Mr. Nayiro's Gunpla Blog: March 2013

Hello there everybody! it's me again and today we are going to be reviewing the HGUC Jesta cannon, one of the newest in the line of High Grade Universal Century kits. I had high hopes for this kit and boy did it deliver lets break it down. Oh and I should apologize for being late with the review, I got caught up with my Sazabi and social life, but better late then never right?

1/144 HGUC Jesta Cannon Review -

Box art -
As always, lets check out the box art first!

The front of the box shows the Jesta Cannon in all its glory being supported by 2 more jests in the back on base jabbers, very nice box art as always Bandai does not fail in this department.

On the side of the box you're going to get a front and back picture of the Jesta along with a shot from the Gundam Unicorn Anime and it's specs.

On the other side of the box you're going to get a more detailed view of the kit and all the weapons that come with it. Pretty neat pose it's in.

All this for a measly 2000 yen, not bad.

Core Suit -
This suit alone looks bad ass. I'm loving the extra armor and missile pods on the skirt and legs. The colors blend together very well. Bandai did a terrific job of making the armor colors flow together well and keep what would normally be dull colors and make them blend together well to made an awesome looking suit. The leg armor isn't too bulky that impare movement and it isn't too light that it looks unnecessary same goes for the shoulder armor. I also love the look of the head, but we'll get into all the details later, over all very nicely designed suit.

Arm/Shoulder Articulation -
Both the arms will get very nice articulation, the bend at the elbow is slightly greater than 90 degrees on top of the amazing articulation in the hand joints. You can get some pretty snazzy poses with this guy. The arms extend out fully and do a full 360 motion around. No drooping or sagging with the arms which is a great sign, and with painting I'm sure you'll get an even stronger bond. The shoulders mobility is pretty sweet, they'll move up pretty high and droop pretty low, very nice considering my last few kits had very limited shoulder mobility. Over all, fantastic articulation on the arms.

Head Articulation -
Head articulation is pretty standard, it's gonna be sitting on a single ball joint, you get full 360 degree turn. Unfortunately the head doesn't go up at all, what you see in the picture below is the highest and lowest it will go. Over all not too shabby, can't ask for much seeing as this is a HG. Side note, I'm totally in love with the design of this head, great color separation and the antennae on one side really makes the kit. Honestly if they put an antennae on both sides I probably would dislike it greatly. Very nice job Bandai.

Torso/Skirt Articulation -

The torso will get some pretty good movement considering most kits don't get much movement down there, you'll get a slight turn right and a slight turn left, but again being a HG don't expect too much. The skirt armor in the front goes up 90 degrees where as the side skirts only go up about 35. The back skirt does not move at all. I have a feeling if the back skirt did have movement the kit would be able to bend back wards and have better hip movement. Side note about the detail, in the crotch piece I was surprised to find the little V-fin logo that you would see on the RX-78 variants pretty neat detail, Bandai could have left it blank but decided to add it. Throw some paint on it to make it pop and you're sitting pretty. Overall, the articulation on the skirt/torso is pretty average, nothing special here in terms of that. In terms of design, they're pretty awesome, especially considering the side skirts are missiles/beam saber sheath, but more on that later.

Leg/Feet Articulation -

Alright, last but not least of the articulation, the legs and feet! You're gonna get some pretty nice movement on the legs and feet considering the armor attachments. The forward movement of the legs will gather you a nice cool 90 degree left. Backwards if going to get you almost a back touch but not quite. It will stand on its own on one leg though, so it seems the balancing unit is fully operational. The knee bends and hold pretty well, again it balances well on one leg, I call it crane style. The feet only bend downwards, just enough to make the Jesta look like it's floating, they unfortunately do not bend the other direction. Side note on the design of the legs, they are awesome! The extra armor backed on the legs along with the missile pod attachment really show that this suit means business and is ready to unleash a torrent of hell on it's enemies. I would not want to get on this guys bad side. Over all, pretty good articulation, you're going to get a lot of movement and pose ability options in the legs.

Gimmicks/Details -

Not many gimmicks on this kit, only the leg pods open and close up as pictured below, kind of unfortunate that the skirt pods don't do the same, but for 2000 yen you cant expect everything right? The detail on this kit is pretty nice, you're going to get a few panel liens here and there but this being a HG kit you're not gonna get many. The head is probably my favorite part of the kit. It comes with a clear orange plastic piece to make up the eye. And on the bottom of the Jesta is a little hole so you can stick it on your base. A base is not needed for this kit.

Weapons -
Boy oh boy do you get a lot of them! Which is no surprise considering this is the Jesta CANNON. You get two different type of guns, the big one has a little gimmick where the back pops up a bit, you have to remove it and place it down though, you can just flick it back and forth, but it's really not much trouble at all, takes a second and honestly it looks better whit it raised. The second gun seems like a standard issue assault rifle with what appears to be a silencer on the end of the nozzle, why you need a silencer in space is beyond me, but whatever it looks cool and that's all that matters. I was surprised to find that the Jesta get not only one beam saber but a shield as well, all the pictures I saw online prior to release never mentioned these parts. Very nice inclusion that allows for even more pose ability options. And finally the back back. The backpack contains a hyper beam cannon and a Vulcan cannon, both look menacing, lets take a closer look at the back back.

Backpack -
The back pack is what makes the Jesta cannon the Jesta cannon, it's going to come with two thrusters on the back and two massive weapons that go between the shoulder and the head. They move up to about 90 degrees and even go down a bit past the neck. The arm is missing just to give a better view, they do NOT hinder the movement of the guns. They do move individually which is nice, but the don' move side to side only up and down which was kind of a let down.

Extras/Other -
You get a lot of extras here, starting off with the foil sticker sheet and the special Bandai stickers. You get a lot of logo stickers to truly customize your Jesta. They include the parts for the non armored version of the Jesta, i didn't bother replacing them, I'm not sure if you even can, but I ordered a cannon not a wussie. You also ge tan extra beam saber, small, but you don't get an extra beam saber holder.

The gun doesn't droop which is nice considering how big it is. Pretty detailed as well, you can really get in there and go wild with details if you really wanted to.

This is the beam saber hand, notice anything missing? If you said the slot where the peg goes, or a peg, then you're correct! For some reason Bandai decided to not add a peg on either the hand or the beam saber handle. It slides in just fine but falls out easily and droops a bit, unfortunate on bandais part but then again was not expecting it to have a beam saber, so can't complain too much.

You can remove the Cannon pack and attach the shield via a small backpack attachment Honestly I don't like this, it looks dumb and the shield hardly goes around the arm. It's a fun extra but I rather have the cannons.

The missile pod side skirt can be removed to be replaced with a sheath for the beam saber handle, pretty neat extra, but it is difficult to get the handle out once it's in, I had to use my hobby knife to pull it out. Over all nice fun extra, wouldn't really use it.

Final Thoughts -

This is how your completed Jesta Cannon would look like! Pretty menacing looking, very nice design and overall badass looking. This is probably one of my favorite kits I own, just the sheer awesomeness of the kit along side the many assortment of weapons you get really makes this a worth while pick up for any Gunpla builder, UC fan or not. This kit has great pose ability and amazing movement, you can pose it in pretty much any position, it's pretty awesome. It does have its flaws though, quite a bit of seam lines are on the kit and they only give you one trigger finger which I was very dissapointed with, was really hoping they would shell out another for this guy. Same goes with the beam saber handles not having a peg. Well anyway, I can't really think of anything other to say about this kit other than go out and get one, it is fantastic! If you have any questions or comments feel free to ask. If you want to see me review a kit let me know and I'll consider it! Well as always, have a good one and enjoy the pictures!

Pros -

- Great design

- Awesome weapon selection

- Amazing movement/articulation

Cons -
- Lots of seam lines
- Only one trigger finger hand
- No peg in beam saber handle