Nerd Builds: MG Gundam AGE-2 Dark Hound

Hey nerds! Sorry once again for the lack of posts, funny getting back from Thanksgiving and then having the hardest week in school. Alas the life of a seminary student, but don't fret! Here is another Nerd Build, and today's build is the 1:100 Master Grade Gundam AGE-2 Dark Hound. This model is taken from the same mech on the Gundam AGE series during the third arc of the story and is piloted by anti-hero Captain Ash.

Awesome box art

This was my first master grade build so I was kinda nervous,  but this was a kit that I really wanted to build, and trust me…that is the most important thing about Gunpla: it's gotta be one you want to build. But I love the "kinda Gundam" with the non Gundam colors and the pirate theme. It's a theme that doesn't come around too often.

Here's the manual.

First MG and there were lots of runners.

We start with the cockpit. 

Please make sure that the orientation of that middle piece is right…

Torso is finally coming together with the chest piece.

The profile with the shoulder polycaps 

This is the hip piece that I broke because I didn't orient the center torso piece from the earlier picture correctly. 

Torso and hip together although not for long.

The inner shoulder/ outer torso pieces were on a hinge which helps out with minor articulation.

The back has a spoiler which makes it look pretty aggressive. awesome.

So yea, this was after I realized the torso piece was on incorrectly, and I disassembled and then reassembled it.

An invaluable tool. Trust me…you're never too good to have some around.

So for the face pieces, and the lens on the rifle, they give you a choice of two colors.  The right one is Yellow.

This guy has a green eye patch like a pirate. SWEET.

The wing and hook assembly 

Arm pieces

Completed arm

Upper body is complete!

Waist assembly begins

Waist flaps 

Back of the waist has the long tail which is cool. 

Almost there... 

The leg pieces

They look like high heels but they're not.

I accidentally snapped another piece on the leg but luckily it came together.

Just a few more accessories and hands.

You can either attach the hooks to the wings or hands for the Dark Hound to shoot,  in with case it comes with wires!

Sweet, but it needs the lance rifle.

The decals on the lance lenses were hard to place, otherwise pretty standard assembly.

Doneskis.

The rifle is pretty long.

On the shelf with the minions.

I really enjoyed this build. My first MG experience was good. I was really glad that I warmed up to it by building the RG RX-78-2 first. And look at him. He's a stunner! The only complications really were caused by me because I put the piece on wrong or accidentally snapped pieces off. The articulation is awesome, I love the slender look of the Gundams from the AGE series. As far as the assembly goes, there were some pieces that were loose, like the shin guard that keeps falling off. I will say though, bigger does mean that you can put in more detail in the pieces which is what master grades are about, but that also means that you notice mistakes more also. Kinda wish that there was a model line that has the details of a master grade, but has size of a high grade…OH WAIT, they do, the real grades! Now we just need Bandai to pump out more varieties of RG's. But all in all. this is an awesome build, my final suggestion is put this bad boy on an action base.

My final recommendation is…BUILD IT! It is a sick looking model. Also I didn't feature it, but it also transforms into a strider mode so you can turn it into a jet.

Strider mode

Hope y'all enjoyed this build and if you read my Thanksgiving post, there are many more Nerd Builds to come!

Blessings!