HGUC 1/144 Gundam GP01Fb "Linkin Park Edition"

This is, probably, by far, one of my holy grails of Gunpla. A very limited release in Japan, it ties one of my favorite albums from one of my favorite bands to my favorite hobby.
The Linkin Park: A Thousand Suns ‘Gunpla 30th Edition’ blindsided me the moment I heard about it.
I had actually gotten the album a month before I caught wind of this, and this album made me love LP again. I then found out about “The Catalyst,” the first single off of this CD, being chosen as the main theme song for Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs., an arcade game so far exclusive to Japan. Quite a feat for a western rock group, wouldn’t you agree?


As both a Linkin Park fan AND a Gunpla enthusiast, I could not pass this up! But, getting toward Christmas, I had to rely on my fiancé to obtain this as a present so I could try to get my friends and family their gifts (an almost fruitless endeavor).

The box art is amazing, but I (and I’m probably alone with this one) am a little upset about the lack of credit toward the artist. Most Gunpla boxes list the cover artist SOMEWHERE! But not this one.

The left side shows the CD info with the track names, all in katakana as well as English. You may also notice an extra, or bonus, track, if you will. This version includes a live recording of “New Divide,” as was used on the tragedy-on-film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. This is an awesome bonus, since I don't want any money going towards Michael Bay's "Childhood Desecrator."

Moving along, the right side shows an unpainted, slightly discolored prototype of the kit. The actual colors are much more pleasing to the eyes.

The top includes an ad for a game I’ll never be able to play. EDIT: Thank you, PS3 port!

Opened up now. I love how they gave the CD a special tray to sit in.

The model’s box itself. No illustration, sadly.

Here’s the shocker: The kit comes with the standard manual for the HGUC Gundam GP01Fb, with only a black and white sheet displaying the “color” layout and additional decal placement.

The runners still wrapped.

Unwrapped now. You can easily see that the parts are much more black than the box photos were. However, what you probably can’t see is that the black on runner A (top-left) is a darker, shinier tint than the rest of them, making the mechanical parts a little different. Gotta admire Bandai for their eye for detail!

I won’t bother too much with the actual build of this kit, as it’s exactly the same as the standard HGUC Gundam GP01Fb, and if I ever do that one, I need something to make it special. (Ha.)

I: Main Body

Here’s the base mobile suit. I’m really digging this color scheme.
Note: this color scheme was designed by the members of Linkin Park themselves.
(Probably more-so by Joe Hahn, but nothing more specific is known.)

Close up of the torso shows the details, including the “LP” decal on the right shoulder. The face, shoulder thrusters, chest thrusters, cockpit hatch hinges an little gray details on the waist were painted according to the “Gunpla 30th” website’s promo page (no longer available). I think the blue does well with the black and white look to give it a color that doesn’t distract.

Decals on the feet, featuring the logo. I painted the little details on the legs, including the front “hinge” of the foot guards, despite not being so on the promo site’s pics.

Backpack and main verniers. The lower fin on the vernier has another logo decal on them.

I also painted the soles according to the promo site, but I think my gray’s a bit darker than theirs. Doesn’t seem out of place though, so I think it’s fine.

II: Weapons

Beam Rifle

The beam rifle uses the shiny black plastic, with the scope painted silver and then a top layer of clear blue.
(This was done on all the cameras around the main body, too, BTW)

Shield

The shield is unpainted, using the “lighter” black for the base and the shiny black for the handle. The decal listed in the main instructions is skipped in favor of the exclusive “Cover Art” decals. I took my hobby knife to the panel lines after the placement for a slightly less “applied” feel. Unfortunately, due to the slightly rounded surface, it has a tendency to sprout a couple of bubbles at the bottom of either one…

III: Final Assembly

Fully armed. The beam rifle with a painted scope and the cover-art shield really bring the whole scheme together.

IV: Action Poses

The blue didn’t look right for the beam saber, so I did the standard pink (mix clear hot pink with flat white. Gives a good semi-gloss color).

The moment I found out I was getting this, I ordered something special for it:

My first Action Base 2 (Clear Blue Ver.) I already planned on making the cameras blue, so I thought this would be a little respective than the standard black-white-or-gray stands.

The model had a couple of extra decals, so I made this stand exclusively for the GP01Fb ‘LPE’.

“Try to catch up, mother f***~er!”

Some more action shots. I got used to the limitation brought on by the base, and use them to my advantage.

It holds pretty well on the stand, but it limits the legs' side-to-side movement a lot, causing the leg to pop of every now and then…

Makeshift background shot.

And the last piece is the FF-X7II-Fb Core Fighter II Fb. I only painted the canopy and the landing gears. Like the backpack, the booster pods have the same decals.


Overall, I really like this kit. Though the model itself is very base (It’s from 2001, after all), the color scheme and reference alone give this old kit something refreshing. Though, if you pay more than $100 for this, I would recommend against assembling it.

Rating: 4 out of 5