What the hell, who cares? This suit prefers two katanas as his main weapons, and backpacks a gigantic buster sword which can transform into a glider and a huge arrow launcher.Who can deny the urge to get this kit?
The Astray Red Frame Kai comes with 6 full sized runners, 11 mid/large sized runners, 4 small sized runners, 2 small PC runners, 3 even smaller runners for the extra parts of the armaments and a final runner for the Action Base 2 which is supposed to be carrying the Tactical Arms 2.
With a total of 25 runners in one box the Astray is a bit above your average MGs and a bit below the monsters called "Ver.ka suits".I believe it's a fair deal.
I don't really know how to comment on the building phase of the Astray.It has it's ups and downs and they are all extreme cases.The process is nothing like your other MG Seed suits.It reminds me of the MG Exia from time to time, but that's never a bad thing.
First thing I have to tell is the fact that Astray is a real fresh air for a seasoned Gunpla Builder.It's body design is so unique and unorthodox even the most regular parts you assemble feels like a totally different thing and it never gets boring.
The second thing you'll notice are the nub marks.I have built 15+ suits, and they never felt this annoying before.They are visually on the armor, they are on critical parts of the skeleton keeping parts from snapping together.They are everywhere!Prepare your hobby knife for a long and exhausting journey my fellow gunplars.You will have to clean off a lot of these bastards.
If you are a fool for the panel lines like myself, another long and exhausting journey awaits you and your Gundam Marker.Since most of the skeleton is visible you'll be tempted to paint every single detail you can find throughout the suit.But that will not be enough.The tactical arms, the katanas and the white armor parts also has many dents/lines that are just asking for a touch of your Gundam Marker.
As you can see from the photos.Astray changed that too.While packed with the regular "Warning!" stickers which I believe are extremely boring and annoying, Astray also comes with a lot of tattoo-like decals which all look super-cool on their respective parts of the suit.I got so carried away by them, I turned my Astray into a Formula 1 racing car from a Gundam!
The Formula joke is patented by my girlfriend, do not steal it.
The Astray is everything you can expect from a Ninja themed suit in name of mobility.It can bend into every possible shape you can imagine, and it will still stand strong when it's physically possible.
The katanas are very light and they will never create extra pressure on the arms, not even on the wrists.The Tactical arms on the other hand is heavier than the suit itself and it can be troublesome if not impossible to pose with it without the help of the action bases.
The coolest thing about the Astray are the weapons if not the suit itself.As standard equipment the Astray is packed with two katanas named as Gerbera Straight and Tiger Pierce, and a flamethrower-ish weapon called as the Beam Torch.
If you are not satisfied, wait until you hear about the super-multifunctional Tactical Arms II which serves as a V shaped wing, a glider, a giant buster sword and a huge beam arrow launcher by demand!
Do not be afraid.No matter how much you meddle with it, the Tactical Arms II is a very solid equipment and it will never annoy you with sagging parts or smaller parts falling off.
Final Thoughts
Color Scheme : 10/10
A great mixture of Red, White and Black.Throw in some minor Silver and Gold.This suit does not have a single boring part to it.
Engineering : 7/10
Unique and fun build design is a huge plus for this suit.The Tactical Arms II is an engineering miracle all by itself.But those annoying nub marks take so much away from it's fun factor at the building phase.
Fun Factor : 10/10
Once the long journey of building the kit is completed, the things you can do with the Astray is only limited by your imagination.No matter what you do with it, Astray will stand strong on the ground and find a way to look as awesome as one Gundam can possibly look.
Replacing the lame beam sabers with Katanas, a Beam Torch which looks pretty unique instead of standard share machine guns.Not even mentioning the Tactical Arms II.
Difficulty : 5/10
Although a seasoned builder can create miracles with the Astray, this suit can be the greatest enemy of a beginner.With this number of small parts, this suit is prone to costly mistakes.One single lost part, or a misconnection may heavily damage the suit to a point of no return.
Add in the annoying nub marks on the armor and skeleton which I believe are intentionally put where they are by Bandai engineers to troll builders.They are either placed so closely to connector parts they can be mistaken for the actual connector, or they are at such points of the armor, it's posibble to leave marks hard to remove while clearing them off.
Overall : 8/10
The building phase is a real pain in the ass for even the most seasoned builder.Way too many nub marks to clear, way too many panel lines to draw on and way too many small parts to assemble they actually start hurting your fingers.
BUT,
once you are done with it you will forget every single bad feeling you have for this suit.Top notch posability, great parts seperation, some of the coolest equipments in all Gundam Universes combined are awaiting you at the final.
I don't feel comfortable to recommend the Astray to any beginner builder with so much trouble throughout the building process.But it's a must-have addition to every experienced builder's collection.
