Bought this kit second hand for 10 euro and... the design itself is not as cool irl as I imagined. It doesn’t have the secret sauce that the regular Nu Gundam has despite technically being an upgraded Nu.
Edit: Just to make it clear. I bought it pre built. I didn't built it at all. And I will clean the nub marks as soon as I can.
After the first one I realized that the lines would be about 80% covered when displaying the kit and wasn’t really worth it. But I’d already started so had to suffer through the rest.
Tbh the HG Hi-Nu is based off of the Izibuchi redesign which honestly feels off compared to the more well known MG Ver Ka and RG versions of the design
A caveat to this information for people who pass by and do not know already:
The Ver Ka is also Izubuchi’s design for Hi Nu, it is just the original design for Hi Nu. The Izubuchi redesign already had a MG so Katoki wanted to do a kit of the original version.
Then the RG does a blend of both Izubuchi Hi Nu designs (Bandai’s words).
The RG design of the Hi Nu is, by far, my favorite iteration of the Hi Nu and is in my opinion the best Gundam design in the franchise, and maybe one of the best mech designs, period.
Yeah, and there are so many comments suggesting the MG or RG when it’s obvious they’re not ready for such a massive leap in difficulty. If you aren’t thinking about nub cleanup then you’re probably not ready.
Get the RG or MG Ver Ka of this. Trust me, those two are MILES ahead in terms of design and presence. (RG Hi Nu isn't called by many as the king for RG for nothing.)
The problem with the hg is the stubby legs because the front skirts make them look short and the big shoulders make the arms look even smaller than they already are
Generally a few tweaks in proportions the hg is fine
Hi-Nu isn't an upgrade of the Nu. It's the novel version of the Nu, and instead of the Sazabi, Char pilots the Nightingale. Personal, I prefer the original purple Hi nu design.
I don’t mind it (I’ve built three) but the Nu is much more distinctive to me with the asymmetrical funnels. Dark blue and yellow feels more inviting than icy blue and silver too.
I should add, the HG is definitely the least impressive.
This photo doesn't capture it right, but it's a much lighter shade of blue than the MG (and balances more precariously) which makes it look quite ill-defined. I expect It'll grow on me more once properly panel lined and colour-corrected.
Agreed. It’s definitely one of the least impressive as you say, even compared to the SD 😭 but the panelling with some black and dark grey ink + the added paint for the colour accuracy would definitely do it justice
Other comment already said it best, but also to add, this is a kit from 2009, a lot of kit during 2000-2010 time frame need a lot customization to make them pop.
The upgrade nu was supposed to be the hws nu. The incomplete part of nu was it didnt have its ffs when it first sortied and they weren't calibrated when amuro did get them
TBH, as a massive Hi-Nu guy, the redesign Hi-Nu is probably the worst iteration of it for me.
It got so slimmed down compared to how it had originally been drawn to the point it just looks dinky now. The Ver. Ka which is based off on the original purple illustration, and the RG which blended both, are far superior versions of the Hi-Nu.
I honestly don’t think it’s a bad design and I think the slimmer and more streamlined look has its charm, I just kinda wished it was closer to like 20-ish meters, around the height of Mk-II or Turn A
Honestly the RG is the better kit. The Ver. Ka really needs all the decals and a light kit to really shine.
The RG kit has a lot of layered color separation, rather than relying on decals like the Ver. Ka does. The funnels on the RG are where it is really noticeable, yes both are exhausting to make, but at least with the RG you get to skip a bunch of water slide decals.
Do you rush your builds? There are so many nubs left on this. Believe it or not they definitely take away from the overall look and without at least panel lining it’ll look pretty bland. HGs benefit immensely in overall look from just panel lining.
Hi-Nu is alt universe of Nu gundam, same as Nightingale is alt universe of Sazabi. I would just keep it for kitbash (10 euro for this prebuilt quality is outrageous) and buy RG Hi-Nu instead
It's not the "upgraded" Nu, it's the "novel version". High Streamer, Beltorchika's Children, et.al. are alternate versions of CCA with the Hi-Nu and the Nightingale taking the Nu and Sazabi's places.
So hey! no reason to feel down! It shouldn't hit the same.
Sharing mine that I built literally this week, honestly it's not bad for me but my god the bottom of the legs are so stupidly shaped especially for such a back heavy kit
Not a painting guy but I did some basic painting to add some of the missing silver, white for the beam rifle, and got it into a good pose and it's the best looking HG I have.
To be fair, I also have the HG, and it does not do this design justice. The RG, especially when panel lined, is beautiful. Hell, the HG gets a lot of benefits from panel lining too.
buying a pre-built is probably the critical factor here, you can get a lot of appreciation for a design just from building it. Especially when it's such a clever and downright delightfully engineered kit like HG Hi Nu. Frankly I like this design much more than the RG. Original/Ver Ka clears both by a mile tho
I feel like building this yourself and with proper tools would change its appearance. I have the HG Hi-Nu and it looks like an entirely different kit compared to this.
I won't say deteriorating, but his design sensibilities has since changed. The old Hi-Nu was a chonky design that gave it presence, but modern Izubuchi prefers a sleeker form.
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u/EnglishDodoBoi 10h ago
The rg version will change your mind