All hail the new demon MG king
For the longest time, I have been waiting, searching for something that would be as good or better to all the other MG OYW Ver.2.0 kits that I have built throughout the years. But even though we do get alot of awesome modern MG kit that was released in this past 2 years, but none of them manages to recapture the feel and experience I got when building the MG OYW Ver.2.0 kits.
That all changed as soon as I decided to pop this one up.
Yes, today would be the day that I would give you guys my final thoughts on the MG 1/100 ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos.
But before we get there, we shall first do the usual…Talk about the Gundam Barbatos’s lore. So without further ado, let us get into it, shall we?
The History of the ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos (4th Form/Original Form)
Model name:
- ASW-G-08
Classification:
- General Purpose Mobile Suit
Weapon systems:
- Mace
- Long Sword
- Gauntlet
- 300 mm Smoothbore Gun
Height:
- 18 m
Armour Material:
- Nanolaminate Armor
Powerplant:
- 2 x Ahab Reactors
Total Thrust:
- Unknown
Effective Sensor Radius:
- Unknown
Crew:
- 1 pilot
The Barbatos is probably one of the only MS that we talked about here that has one of the most upgrades done on a single unit than most other Gundams we talked about here in the history section. Although we will not be covering all the upgrades that was done on the Barbatos, instead we would be mostly focusing on the earlier history of the Barbatos up until its 4th form, aka its original form here in the history section.
Legend states that the Gundam frame Barbatos was apart of the legendary 72 Gundam Frames that served with the Gjallarhorn forces during the Calamity War somewhere around 300 years ago. Although it was unclear what happened to the Barbatos during the war since none of the records from that conflict survived but funnily enough, we do learn alot of the Barbatos from observing the aftermath of the quite recent failed military coup organized by Mcgillis Fareed.
From going through the records, we know now that the first time the Gjarllarhorn forces encountered the Barbatos, it was during a battle on Mars. Sources from the Gjarllarhorn military intelligence quoted in saying that prior to the engagement the Barbatos was used to power the Chryse Guard Security Base. Although it was unclear on how CGS managed to acquire this Gundam Frame, but seeing how alot of Calamity War relics were found on the surface of Mars. We aren’t that surprised if the CGS stumbled into it during their Mars base construction.
It was during the desperate battle to defend one it’s a very important client that some of the CGS Employees decided to reactivate the Gundam Frame Barbatos to help to defend the base from the constant assault from the Gjarllarhorn forces. They managed to push back the Gjarllarhorn forces twice dealing massive blows to Mars Force’s abilities to hold on to its Mars territory.
The Gundam Frame Barbatos was finally taken over by Tekkadan after some of the disgruntled CGS employees decided to forcefully take over the company from the hands of their abusive employers. The same disgruntled CGS staff members decided to rename the company Tekkadan to start afresh, which is why the Gundam Frame Barbatos ended up in Tekkadan hands from then onwards.
Although prior to the first Gjarllarhorn engagement the Gundam Frame Barbatos was found in very bad condition, it was constantly being kept in fighting condition and upgraded by both the Tekkadan engineers up until 3rd form.
It was found during the constant updates and upgrades done on the Barbatos that the engineers realized that the barbatos is an MS that could adapt to any changes made to it well. It was quite interesting to see that the Gundam Frame Barbatos is able to wield any kind of armor and weapons without encountering any issues.
The Barbatos was only managed to be fully restored in its original form after it was being upgraded by Teiwas’ss Engineers. The Barbatos even after restoring it in its full form, the Gundam Frame Barbatos still continues to receive upgrades and modifications throughout its service and eventual destruction in the hands of the Gjarllhorn towards the end during the final battle in Mars.
The Review
I find it quite fitting that I was given a chance to build one of the MG Zaku II Ver.2.0 variants before I started work on the MG Barbie. Because I feel by doing that I was able to really truly appreciate the time I’ve spent with the MG Barbatos.
Because of that, I was able to really compare my experience with both the MG Zaku Ver.2.0 and this. Plus just like I’ve mentioned many times here in the blog that I have been searching for a modern MG kit that is able to be both a challenge and an exciting MG kit for both the beginner builder and veteran builders like us. Not to mention too I am as well looking for an MG kit that is able to topple the top spot that was held by mostly kits from the MG OYW Ver.2.0 series. Finally, after taking the time to work on this MG kit, I can finally say that now I finally found a modern MG kit that is able to be all that, and it is this, the MG Barbatos.
Yes, through my time building this, I sincerely believe that the 2019 MG Barbatos is currently is the best MG kit that Bandai has to offer. There are many reasons of why this MG kit deserves the nomination, so let us first talk about the most obvious one, the whole overall design of the MG Barbie as a whole.
From what I’ve experienced here, I could say that Bandai really has outdone themselves here with the MG Barbie’s design overall. I was quite impressed by the way every single aspect of this kit was taken into consideration. Because this might be the first MG that I can see that every single individual part plays a key role to not just make the kit looks aesthetically awesome but to as well play an important part in making sure that everything works as intended. It was as well quite interesting to see that for the first time I get to see Bandai implementing all the good things that was learned from both the old and the new into this MG kit.
Which I admit is really quite impressive indeed.
Due to that, I can understand why this kit does come with ALOT of small individual parts. Even though it does test your patience to the absolute limits when handling them, but like I mention previously every single individual piece serves a purpose. Although even with that said, admittedly some of the same parts are quite fragile as well, which does mean that you as well really have to take it nice and slow when working on em. Not to mention too that some of the MG Barbie’s nubs are a bit tough to deal with, which might not be something someone new to the hobby wouldn’t have such a good time dealing with.
Because of this I personally wouldn’t recommend anyone new to the MG line up to pick this one up so soon, well not until you have to build a few more MG’s before working on one. Because the possibility of you screwing it up is quite high due to the fact above. But if you are new to the hobby and are still quite adamant on the thought of picking up this MG kits still, please do remember to really take it slow here with the MG Barbie.
But even with that said, these are the kind of challenges that I wouldn’t mind that much to handle, because I do find it to be quite enjoyable. Yes, it was really one of those MG kits that really gets both the challenge and fun part quite right here.
Speaking about being aesthetically pleasing, the insane details that are seen from both the inner frame and the outer frame of the MG Barbie is really one of the best things about the kit. The fact that we can see that they really went all out in designing the inner frame for this MG really speaks volumes about the kind of commitment that they have in making this kit to be one of the modern MG Greats. Seeing on insanely detailed the inner frame looked for the MG Barbatos, we might go as far as to say that this might be the closest that an MG kit would get in terms of detail to a PG kit.
Another plus point of the MG Barbie is seen on the MG Barbie’s articulation. Why? Well, the reason for that is because there are no polycaps that are used here to hold the joints together, but yet the parts are quite flexible still as if in one might think that polycaps was still used here for the MG Barbatos’s joints. This is quite an impressive feat, but Bandai manages to take it a step further by making the joints to be tight enough to hold any pose that you want it to hold.
Which I would admit, is something that I was extremely impressed by.
What is even more impressive here is that even with all the armor on the MG Barbatos, it was quite surprising to see that the MG Barbatos’s armor didn’t hamper much of the articulation of the kit at all here. You can still able to ask it to do alot of really impressive poses as if the MG Barbatos’s armor isn’t on it. I honestly really had alot of fun posing this kit as much as It did building it.
Although you might be thinking that seeing that the MG Barbatos would be carrying alot of very heavy equipment, you might be thinking that this might make the MG Barbie to be quite unstable. Well, the funny thing is that even though, yes, the MG Barbatos’s other equipment is quite heavy but strangely enough even after mounting all of those heavy weapons on it the MG Barbie is still quite stable. Yes, even with all of that mounted on it the MG Barbatos is able to stand straight with no issues or what so ever. Honestly, you do not really need to get a stand for this kit but even if you do, the stand is mostly used to further improve your posing choices for the MG Barbie.
Although I do admit that sometimes I’m quite afraid of pushing the MG Barbie to its utmost limits due to the fact that the kit does feel at times to be quite fragile, which is mostly felt on the top half-section of the kit. I’m admittedly still finding myself quite uncomfortable with posing the top half section because I am quite afraid of accidentally breaking anything there. But I do admit that may be due to me being still quite unfamiliar with the overall design of the MG Barbatos since this is an MS Design which is unlike any that we have seen on an MG kit. But I’m sure when more of the MG IBO kits come out, I will eventually come to a point where I wouldn’t mind it as much somewhere in the near future.
I just need more time to fiddle and play with it for a bit.
So from you can already tell here so far, it is quite obvious that I’m quite enamored with this MG kit. But you as well learned that even though it is a really good MG kit that there is still has its faults and weaknesses. But truth to be told I never expected the MG Barbie to be perfect, in fact even though I do rate the MG OYW Ver.2.0 kits quite highly it is not to say that those MG kits are in any way perfect. They have their own faults and weaknesses as well.
Because at the end of the day it does alot of things right, and it was really one of those MG kits that really embodies all the good things of both the modern and the old, here into one awesome package. But not just content by being that, they as well managed to take one step further and make it into one of the best MG kits that I have built in a long time. One that finally takes the top spot for my top tier MG kit list.
Finally, I have a new MG king on the throne, and how fitting it is to see a demon takes that top spot. Hopefully, we would be able to see more awesomeness from other MG IBO releases.
With that ends the review for the MG 1/100 ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos (MG). What do you think of both the kit and the review for this MG kit? Do you share the same thoughts with us or do you think that this kit could’ve been better? Finally, we have a new MG king in town, finally dethroning all the MG OYW Ver.2.0 kits that have been on top of my top tier MG list for so long. This is really one of those MG kits that every builder has to experience building at least once, regardless if you are a fan or not. Because if you do decide to do so, I promise that you will be in for an awesome ride.
Anyways, we will be back again with more new blog posts on the coming Friday. Kimi as well will be back again on the next coming Monday (Hopefully on time this time) with either an unboxing, a Review or a WIP post, so do look forward to that!
I do want to take the time to apologize for the late posting of this particular post because I have been stuck with no internet the whole day and only now manages to do some final editing of the post before proceeding on the posting of it. It is quite annoying, but due to the lockdown, there is nothing much I could really do to ensure the release of the post on time, this time. Which really sucks. I again apologize for that.
Please do leave a like and comment if you enjoy this post from us here in the blog or you could as well do so through our R/ Gundam Subreddit posts and thorough FB or Instagram! Your support really means the world to all of us here in the blog and we as well sincerely hope that you all continue to support us along the way of this gunpla journey that we are all on. As well feel free to give us some feedback and comment if you think there are areas in the post that we can work on, to further improve our blog posts in the future!
We hope by sharing our love and passion for gunplas here, it’ll inspire you to pick up the hobby or reignite your love for gunpla!
Anyways, we shall see all of you again next week, and we hope that you all have an awesome week and weekend ahead! Have an awesome Gunpla building time there as well and until next time!
Ciao!
Kimi The Builder 