HG 1/144 Ali al-Saachez's Customized AEU Enact Custom Part 1

The killer's Mobile Suit
Back to Gunpla after the review on Transformers Prime "First Edition" Deluxe Class Cliffjumper and Kotobukiya's Marvel Bishoujo Collection Rogue with a kit from "Gundam Double O", a series that was left untouched for quite a few months after 1/100 scale Gundam Astraea. ^^;

Representing the comeback of the series on this blog is one of my favorite from its High Grade lineup, and one that is extremely weird for its MS design at the same time:


This is High Grade 1/144 scale Ali al-Saachez's Customized AEU Enact Custom Moralia Development Experiment type. The name is quite a mouthful - most people would just call it the Moralia type. ^^ It's the blue variation of the first AEU Enact Custom - the Agrissa type. It's also the third and the last kit from the Enact series, after AEU Enact Demonstration Color.

Much like the black Overflag, this version of AEU Enact Custom has a very fearsome look to it which I really like. ^^ Its ventless face, large V-shaped headgear and a pair of horns behind its cheeks are great design features to show off that fearsome feel I mentioned. Plus, its overall navy blue color scheme works better than the dark red scheme on the Agrissa type in my opinion. Together with the facial features mentioned above and the slender silhouette, the color scheme gives it a ninja/assassin kind-of look which is very cool. ^^ I remember it did deliver a few karate kicks to Gundam Exia in their faithful encounter in the anime, ^^ so that ninja/assassin image couldn't be too far off I think. XD


On the subject of AEU Enact Custom, it's obligatory to talk about its pilot, the totally evil Ali al-Saachez. ^^; A mobile suit that looks like an assassin been assigned to a totally cold-blooded killer in the story. It's a match made in heaven hell for sure. ^^ I can't remember exactly how many named characters Ali al-Saachez murdered in Season One alone, but it was a period in the series when I felt that the animation team wanted to push the story forward to conclude the first arc by Episode 25 with the final battle between Celestial Beings and the world. Certain characters with minor agendas developed throughout the series that weren't important to the final plot needed to go off the show, and Ali seemed to be assigned the crazy task of "sending" them off, eternally. ^^; The crazy, abrupt wave of killings in the show at that point was very interesting, but quite gut-wrenching to go through at the same time. ^^;

And Ali returned in the second season for massacres of even greater scale. ^^; While he wasn't a character to like at all, I think it's fair to say that he's one of the most effective antagonists in the Gundam universe. He's evil and he loves it. His determination is built on a penchant for destruction and profit, and all of that was shown very clearly throughout the show. He was my favorite character to hate in the entire two seasons of "Gundam Double O". As an antagonist, he certainly fulfilled his role to be hated completely, and that's why I think he's an effective character in the story. ^^

A look at the kit of AEU Enact Custom itself:




Introduction of the kit on the sides of box.


Content.





The instruction manual.


Following the design "tradition" set in "Gundam Double O" High Grade series, you get a match between the completed kit's action pose shown on the manual with the box art illustration. ^^


All runners.
A look at the runners' design:


Runner A - A multi-color runner that contains parts mainly for the shoulders and arms.


(Left) Very nice mechanical details on the backpack wing pieces.
(Right) A very small clear black part for the face. The mono-eye camera and "stripes" on the left cheek will need to be painted. ^^;


The blade portion of the Sonic Blade that is molded in navy blue will have to be painted as well. ^^;



Very clear runner separation hints for variation releases. ^^


Runner B - Contains navy blue parts for the entire body.


(Left) Even before assembling anything, the long thin parts on the runner are able to give you a very good preview of how slim the entire model is going to be when finished. ^^
(Right) One-piece helmet part. ^^


Even more one-piece parts for the body, cockpit/waist, feet and upper arms.


Tight deep vent details shouldn't be a problem to detail with Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color. ^^


Runner separation hints for variation releases can be seen on this runner as well.


Runner C - ABS runner that contains joint parts for the entire model.


Very Gundam-Exia like blade part for AEU Enact Custom's Blade Rifle.


Foil sticker sheet.


All removed parts are organized and stored in individual paper containers.
As you can see, there's no polycap set for this kit. I imagine it would be very difficult to incorporate polycaps for various joints on the kit since everything is so small. Instead, as observed from all the parts on Runner C, many parts designed with ball-type joints are present to act as "substitutes" to polycaps. ^^ The equally thin Flag and all its variations feature no polycaps as well.

Will start working on the detailing and paint work in the next posting. ^^