HG IBO 1/144 Gundam Bael Review

Its time... its time to finally review the King of Demons himself after so many dukes and one marquis... Gundam Bael.

The first Gundam Frame out of 72, Bael is piloted by none other than Agnika Kaieru before it was taken by McGillis 300 years later.

Like Kimaris Vidar, Bael also has a nice parts separation and a real clever sticker placement which I'll get into later. Without further ado, let's jump right in.

Surprisingly, this kit came with only 4 runners and a set of polycaps.

Sticker use is really minimal as well.

The safety flags doesn't fit the stickers pretty well so I have to cut it. You see a safety flag, cut it. Just saying.

This sticker is pretty damn clever in terms of placement. Unlike the original Barbatos, this sticker was made intentionally as an indentation, so...

... this magic happens. It makes the sticker look like an actual part, too!

I will have to mention, this kit has NO visible seamlines at all, which is pretty amazing! If you do paint model kits like me, a putty has no power here!

The left shoulder, with and without the Gjallarhorn symbol. If you do paint, you're gonna have a bad time... although you can just peel the sticker and replace it with a decal. That is, if you can find one.... or just draw it with a marker. XD


Now moving to sticker placements as we take a look on its front and rear.

The stickers on this kit are the eyes, blue antenna fins, the Gjallarhorn symbol, black triangles that go under the wings' blue parts, yellow cannon barrels/? on each wings, and the black details on the torso and knees. And before I forget, the power symbols inside each shoulder side armors and the crotch, and the blue parts on the back of the legs.

The rest of them are colored parts. Kudos, Bandai. Don't say that too often.

Despite being named after the demon king, this Gundam has a noble air around it. My only complaints are the somewhat plain leg armor and bland wings. But I've changed my mind about the wings: they're actually pretty darn neat and has superb articulation.

Perhaps this may be the most flamboyant design for an IBO Gundam ever. Because he's the king, baby!!


Articulations

The head can look pretty far up and it kinda makes the kit had a long neck.

At first glance you might think that this is gonna hinder the arm articulations, but no. Not at all. Here, you can also see the fine details on the forearms.

Why not? Because this part on each shoulder armor can swing out to allow the standard arm swinging movement.

The feet has movable parts as well, to help with ground posing that involves a toe movement. Darn cool.


Did I mention the wings had a superb articulation? Yeah, I did.

Rotation at the base, and rotation for the white fins.

Now this is where my mind was blown away. These wings actually have double joints! And it allows for a damn lot for posing options, of course!

And lastly, the large fin and thrusters can swing up and down. Not to mention the actual whole wing has a rotation as well.

Weapons

Bael doesn't come with a lot of weapons to symbolize its power, be it under Agnika or McGillis' control. The only differences are Agnika succeeded while McGillis died.

Only 2 Bael Swords and their holster. But this holster is no ordinary model.

It has movable armatures and the actual holders themselves are on ball joints, allowing for a dynamic movement and posing. This has to be the coolest holster concept ever.

The swords can just slide right into the hands like so. If you have this kit and read about the swords, it says that they're unbreakable. Well, unbreakable my ass... these swords are 300 years old man! And during the battle with Kimaris Vidar they broke!

I forgot to mention the connector for the holders are a polycap, so no worries of it getting loose. Put it in the rear waist and you get a pivot at its base, which is cool.

The sword in its holder. I told you the holders are cool.

Bael pulling one of his swords. Dynamic indeed..


Action

"Men! Gather around Bael! We will take this enemy down!"

Pros:

-Good color separation
-Wings, something we never see in IBO (Astaroth Origin doesn't count because it has airplane wings)
-Even the sword holders are articulated
-Great articulation overall, as in other IBO Gundam Frames
-Has the potential to be customized

Cons

-Sucks to be destroyed by Kimaris Vidar
-Wings may seem plain to some people
-Same goes for the legs


Verdict

Overall, Bael is a good kit with perfect sticker placements and the wings are nicely articulated too.

It may only have 2 swords, but it's more than enough for me. And so, the final question is, do you want to buy this Definitely pick it. DO IT!!!


I highly recommend this kit for IBO fans and maybe... McGillis fangirls. That reminds me when I was in a toy store buying a HG Astray Blue Frame 2nd L 2 years ago (if my memory is correct) there's a couple of girls that came to window shop on model kits, and when they see the Schwalbe Graze, one of them said "Look the pilot's so handsome!" And I was like "So you came for the pilot only? Damn" while imagining about hee throwing away the runners and drooling over McGillis' picture.

Oh yeah, right. Beginners can also buy this kit because the wings are relatively super simple to build.


Anyways, that is all for my review of the Gundam Bael, and as always, see you next time.

-Fin