Review 039: MG 1/100 Altron (Super Nova)

Introduction:

I still have a few more articles left but I don’t want to hurry posting all of them or else I will ran out of review articles to update. To some of my friends who have already seen this kit, yes I know that this is a really late update. I think I have finished this kit at least 5-6 months ago (LOL XD). But at the very least, I still get to post my review rather than not posting it at all.

As for some who have already checked out the recent article about Heavy Arms from SN; there are still no updates. It was also mentioned that the image was just an edited Heavy Arms Custom from Bandai. If it was a version from SN, then there should have been a noticeable change in the image’s proportion. So, I apologize if the information is wrong. But we should not let our hopes down and I’m sure Super Nova will complete all 5 of them in the future.

Anyways, when this was given to me, I was really glad that I get to experience a kit from the Super Nova brand. I am still looking forward in reviewing the Sandrock but this is already a good start. I received a lot of bad reviews about this kit from other builders especially with that awful sheet of foil stickers. I will try to make my comments short as possible again and just leave my personal experience and thoughts about the model.

Be sure to comment any issues I might have missed in this kit. Please ignore any typographical errors as it has always been a problem that will take some time to fix. But do correct me if I have used any wrong information about the mobile suit, wrong terminologies, etc.



Unboxing:

The box art is pretty lame in my honest opinion and Dragon Momoko was far better in their presentation when it comes to featuring the finished model. When they advertised this kit in the market, everybody was amazed with the detailing but Super Nova didn’t mention that the one they used is already painted. As you can see in the bottom portion of the box, they are now saying that the model used in the images is painted. :/

The side of the box doesn’t have any other features. They just placed the finished model there with different action poses. :v

Well this is the first kit from Super Nova so they are probably still working on the best way to present their product.

I know that the Gundam Wing series is full of love and dreams, but this is really hilarious. XD

Okay, you get 11 plastic bags, 2 plastic rods and 2 small clear pedestals. One of the factors I noticed here is the plastic bag. It’s thick and it’s not the usual smooth-textured ones you get from the other brands. I’m not complaining about its quality but this type of plastic bag tends to occupy a lot of the space inside because it’s quite soft. I mean even if there’s air inside, I can still press the runners and the air would simply switch or move on the other side of the bag. It’s not compressed so the runners shake inside the bag. A lot of other possible issues can occur because of this; broken parts, parts already removed from the runners, scratches on the surface, etc. There were at least 2 runners in each bag.

Be sure to check the parts so you can replace the kit if there are any damages. I checked the v-fin quickly and removed its plastic bag to avoid possible damages.

The construction manual features the same elements from the box. You get a fancy Chinese text on the back side with just the model number. Speaking of this issue, Super Nova never used the name Altron on the kit. Instead, they just used the model number of the mobile suit. They’re probably aware with the copyright issues. :P

Opening the last page gives you some few gimmicks for the model. There’s a box on top of the page featuring the dragon fangs and can be attached on the arms same with original Altron.

Fun Fact – Altron is referred to by Chang Wufei as Nataku, the nickname of his late wife Meilan Long.
Source: Gundam Wikia

I think it’s always common and natural for people to change the name of something with the names of their loved ones. At first I was actually confused why it was called Nataku in the old HG kits and then changed into Altron.

And here are the lists of the runners included in the kit. Overall, you have 21 runners including the “K” or the pieces that forms the Dragon Fangs’ body.



Runners:

I was expecting a full glossy texture on the parts. Some of the runners have a dull color so you might need to repaint them. The white parts aren’t satisfactory to my taste and it kind of reminded me of TT Hongli’s kits. The green runners also have a similar texture and it’s not that glossy. There were a few flashes as well but that can be cured by sanding.

I hate Super Nova’s decision on putting the extra detailing with not just several foil stickers but a whole sheet of them. And according to the other builders who have tried the kit, the foil stickers don’t even stick.

The bright side however is that at least 90% of the parts are undergated. So you don’t need to worry if the nubs put another scar on your model.

Another good factor is that you also get a sheet of waterslides. And these waterslide decals are from DL brand. I guess Super Nova doesn’t have the materials to provide their own set of decals yet like Dragon Momoko.

You also get these clear rods and 2 clear bases meant for the dragon fangs. During action poses, you can use these rods as support to lift the dragon fangs.

Back to the topic regarding its quality; please do check the image above. Both runners are parts for the inner frame. But if you look closely on the right side, it has a glossy and darker finish. The runner on the left side doesn’t have those elements. This is just my opinion but I think the purpose is that some of the inner frame parts will be seen because of its new design - they are bared. The parts that don’t have any coating won’t be visible anyways (will be covered by the outer armor), so there’s no need to give it the same treatment. Still, it would have been nice if all the gray parts for the inner frame have this glossy coating.

The yellow and the red runners also feature the same thing. They have metallic-like coating which is nice. But even with this metallic-like finish, you can't deny that the color were kind of dull. As I mentioned earlier, you might want to repaint them to get a better coloration. The green ones don’t have this kind of coating and that kind of lame. Overall, you have 20 runners and it’s 21 if “K” is counted. Total parts by my count is 381 pieces.


Note - I have decided to use the word “runners” again because it was the most common term used in model kits as suggested by other builders. Others use the word “sprues” but not that often.



Body Unit:

Not bad for parts separation and they even included a cockpit as part of the gimmicks.

Lots of tight fittings and I’m already expecting the same situation for the rest of its body parts. Just press them hard enough so that there won’t be any visible seam lines. The issue I have noticed here is that the neck-piece is loose (part H6).

Another issue I have taken note of is J1 female peg that doesn’t seem aligned in the center. The abdomen is also articulated because of the ball-joint mechanism, but it’s really tight so tilting the body may seem impossible.

So here’s the cockpit hatch and you can just pull it down to open it up.



Head Unit:

The head features average amount of parts.

Same with the Body Unit, there’s also a lot of tight parts here. If you noticed on the image above where I took a picture of the side, there’s a seam line. I’m supposed to trim the inner frame inside but the pegs were already tight and I might break them if forced it to separate.

The face mask seems be to a bit “shaky” or you could say loose. I applied a very small portion of bluetac to hold it in place.



Upper Body Unit:

This section features few parts but the detailing makes up for it.

There were snap fitting issues again because the pegs were tight.

If you check the top view of the Upper Body Unit, you will see the two small green parts on the sides. Be careful on attaching them because they are prone to stress marks.

The main peg where you will connect the arms shows a good range of movement.



Arm Unit:

The arms features average amount of parts and you get to use two tones of green.

Take note G23 part that it is far from the F1 part (see the metallic green on the gap?) Do not worry if you think they don’t fit well. It was designed to make it look like “natural” seams so that the inner frame is shown. I added some metallic green on the bared sections to make it look nice.

As always, there were snap fitting issues here and my fingers are already hurting.

As for its articulation, the arms can be bent up to this degree. You get a decent 90-degree angle but it could have been better if they put the detailing into consideration because it’s blocking the joint’s movement range. Still, it was just enough because the connector in the shoulder armor will extend its range.



Leg Unit:

It’s a common design for the Gundams in their series to have plain white legs – simple but sleek. Parts separation here is above average.

The detailing looks really amazing and I would love to paint those bared inner frame parts if I have the skill. If you want to take the risk, you can apply the foil stickers for the extra detailing. :v

There were still tight fittings both in the inner frame and outer armor parts. And remember that the kits feature this kind of design where gaps or seams are visible. So do not force them to fit because it might be the actual design of the kit. Be sure to check the images in the box if it is the actual design of the model.

And speaking of seams, this section fits well but it tends to create a seam when you move the feet. I’m not sure if this is part D6 and D7. :v

Movement range of the legs isn’t bad and you have a nice angle when you bend the thighs. But the ankle guards hinder with the feet so you have a limited angle here.



Waist Unit:

Parts for the waist unit are also above average. You get a lot of pieces for skirts that give you two types green.

As usual, there were few tight fittings in here but not as stressful as the legs or the arms. You might want to take into consideration the ball joints connecting each skirt. It’s also tight and the design looks like it’s prone to breakage.

Articulation is nice and you can move all skirts. The front skirts give you a nice angle up to this point. The side skirt can be lifted up but not that high enough. The E14 part on the side skirts are quite loose though when attached on the waist.

The back skirt also gives you a decent degree but the side skirt and the overall design hinders its movement. Well, it’s not like you will try to stretch the legs backwards in an extreme angle. :v

Another tight fitting issue you might want to check out is the E6 and E3 parts. This is on the front crotch. They are really tight so you might want to fixt that.



Backpack Unit:

You get a very straightforward build here for the backpack because of the amount of parts are few.

I hope Super Nova will try to work with their mold so the builders won’t get injured in building this kit. Seriously, the tight fittings are main problem here if you will build this without cleaning or sanding the male-female pegs. Starting from legs to head, I haven’t experience any smooth build from this kit.

Yes, even the backpack unit gives you tight fittings as well. The nice factor though is that you’ll try to forget these issues because of its detailing. LOL

As for the main issue in the backpack, fitting H23 and H20 together was a real pain because the part J2 is getting in the way.

Super Nova placed 2 parts (the rounded one on the middle). You can use the G7 if you want to place the trident here or use the G2 piece with the normal design.



Armaments:

Shield:

The shield gives you a very nice amount of parts, which is good for bringing up your ideas in paint jobs.

The shield looks awesome because of the detailing. And I think that Altron is better without a shield.

There were also tight fittings here and you might want to take note of the images above. You will need to slide the part F6 (light green) onto the shield’s inner frame. If you don’t look carefully and pushed the F6 piece forcefully (left image), you might end up getting stress marks on the part. Worst case you might break it and that would be troublesome. Be sure that the F6 piece is slid correctly (right image).

Come to think of it, the Endless Waltz version Altron doesn’t have a shield. But Super Nova still included it as part of the models armaments. O_O



Trident/Beam Trident:

You get below average for the amount of parts here in the tridents.

The only issue here is that the M3 piece tends to show some seam lines.

It was a smart move from Super Nova not just to make a new design of the trident but also the original design. And now that you have the shield, you can repaint this to the TV version colors.



Dragon Fangs:

The amount of parts is really outstanding and you get different tones of green here that makes the Dragon Fang look nice.

We already know there will be tight fittings but let’s just focus on the main issues here. The fins of D11 part and the white fins (part D10 and D11) are prone to breakage if you’re not careful. The painful part is the body of the Dragon Fang consisting of 10 red parts connected by ball-joint pieces (part N2). Attaching the N2 ball joints onto the sockets of the K pieces were really stressful. It was really tight and my fingers are already red because of the spiky sections. :/

Now that you know what’s coming once you try to build your Altron. The Dragon Fang isn’t your usual Altron from the Endless Waltz version with a pincer. These Dragon Fangs from Super Nova features 2 pairs of pincers giving it an alien-like design to it.

Articulation is great because of the ball-joint mechanism and gives you good angles when rotation these fangs.

The red long body of the Dragon Fang are also articulated because of the ball-joint connectors. The K pieces have a design where the N2 parts can fold here.

You also get 2 ball-joint connectors that can be attach on the backpack and replace the original ones.


PS - I retracted the fangs in a wrong position. Took me some time to figure it out. :v



Decals:

It was my first time using DL brand waterslide decals. The quality is great but I want to try out a few more once I get to build new kits in the future.



Extras:

As for the extras, you get the usual fixed manipulators that come in different designs. I’m counting the original trident and the shield as part of the extras as well.

The kit also includes a peg that can be attached on the bottom of the waist unit (for action bases).

There’s another connector for the action base where it will hold the backpack instead.



Completed Model:

Articulation Test:

Movement is reduced once you have attached all of the body parts, but you can still give Altron nice angles in terms of its movement range.


With Dragon Fangs:

Rest of the shots:

I apologize if I have very few images for the finished product. I can’t find a good angle because I have bad lighting in my room. I wanted to get a few whole-body shots but my cellphone camera can’t get a clearer focus. :/


And here are my personal ratings for Altron SN…

design based from GDC card

Plastic Quality: 7/10


First of all, I would like to share my comments regarding my ratings because I just want you guys to know what I do. One of the hardest things in being a reviewer is to try to be fair and honest when you give a rating. A commentator back then said I always give an overall rating of 8 on most of the kits I’ve reviewed. I was actually surprised and didn’t notice that. I always put consideration on the numbers (Plastic Quality, Detailing, etc) and these are based on my personal thoughts regarding the kit. There will be no biased judgment and/or favoritism (I always try to) in what I say. *crossed fingers* It’s really hard especially if you are reviewing one of your “hype” or favorite model. LOL


Q: How you do calculate the overall ratings?

A: As I said, I put the numbers of each section into consideration. I have 8 sections and 4 of them are the major ones. The minor ones can also affect my overall rating as well if it has a huge impact to the model (Weapons and Extras). As an example, we’ll use Altron’s rating. I have given it two 8’s, three 7’s, and two 6’s. Any numbers below 5 are not counted on my calculation. Since there are three 7’s and most are below 7, it’s an automatic 7 for Overall Rating. Even if there were two 9’s and then most of the numbers are 7 and below, the result is still a 7. I mean two 9’s cannot outweigh the majority of the lower sections. Think about this – just because I have 9 on detailing of a certain kit and the rest are bad with 7 and below ratings, should I give the kit an overall rating of 9?


But if a certain kit got a lot of big numbers, I balance them between 7 and 8. Example is if a model got two 9’s, three 8’s and two 7’s, then the rating would be an 8. I would still give it an automatic 8 if there were three 7’s, two 8’s, and two 9’s. Why is that? Well I did say that other sections can put an impact on the model kit. I noticed other builders that they don’t mind the articulation as long as it has good weapons, or gimmicks, or other freebies. I can’t remember a model kit I have reviewed, but I am sure there is one where I felt the same thing.

Anyways, were moving back to the topic and Altron’s plastic quality isn’t bad but it wasn’t the best Super Nova could offer. The texture is mixed with rough and smooth parts. They should have just stick with a glossy surface on most of the parts. The runners with the yellow and red seem dull in my opinion. The two tones of green used here were nice and only the texture irritates me. The color reminds me of BTF’s ZZ Gundam and that means you may want to repaint the model to get a better color. The good factor to point out is that Super Nova gave some of these runners the “under-gated” treatment so removing the nubs isn’t much of an eyesore. There were also minor flashes on the edges that need some sanding to make it look clean.


Assembly: 7/10

It felt like TT Hong all over again after building it from Head Unit and down to the last armament. A lot of the fittings were tight and sometimes it makes me nervous to use too much force when I try to fit the pegs. I don’t want to break any parts or else my friend would be disappointed. :/

Make sure you check all the parts before fitting them all together. If you forgot to place the polycaps or any small pieces that needs to be attached first, you will deal with more problems in disassembling them. Try to trim or sand the pegs a little bit so you get to fit them nicely. Not much of an issue on my side because I have already experienced a lot of tight fittings during the TT Hongli age. XD


Detailing: 8/10

First, is my opinion regarding its new look. Everyone was hyped after it was shown through the net. Super Nova gave it a fiercer aura because of the new design where the Dragon Fangs are attached on the back. It has this intimidating look especially with that cross-arm pose. But it has a number of dislikes as well. There are also fans who like Altron in its original design where the Dragon Fangs are attached on the arms and not on the back. I agree with them saying that Super Nova should have focusing in ADDING the detailing and NOT changing its overall design. I mean, Altron could have gotten a nice new look where the Dragon Fangs are still attached on the arms. Super Nova did include the same gimmick, but it’s not the same as the one in the Endless Waltz version. Anyways, it’s Super Nova’s idea to go for the new looks and we got that hint after getting a glimpse of their Sandrock.

Second is the detailing on the other parts of model. The panel lines were nice because they were deep and sharp. They have added raised surfaces on some of the parts which is also cool. The parts separation with the bared inner frame looks great. This is definitely a nice make over for the model kit and it is a good news for us straight builders who doesn’t have the skills to step up YET.

What I don’t like is the ridiculous amount of foil stickers just to get the same look on the box art. What’s even disappointing is that the quality of the foil stickers is really bad that you can’t stick it on the surface. Please do take note the images on the box art are painted and it was a very deceiving way to lure the builders. But even without the stickers, Altron looks great thanks to waterslide decals provided.


Articulation: 8/10

It was good that the design didn’t affect the range of movement. Even with the Dragon Fangs attached on the back or the arms, you can still do a lot of nice poses. I just don’t have a decent lighting in my room and a good camera to use so I didn’t bother featuring other poses.

The Dragons Fangs’ body features good articulation as well thanks to ball joint mechanism. And the fangs itself are also articulated so you get to use them in grabbing another mobile suit’s head. :P


Gimmicks: 6/10

The only gimmick I can see here is that you get to use the Dragon Fangs in a lot of way because of its articulated body. Not to mention that your arms are now free because they are attached in the back. Still, I like the original design from Bandai. But not the nub marks and cleaning to do on each part of its body. xD


Weapons: 7/10

Well Super Nova included the original beam trident and the shield from the “ver EW”, so you get a lot of stuff in this model kit. I like the new design on their trident and it it’s pretty nasty-looking. So nasty I got a few minor cuts on my fingers while building it. >_>

Parts separation featured in these armaments is really nice so you get lots of options if you want to them paint. And let’s not forget the main iconic weapon of Altron – the Dragon Fangs featuring a nice new look with good parts separation.


Extras: 5/10

It was generous of Super Nova to include two extra armaments and a waterslide sheet. You also get extra fixed manipulators if you want to do some photoshoot. There are also two pieces of clear base and two clear rods that you can use to support the Dragon Fangs. The rods aren’t much of a help since the fittings are already tight and they can hold out on their own.


Patience: 6/10

If this was your first kit, then the major problem you will encounter here are the tight fittings. Take it slow if you aren’t used to these kinds of issues. That’s all I can say regarding the Patience section.


Overall Rating: 7/10

This kit is really great because of its new design. I hope Super Nova can improve their plastic quality because I prefer them with a glossy finish and it feels like it is better that way considering the new look. It can’t be blamed on them because this was their first shot. I will not recommend this kit to beginners unless they have tried a few kits from TT Hongli. But this is a good kit for those who love painting. You have nice options if you want to repaint the colors again or try out a new color scheme because of the parts separation.

I am also looking forward for Super Nova’s own set of waterslide decals. They just used the ones from DL brand. But at least I get to check the quality of their product. I hope I get to review Sandrock as well because it seems they have improved a lot and learned from their mistakes with Altron (no more huge foil sticker sheet), or so I’ve heard.

That is all I can share with you guys regarding this kit. If I have missed something, just comment and share them out. Feel free to ask questions on things I may have overlooked I will try to reply quickly.


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