Like I mentioned up top - this is an intimidatingly-large box. It's easily on-par with an MG. But there really isn't all that much plastic in the box? Much of the bulk comes from the size of the kit, not its complexity. It's still very much an HG build.

Weirdly, the instructions aren't the typical fold-out pamphlet style. There's enough to document that we've actually got a stapled booklet.

Since this is a Unicorn HG kit we've got some stickers for the Sleeves markings. I was pretty happy with how the stickers turned out on that Geara Zulu, so I fully intended to use those stickers on this build... But that plan fell apart almost instantly.

The very first sticker was for the elaborate crest in the center of the chest. I didn't get it lined-up right on my first try, tried to remove and reposition it, and the sticker tore apart.

So, instead, I wound up painting all those Sleeves details.

I'm not a great painter. I don't have the steadiest hands, my eyes are bad, and I've got no patience for the process. I used some Gundam Markers to paint the details. Tried to clean up the overpaint the best I could. And then I topcoated the painted parts with some Tamiya semi-gloss to try to match the finish of the unpainted plastic.

Honestly, I don't think they turned out too horrible. It actually looks halfway-decent up on my shelf.

I also painted the monoeye with my favorite metallic pink Gundam Marker, which just looks so much better than the stickers ever do.

This is where the build really got kind of repetitive and grind-y.

You've got the four massive wing binders to build... They're pretty simple. The bulk of the structure is just two large pieces sandwiched together. But then you've also got the thruster details and the articulated arm things. And you're doing the same thing four times.

After that there's 24 of the little funnels. There's nothing to really "build" there - they just have to be snipped off the runners. But each funnel has three gates on it that'll need to be cleaned-up. And they're relatively small parts to work with. Those were just annoying.

This kit is super, super light on accessories. You've got the mobile suit itself, two beam sabers, and that's it. Absolutely nothing else. No alternate hands or anything. Nada.

Most frustratingly - there's no stand included in this kit, and it could really use one. The Kshatriya is clearly designed for use in space and it really ought to be posed up on a stand. Worse still, this kit doesn't have a standard 3mm hole... There's a stand adapter included that really wants to be used with a Bandai Action Base 1.

Since I didn't have an ACB1 handy, these pictures are all going to be on the ground. I wrestled with the stands I had available for a bit, but there was just no way to get it to work. The adapter really, really needs an ACB1.

While this kit is fairly sturdy and does manage to stand on its own two feet... Just the basic design means that your posing options are going to be somewhat limited without a stand. It's hard to do anything too dynamic when you have to worry about the thing toppling over.

The wing binders look pretty simple from the front, but the underside looks great. It's really kind of a shame to have all that detail hidden.

And I'm again wishing this thing came with a stand because I'd love to display some of those funnels in-flight.

The little arms inside the binders are pretty neat... But they don't work nearly as well as I want them to.

The joints aren't quite tight enough to actually support the weight/leverage in all positions. This means they like to flop and sag rather than hold a nice, dynamic pose.

The claw at the end isn't at all articulated, nor are there any fixed-pose alternate claws. So it's just kind of always in that mid-grab pose. It doesn't even hold the beam saber well. Both of these pictures required some strategic application of blu-tac to accomplish.

For the most part, however, the kit is pretty nicely posable. The wing binders are nicely articulated, move well, and hold well in any position. The arms are fine... But the shoulders are a little weird. The binder connections kind of get in the way a bit. There's not a ton of articulation in the head or chest. You get a bit of a torso twist, some neck twist, but that's about it.

I did notice that the legs felt a little soft during posing. This is another reason why I'd really like to get it up on a stand. I'm not convinced these legs are going to support the kit over the long-run.

I don't want to complain too much... This is HGUC099 and it's kind of amazing that a kit this old, this unique, and this large turned out as well as it did. But there's definitely some room for improvement.

The lack of a stand is a huge, glaring omission.

But I also wish we had some way to store the beam sabers when they aren't in use. And I wish we had some alternate hands, too. A couple open hands would've been very nice.