down a bit, it’d still look good, the weapon would fit better, and everyone would be happy.

The second problem is that, while the inner frame may no longer be exposed on the backside of the model, there are still ways of exposing it. For instance, if you fully bend the knee joint, you can peek all the way down inside:

This largely seems due to the fact that the armor is made as hollow as possible, but it also seems to be because it’s chonkier than usual. Now I want to see how this looks on the Gunpla. If only I’d get off my ass and build them:

*Seriously: of all the kits on my Pile of Shame, this is my most shameful. One of my top three favorite mobile suit designs EVER, and it's sitting here, three times over, waiting to be loved*

Let’s take a look at a few more action shots before we move on.

*The Beam Pistols feel particularly small and flimsy on this figure*

*Also, it's really unfortunate that the pistols are hollowed out on one side. I'm not used to having to keep mindful of which angle to shoot from to hide things like this*

*This would have worked so much better if the gun was straight*

Comparison to Gundam Stand Art

It’s been a very, very long time since I got those (Stand Art)[/posts/2015/05/gundam-standart-review/] figures of the Rick Dias. They’re pretty great little things: what they lack in articulation they more than make up for with some incredible levels of detail and color separation.

Standing next to the G-Frame, it’s still quite impressive, though now I see that the red crest on its head is way too tall:

I’m also starting to think the Stand Art’s armor is a little too rounded. Or maybe the G-Frame is a little too square!

Conclusion

Even with all the visual tweaks and minor problems with this figure, it still exudes that Rick Dias aura that makes it such an awesome mobile suit. That’s a testament to its amazing design.

Looking toward the future though, I’m not sure what to make of the G-Frame FA line. Of course I love the improved articulation, but on the other hand it feels like they now have even more surface detail and panel lines than ever before (which is saying something, considering the older G-Frames had plenty).

Anyone who’s read this blog long enough knows that I like panel lines, I like markings, etc. I don’t go out of my way to make most models and figures as plain as possible. But still, there’s a limit to these things. At a certain point the extra details look crowded and feel excessive.

*I know I've complained before that the Gyan looks too plain, but I don't think the answer was to give the G-Frame FA version rock hard abs*

Ultimately it will probably come down to the same two deciding factors I used before:

Will they continue to use the line to showcase rare and obscure mobile suits, the kinds they may not want to spend resources turning into Gunpla? The more things they do that are like the Efreet Custom, the better
How will the color accuracy be? When it comes to color correction, the less they’re like the Efreet custom, the better