#graze

I just keep raving about these HGIBO Graze kits, and this review is going to be much the same... Although the build itself is a little different.

As usual with these Graze kits we've got just a few stickers. Some yellow for glowy bits on the AHAB reactor in the torso, a yellow camera on the head, and a red eye inside the head. That's it. Nothing really color-correcting.

Right off the bat I had to tighten-up some bits on the head. That lower, opening faceplate was very loose. It wasn't staying on at all. And the ear kind-of things coming off the cheeks were loose too. All of those got tightened-up with my DSPIAE joint-strengthening pen and it worked great.

This is a pretty typical Graze torso. I like to cement a couple bits just so I don't have to worry about them coming apart later... But unlike the Gundam frames there's nothing here that's super-loose or prone to spontaneous disassembly.

The arms and legs are where this really feels different from the rest of the Graze kits I've built. First thing I noticed is just how lanky this thing is - the arms and legs are both awfully long. And we get some big, weird hands. But, also, there's hardly any polycaps in these limbs. I'm used to a lot more polycaps in these HGIBO kits.

So, here's what we get with this kit... The Graze Ein itself, a couple holding-hands, a couple fists, a couple alternate kicking feet, two giant axes, and two shoulder guns.

I guess I'm a little surprised at the parts-forming? Recent Witch from Mercury kits have had more-articulated feet that can act like claws or whatever and I'm a little surprised that we just swap these feet. And the shoulder guns are just optional parts that get attached - nothing really folds-up in there.

We've got a lot of left-over parts. There's a couple small/normal Graze hands, some leg parts, most of the inner-frame for some Graze arms... And then I think there's a bit from a standard Graze backpack and maybe waist?

This suit is tall. And I guess I didn't realize that? I mean, I remember it being big in the anime... But these mobile suits are all pretty big. They're all towering over buildings. I guess I didn't realize it was so much taller than a normal mobile suit.

The shoulder guns are fine... They don't really articulate or move in any way, but they look OK. As long as you don't look too closely - there's some hollow spots.

I don't like those closed fists much though - they look kind of weird.

The kicky-feet are kind of weird... I know they feature in the anime, but it feels weird to include whole alternate feet just for this one pose. It can pull off the pose OK though, which sort of surprises me. The balance is surprisingly good.

The pile bunkers don't do much for me. They look fine, I guess? But they're not big/long enough to really look dynamic in poses. It's hard to tell whether they're deployed or not.

I love that this kit can actually reach all the way up to grab the axes off its back. I don't love the holding hands though - they seem too open/loose to actually be holding onto anything.

And, of course, the head opens up into its berserker mode. The face opens to expose that red eye and the horns flip forward. It's subtle, but a neat look.

So, there it is - the HGIBO Graze Ein.

It's another fantastic Iron-Blooded Orphans Graze kit. I haven't built one of these that I didn't like. They're all great, and I'm a little sad that I'm running out of Graze variants.

I missed-out on Iron-Blooded Orphans when it was new. And since I wasn't willing to pay $60+ for a standard HG kit, the recent HGIBO reprints are my first opportunity to build some of these kits.

I was pleasantly surprised at how minimal the sticker sheet is. Just some yellow bits for the glow of the AHAB reactor and a couple camera lenses. That's it. I mean, yeah, it's a grunt kit so it's not like the coloration is too crazy... But I'm used to older kits being more sticker-heavy.

I'm again using the panel-liner I bought off AliExpress a while back... And I think I'm liking it. It doesn't flow as nicely as the Gundam Markers I'm used to... But the clean-up seems to be easier.

I was tempted to paint these yellow bits - but I'm trying for a simple build. Nothing complex or involved. So I just went ahead and used the stickers.

I love that this kit includes the head-opening monoeye gimmick.

I really like how mechanical the mobile suits are in Iron-Blooded Orphans. All sorts of exposed machinery and pistons and stuff. And this kit does a great job of capturing it.

I love how lean and angular the Graze is. It really feels like a no-frills piece of military machinery. Clearly a grunt suit. And while it's definitely channeling the Zaku II with that monoeye and the commander antenna and the green color... It's almost the polar opposite of that rounded, chonky design.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that you get two full sets of boosters. I completely expected to be re-using the same two boosters in two positions.

Beyond that - we get a choice of standard or commander heads, a big axe, and a rifle. Just the standard/closed/holding hands.

I love how the HGIBO line really went all-in on the part-swapping and customization. Right in the instructions it's suggesting throwing the Graze shoulders on Barbatos.

It's not the most poseable kit... The legs, specifically, are a little hard to work with. The hips and waist skirting don't allow for a lot of mobility there. And the feet are a little stiff. It's hard to get a good, dynamic stance.

Still, it does look pretty fantastic.