HGAC 1/144 Gundam Deathscythe Hell

Recovered by OZ after the capture of its pilot Duo Maxwell, the Gundam Deathscythe was completely rebuilt and upgraded by the 5 engineers who had begun Operation Meteor and had each built a Gundam that reflected their specialities. Now known as the Deathscythe Hell, with it’s powerful stealth abilities now upgraded to a full cloaking camouflage and it’s Beam Scythe upgraded to a dual configuration, Duo reclaims his moniker as the “God of Death”, battling the forces that would tear humanities freedoms from them…

Like many fans with fond memories of Gundam Wing , I was a tad disappointed when it became apparent that whilst the original 5 Gundams would receive 1/144 Revive kits under the HGAC branding, alongside the Wing Zero, Maganac and the Leo, the decisions had evidently been made to make the mid-season upgrades - Sandrock & Heavyarms Customs, Deathscythe Hell and Altron - into P-Bandai exclusives, pretty much cutting off fans who wanted these kits due to the increased expense & difficulty associated with the P-Bandai lineup. 

I was delighted then, when earlier this year news came out that Bandai had decided to release these four kits to the international market as standard releases. Now I will admit I was not sure they would arrive at any of the dedicated retailers who service the UK Plamo fandom, but mid-October Gundam Mad announced that they had received a delivery of all four kits, and I immediately got on their website to order the two I had most prioritised, that being the Altron and the subject of today’s review, the Deathscythe Hell….

Bit of housekeeping first: technically we have seen this kit released before, in quite delicious white, grey & gold as the Livelance Heaven from Gundam Breaker Battlelogue with some small cosmetic adjustments to give it it’s own identity. And despite being made available to the general international market, the packaging of the kit is still very much P-Bandai - the box is now in colour, but otherwise is identical to the monochrome packaging that typifies that line, and the instruction - whilst up to the usual standards we expect from Bandai in terms of building the kit - are lacking the pages you’d expect to find in most releases that show off the suit in beauty shots and have background info. I know it’s a small thing but honestly it does detract a little from the feel of the package.

But how about the kit itself? It should not come as much of a surprise to hear that as a modern High Grade kit the Deathscythe Hell went together in a straightforward manner, only really hampered by my own ability to drop teeny tiny pieces whilst trying to clean them. There are stickers, but they are limited to the visor, front head camera (but oddly not for the back camera), red markings on the shield, chest & groin, and some colour-correcting stickers for the interior of the front “wings” and the inner sections of the “ribs”. Honestly not too bad overall, and easily subbed out for paint if you are that way inclined. 

Articulation is good, and whilst there is no escaping the mass of the wings once deployed, the arms they attach to have some nice articulation so they can be angled out of the way. My only negative comment really is that the cape can be a little awkward to set up closed as the two halves don't connect in anyway, but eventually you will find the sweetspot ;)

For equipment the Deathscythe Hell comes with the following:

• Buster Shield & effect part
• 3 pairs of hands (open, holding & angled holding)
• Dual Beam Scythe & 2 effects parts
• Collapsed Dual Beam Scythe (which can be stored on the back skirt armour) 

The kit does make use of polycaps across the build, so they will likely loosen with time, but seem nice and stable for now. And - somewhat surprisingly I’ll be honest - despite the way the shell unfolds into quite large wings, you can pose the Deathscythe Hell quite dynamically without need for a stand. Although one is probably recommended for peace of mind >_<    

I would say if you are a fan of Gundam Wing, this is almost an essential addition to the collection. In the example pictured here I’ve done nothing more than build straight off the runners, using a glass file to smooth out the nub marks, and it looks pretty fab. If you wanted to do more - panel lining, painting in the details that use stickers (and those that have no colour separation at all) - then you’ll have a blast. Good shout by Bandai to make these kits more readily available in markets not serviced by P-Bandai.

This kit was purchased from Gundam Mad