Title: MS-09F/Trop Dom Tropen
Scale: 1/144
Grade: High Grade Universal Century (HGUC)
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Kit No.: # 17
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Release Date: 11/2000
Suggested Price: ¥ 1500
No. of Parts: 104 + 19 polycaps
Plastic colors: Germanic mauve, dark purple, red, light gray, dark gray
Gimmicks: functional trigger finger, extra ammo clips stored around waist
Where to Buy: Price: $19.72 >>Buy from Amazon<< >>Buy from Amazon
HGUC MS-09F/Trop Dom Tropen Gunpla Picture Gallery
Infomation of MS-09F/Trop Dom Tropen
The MS-09F/Trop Dom Tropen is a mass-production ground combat mobile suit, it is first featured in the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, the design was later updated and featured in the photo-novel Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. The unit is piloted by Gaily and Adamsky.
General and Technical Data
Model number: MS-09F/trop
Code name: Dom Tropen
Unit type: localized ground combat mobile suit
Manufacturer: Zimmad Company
Operator(s): Principality of Zeon; Zeon remnants
First deployment: UC 0079
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 18.5 meters
Weight: empty 44.8 metric tons; max gross 79.0 metric tons
Armor materials: super-hard steel alloy
Powerplant: Minovsky type ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 1199 kW
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 2 x 22000 kg, 2 x 7300 kg
Performance: maximum thruster acceleration 0.74 G; 180-degree turn time 2.1 seconds; maximum ground hovering speed 360 km/h
Equipment and design features: sensors, range 6300 meters
Fixed armaments: scattering beam gun, mounted in torso; heat saber, battery powered, stored in recharge rack on back, hand-carried in use
Optional hand armaments: 880mmRB-T27 raketen bazooka, clip-fed, 5 rounds per clip, spare clips can be stored on waist armor storage racks; MMP-80/90mm Ver.8 machine gun, clip-fed, 32 rounds per clip, spare clips can be stored on waist armor storage racks, machine gun can be stored on rear skirt armor storage rack; 280mm Zaku bazooka, cartridge-fed, 4 rounds per cartridge; sturm faust, rocket-propelled warhead, can be stored on waist armor storage racks
Miscellaneous Information
Pilot(s): Gaily, Adamsky
Appearances: Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory; Mobile Suit Gundam: Lost War Chronicles; Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield; Mobile Suit Gundam Battlefield Record UC 0081; Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (novel); Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (anime); Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs.
Original mechanical designer: Hajime Katoki
Technology & Combat Characteristics
An advancement on the YMS-09D Dom Tropical Test Type, the Zeon military introduced the MS-09F/trop late in the One Year War, designed to operate exclusively in localized desert and tropical regions on Earth.
In addition to additional sand filters to protect its equipment, specialized block-shaped armor designed to help keep sand from getting inside, and powerful cooling systems to overcome the desert heat, the Dom Tropen also featured special sand filtering intakes for its leg-mounted thermonuclear jet engines, allowing the mobile suit to retain its high ground hovering speeds without fear of sand ruining the engines.
Armaments
Scattering Beam Gun - The scattering beam gun is a beam weapon mounted in the left side of the Dom's chest. As an offensive weapon the scattering beam gun is completely incapable of damaging an enemy machine. The likely reason is that the scattering beam gun has a very cheap and small focusing coil, even more so than the beam spray gun used by the RGM-79 GM, which causes the mega-particles of the beam to lose all cohesion. Though it cannot do any damage it does produce a bright light that is capable of momentarily blinding eyes and visual sensors.
Heat Saber - The Dom Funf features a heat saber as its standard close combat weapon. The heat saber is battery powered and stored on a back recharge rack. It is unknown what model heat saber the Dom Funf uses however it is undoubtedly at least a Type7 like the Rick Dom II uses, if not a newer model.
MMP-80 90mm Machine Gun - As part of the United Maintenance Plan new weapons were produced that could be used by numerous mobile suits such as the MMP-80 90mm machine gun. The machine gun is magazine-fed with 32 rounds per mag with extra magazines stored on the waist armor.
880mm Raketen Bazooka - A new heavy bazooka that uses a five round magazine. Spare mags can be stored on a waste storage rack.
280mm Zaku Bazooka - A bazooka originally designed for use by the Zaku line of mobile suit. The bazooka is cartridge-fed with four rounds per cartridge.
Strum Faust - An explosive weapon with a rocket propelled warhead. Can be stored on waist armor storage racks.
Special Equipment & Features
Sand Filters - Because the Dom Tropen can be used in desert environments, it required special sand filters to make sure its systems remain operational.- Cooling Systems
History
Not many Dom Funfs were produced before the end of the One Year War. Thus not many could be modified into the Dom Tropen. However at least seven units were produced. Two of them would participate in the theft of the RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis" from the Earth Federation Forces in October of UC 0083. And another four units aided in the defense of Zeon's underground Kinbareid Base in eastern Africa.
In UC 0096, at least one more of these suits was used by Zeon remnants to attack the Federation's Torrington Base in combination with a MS-09G Dwadge and a MS-06D Desert Zaku. Its group would later be destroyed by the regrouping Federation Forces during the Federation counterattack. [Source: Wikia & MAHQ]
1/144 HGUC MS-09F/Trop Dom Tropen Model Kit Review
This beefed up version of the Dom looks like it could handle itself in hand-to-hand for sure. Accessories include a heat saber and hyper bazooka with extra clip. Of course it is pre-colored and snap-together so no paint or glue is required to complete it. Those with an eye for detail will want to add some. Below the review was written by Clem-Master-Janitor.
Part two of Bandai's attempt at a “Unified Complete Equipment Plan,” the Dom Tropen. Will it be a more solid attempt or another sub-par model kit?
Nothing too fancy here, again. The head can swivel good but has a mono-eye that is nothing more than a sticker. Nice details, though.
Like the Gelgoog Marine, this kit has universal left and right arms. The shoulders aren't universal, but you can swap them either way as they mount identical to the Gelgoog Marines. This leads to the same problem as before, the loose attachment points and the cracking sound when you mount them. The sleeves hiding the pegs the elbows attach to seem a bit too loose, making them want to stay put when you try to turn the elbow for shot or saber poses.
On the other hand, both hands have functional trigger fingers. Though the peg is small, the fingers flow smoothly from ready to shoot to saber wielding. Not many kits I've come across in the HG land have this option, except for the Xeku Eins. Both have large hands that allow for the design. The 880mm RB-T27 bazooka slides in and out nice and holds well. Just enough flex allows the arm to hold it without seeming cumbersome like the HG Gundam MK II and its hyper bazooka or needing a special hand molded like the Zaku I. This is nice and allows for a quick swap at any moment between the two.
Lots of good design hidden in the dark colors of the Dom Tropen's chest. The scattering beam gun will need to dab of paint to be visible. Lots of room to swivel around with so you can do some poses. Heat saber fits nicely in its recharge rack behind right shoulder. Unfortunately this tends to line the saber with the place Bandai wants you to locate your spare ammunition on the skirt armor. Tends to either block movements of the upper body or just drop the spares off the kit.
The legs use the same universal parts system like the Gelgoog. It's a pain but works slightly better due to the Dom Tropen's larger size. As expected from the design, the feet are enormous. This works perfect to balance the kit and its larger weapon load out.
The skirt armor flexes pretty nice. Not much resistance to the leg movement like some kits can have. Carved into each piece of skirt armor is a slot for loading up extra ammo. This is a cool little addition as the clips all have letters indicating where the should go. Only bad part is there's a bit of conflict with the heat saber and the clips as they tend to sit best right where the blade of the saber rests. Not much you can really do about it, so oh well. The look goofy anywhere else just because of the curve of the clips.
You get a 880mm RB-T27 bazooka and a heat saber as your weapon options with the aforementioned clips. That's it. All are nicely detailed and fit well enough in their respective places.
I like this kit. The Gelgoog Marine didn't pan out as nicely as this kit does. You know what the kicker is? It says on the armaments section of the instructions that this is loaded out with sturm fausts, 90mm machine gun, the 880mm RB-T27 bazooka, a Zaku bazooka, and a heat saber. You only get the 880mm RB-T27 bazooka, extra clips, and heat saber. Usually you get all the armaments listed in the instructions if you buy a kit. For some reason, they opted not to give it to us.
If you go after the Dom Tropen Desert Colors version, you get a bonus of the 880mm RB-T27 bazooka, a 90mm machine gun, heat saber, sturm faust, and extra ammo clips for the 90mm machine gun. Lots of extra clips. This is a hell of a screw over by Bandai but makes sense if they want you to buy both kits. Damn them for being so crafty. The Devils. Basically, get this version if the bazooka interests you and you don't mind the lighter purple color. Get the Desert Colors if you want all the little added extras.
1/144 HGUC MS-09F/Trop Dom Tropen Model Kit
Source: www.scalemodelmuseum.com
Title: MS-14F Gelgoog Marine
This model portrays the basic "grunt" version of the suit. The MS-14FS officers' custom type piloted by Cima Garahau in the series is also available in the HGUC line. That model features different color molding and special parts unique to that version, but shares most parts in common with this kit.
Assembly starts with the legs, which include movable thruster packs inside the calves. A nice touch is the fact that the backs of the calves are separate panels, allowing the modeler to insert the thrusters after the legs have been assembled and painted. The seams on both the upper and lower leg segments required some attention, but I easily cleaned them up with Zap-a-Gap. The arm segments require some similar work. I encountered one particular problem area on the forearms. The forearm seams run directly through a small inset thruster detail. One must either live with a visible seam that runs through this detail, or fill in the seam and obliterate the detail. I chose to fill the seams on the smooth parts of the forearms, but not where they cross the inset details. I painted the inset areas Flat Black in an attempt to hide the minor imperfection. If I build this kit again in the future, I will drill and file out the inset and insert a scratchbuilt detail piece from the inside, eliminating the seam issue altogether. Four hands are provided, a right fist, a right hand to hold the gun, a left fist and an open left. They are very detailed, but exercise care to avoid damaging the details when cleaning up the mold separation seams.
The HGUC kits are molded in multiple colors via the "system injection" process, to allow beginners or casual modelers to assemble them without paint. The Gelgoog Marine's colors are quite accurate, and I'm sure many builders will be happy to leave it as molded. However, my favorite part of modeling is the painting, so I could never just snap a kit together and leave it at that. I started the painting process with a base coat of Gunze Sangyo Acrylics.
Once painting was completed, I put together the arms, legs and torso as subassemblies, and then combined them to form the final product. These steps went together quickly and easily, but I did need to touch up several places on the legs and feet where the paint was scraped off while working the pieces together. This is a hazard of using acrylics on poseable models. For those who like to change the pose of their models often, many serious Gundam modelers recommend using Gunze's Mr. Color Lacquers instead of the less durable acrylics. A coat of Future on all parts before putting together the subassemblies would also afford the paint some protection from damage. Once the problem areas were touched up, I applied some subtle weathering. Since the Gelgoog is primarily space-based, I decided that there shouldn't be the heavy wear and tear one would see on a ground based Mobile Suit. I highlighted panel lines and details with artist's oil paint washes of black and burnt umber. I used the same washes to create some subtle streaking around the vents on the shoulders and skirt. The black trim on the feet was given a streaky appearance by drybrushing and blending various mixtures of white and black artist's oils.