1/100 MG Gouf Custom Review

Hello once again and welcome to Mr Nayiro gunpla reviews! Today we will be reviewing the amazing and awesome Gouf Custom, Master Grade version. 

Box art:

The box is pretty nice looking, you get the Gouf custom holding is amazing Gatling Shield combo, looks like he just finished firing as noticed by the smoke coming out of the barrels, lots of detail in the box art. But that's not the only thing that has a lot of detail.

Nice looking manual.

ENHANCE! Made in 2001, probably the oldest kit I own, about 12 years old.

Frame:
As you can see the frame is very detailed, nothing compared to the Tallgeese I EW. You're going to get a standard gray frame with some black, Bandai also decided to make some of the frame parts in the arms blue. I like this idea because it knocks out two birds with one stone. For anyone that has built a RG they will know that the joints require a separate build that you connect on top of the frame. I'm very much liking the frame, the detail is impeccable, the only problem is the feet don't really have an inner frame, but this is an old kit.

Some close ups of of the inner frame:

Here you can see the cock pit, a tiny little pilot goes in there.

Yes this kit comes with screws. They're very annoying to put in, I had to end up using my side cutters to screw them in, kind of a downside but some people prefer screws over polycaps, I prefer polycaps.

Frame Articulation:

Some frame articulation, very good articulation and mobility, but then again there is no armor on this guy, he's also pretty light weight with out his armor on. The leg can go over his head, and the arms can bend the complete opposite direction, but that's enough for the frame, lets see how this guys looks like fully armored!

Fully Armored:

And here he is, with all his armor on, the Gouf we all know and love. The color separation on this kit is nice, but I feel like they could have added a third blue, maybe a slightly light shade for accents on the spikes, but that's just me nit picking. The kit has quite a bit of seam lines you're going to have to patch up if you plan on painting him, you can see my work of adhering the shoulders, I just need to sand them eventually. My one biggest qualm about this kit is the piping. Holy hell do they give you a lot of piping work, they are annoying to sand and the piping in the torso is supposed to be place in a particular order, so if you want to take it apart to paint, remember the order. Honestly I don't think it really matters, but I'm not about to find it, I suggest to paint them first before putting them on for the first time, and keep them in order.

Articulation:

Well...how to put this nicely, the Gouf doesn't have much articulation, but that's ok because he looks BADASS. But honestly it is understandable, the kit is pretty bulky, especially when you add the giant Gatling Shield. 

Arms - 

The arms have decent articulation, they'll go up about 90 degrees and bend at the elbow, but they will do a full 360. As far as going outward they won't really go that far due to the massive shoulder on this guy. (massive, awesome shoulders)

Legs - 

The legs get decent articulation as well, going backwards you get a near 180 degree bend only halted by the armor parts touching, but as you can see in the pictures I'm holding the Gouf, his balance is not very good so if you want to get some fancy poses out of him an action base is a must. The forward movement of the legs is almost non existent, it barely reaches 90 degrees. As for outward bending, that is also pretty much non existent due to the side skirts, you'll get a bit of bend but don't expect much.

Feet - 

The feet are pretty simple, they hardly go back, you can see in the picture below how far they go back, but they go very much forward, but then again the foot is on a ball join near the toes and not the heel.

Head -

And lastly the head. The head goes a full 360 around as for up and down, forget about it, it will hardly move up, and will not move down. It rests on a simple ball joint.

Now I know what your wondering, no pictures of the skirts or the torso moving? No, no pictures. Why? The back skirt does not move at all, it is stuck on and does not move. The torso rotation is non existent due to the piping attached to the backpack and the skirt. Unfortunate but once again this is an old kit, maybe if they release a newer MG they can figure out the problem. Onto gimmicks.

Gimmicks:

The Gouf comes with about 3 gimmicks, the vernier/backpacks moves up and down slightly, honestly I'm not even sure if this is a gimmick or I just built it incorrectly. The second are the shoulders,  they can extend inward and out wards, but I doubt this is considered a gimmick more so then it is articulation. The  third and final one is  the cockpit  it opens up slightly to reveal the pilot! Unfortunately it doesn't fully open up.

Weapons: 

Onto the thing that draws most of us to the Gouf, the weapons, he doesn't come with many, but quality or quantity.

Gatling Shield - 

So this is a shield, that is also a Gatling gun. How awesome is that? The Gatling gone is fairly simple to build, comes in various parts and looks amazing when fully built. It is quite heavy though which is worrying because of drooping effect. It is pretty detailed, it comes with a drum canister where all the ammo is stored and a belt that feeds the ammo to the gun. Also (not pictured) the sword can be stored inside the shield which I think is pretty neat.

Attaching the Gatling shield to the Gouf is a three step process, I would recommend attaching it with the arm detached form the suit itself, it's simpler.

Step 1: Slide this piece into the appropriate slots on the cuffs of the arm.

Step 2: Attach the Gatling to the cuff link via the clip pictured above.

Step 3: mount the Gatling Shield via a peg on the side of the Gatling and then slide it into the opening in the hands. Boom, done.

Gatling - 

The Gatling is pretty neat, adds more punch to the Gouf, it's kind of plain in color but the clear orange plastic bit that makes up the sight breaks the blandness.

Heat Saber - 

The heat saber is pretty neat, very unique design, haven't seen it before. Unfortunately if you want to make it look good you're going to have to paint it. It's pretty bland looking and only made up of 2 parts. The connection bit is also kind of flimsy  it's a slight bump on the handle. It doesn't really provide much attraction to the hand.

Heat Rod - 

And probably the most famous of weapons, the heat rod! It's just a long piece of covered wire with a hook on the end of it. Not much more to say about this.

To insert it into the Gouf you remove this tiny piece and....

Bam!

Extras:

You're gonna get some neat extras with this kit. You get stickers and dry transfer decals, pretty standard for your average MG. You also get a 1/100 scale figure of the pilot, Bandai doesn't do this anymore as far as I know, and honestly I'm glad. The plastic used to make it really stunk something awful. I have no  idea what plastic they used to make it but it smelled terrible. And you also get a set of open palm, closed fist and trigger finger slide on hands.

Final Thoughts: 

Overall I am very happy with my purchase, this is a pretty awesome looking kit with great design especially if you are into the Zaku mobile suits. While  the kit does have some flaws and it requires quite a bit of work to look nice, I think in the long run it will look pretty slick, especially with a nice paint job and good seam/nub removal. Lets break it down now yall:

Pros:

- Unique weapon design and color

- Classic Mobile Suit

- Look badass posed with it's Gatling shield

Cons:

- Screws, the screws take forever to install and require some convoluted ways to get them in fully.

- Articulation, you can only move it so much being a bulky suit

- Droop effect; the Gatling Shield will droop slightly when attached to the arm. This may be fixed when it is painted.

Well, that my review of the 1/100 MG Gouf custom. I hope you enjoyed reading my review. If you like what you see feel free to subscribe or leave a comment! Have any questions concerning my review or about anything Gunpal related? Feel free to ask. If you want to see me review a kit let me know an I will consider it, well till next time! Thanks.