Title: RX-77-2 Guncannon
Scale: 1/144
Grade: High Grade Universal Century (HGUC)
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam
Release Date: 05/1999 (The first HGUC model kit ever released)
Suggested Price: ¥ 800
No. of Parts: 69 + P.C.-120 polycap sprue
Plastic colors: red, bluish white, greenish gray, yellow
Gimmicks: spray missile launchers
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Where to Buy: Price: $18.88 [amazon asin=B00030EVBQ&text=[Buy from Amazon]]
Finished HGUC RX-77-2 Guncannon Gunpla Picture Gallery
About RX-77-2 Guncannon
The RX-77-2 Guncannon was the second mobile suit design model that stemmed from the Earth Federation's " Vinison Project" or "V Project" in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam.
Technology & Combat Characteristics
The Guncannon was a step up from the RX-75-4 Guntank; while the Guntank was more "tank" than mobile armor, the Guncannon was a true mobile suit with limbs. However, it did share the Guntank's Core Block System, using the same FF-X7 Core Fighter. It is based on the data of the RXM-1 prototype bipedal robot.
The first Guncannon was the prototype RX-77-1A Guncannon A, which had poor mobility due to its heavy armor. The second version, RX-77-2 Guncannon, corrected this problem. As defensive weapons, it mounted two 60 mm Vulcan guns in the head. However, the Guncannon's primary weapons were the twin 240 mm cannons mounted on the shoulders, which were used for the mobile suit's design purpose: mid-range support. The Guncannon was also the first mobile suit used by the Earth Federal Forces capable of firing a beam rifle.
The Guncannon was less mobile but more heavily armored than its cousin, the RX-78-2 Gundam. Unfortunately, the extra armor provided no additional protection against beam weapons, and powerful conventional weapons were capable of causing severe damage. It also lacked any sort of melee weapon, making it helpless when an enemy mobile suit got too close. Also, its 240mm cannons only held 20 rounds per cannon, meaning the pilot had to learn how to conserve cannon ammunition and use it wisely.
Where the Guntank was designed as a long range support unit, the Guncannon is the mid range support for the Gundam. Like the RGM-79 GM, the Guncannon was also manufactured at Jaburo.
Armaments
- 60mm gatling cannons "vulcan guns"
- Dual, head-mounted, triple-barreled gatling cannons in caliber 60 millimeter. Each gun is loaded with 400 rounds of ammunition and fires at a rate of 1600 rounds per minute. Primarily for the elimination of aerial and light armor targets. With sustained fire, can cause damage to enemy mobile suits.
- 240mm cannons
- One mounted over either shoulder, each mid-range fire support artillery cannon is fed by a twenty (20) round internal magazine located inside the main body of the Guncannon. Each 240x800 millimeter shell has a 95 kilogram HE fragmentation warhead, with a casualty radius of 40 meters. Can fire to distances up to 2.5 kilometers.
- Spray missile launchers
- A replacement for the 240mm cannons, the spray missile launcher consist of 12 tubes, each tube containing two (2) missiles for a total of 24 missiles per launcher.
- BAUVA*XBR-L (Bauva eXperimental Beam Rifle Long-range)
- The Guncannon can be equipped with a larger and longer-range portable mega particle cannon than the RX-78 GUNDAM. It is powered via an internal energy capacitor with an average charge of fifteen (15) rounds. Each beam is capable of tearing through the medium and heavy armor of enemy MS and MA. Maximum effective range of 2.8 kilometers.
- Hand grenades
- Each RX-77-2 Guncannon comes with two (2) HEDP fragmentation hand grenades stored one per lower leg inside a secured hatch. All the Guncannon need do is reach down and pull the grenade from the storage rack. Once this is done the grenade is already armed. There is a five to seven second fuse, allowing enough time for the Guncannon to throw the grenade safely away. The average throwing distance is about 300 meters.
Special Equipment & Features
- Core Block System
History
During the Zeon attack of Side 7, only one RX-77-2 Guncannon survived the attack. It was stationed aboard the Pegasus-Class assault carrier White Base and piloted by Kai Shiden. However, when the White Base made its way to Jaburo, another unit was transferred to the White Base to replace the Guntank. It was piloted by Hayato Kobayashi. To separate the two units, they were named the "C-108" and "C-109". Both units were heavily damaged at the last battle of the One Year War at the Zeon's space fortress A Baoa Qu. Kai's Guncannon later reappears in Hayato's mobile suit museum in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.
The RX-77-2 Guncannon was the only "V Project" mobile suit to ever be produced in limited numbers. It served as a main mobile suit until the Federation introduced the RGM-79 GM; however, due to the high cost of beam weapons, many Guncannon units were armed with conventional machine guns or rifles. Some unlucky pilots were not issued a hand weapon at all, and had to rely on the Guncannon's built-in armaments. In the Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front video game, a three-man Guncannon squad was commanded by young, brash Federation pilot, Lieutenant Agar (who would later become pilot of the RX-78-6 Mudrock Gundam). This team would pursue the infamous "Midnight Fenrir Corps" Zeon special forces mobile suit team up to the Battle of Jaburo. Also in Mobile Suit Gundam: Cross Dimension 0079 video game, at least two Guncannons was used by Albatross transportation team in the Gobi Desert, though game's dialogue said they already lost several of them.
Variants
- RX-77-01 Guncannon (Unit 01)
- RX-77-02 Guncannon (Unit 02)
- RX-77-1A Guncannon A
- RX-77-3 Guncannon Heavy Arms Type
- RX-77-3D Guncannon Heavy Arms Type D
- RX-77-4 Guncannon II
- RX-77D Guncannon Mass Production Type [Source: wikia]
1/144 HGUC RX-77-2 Guncannon Model Kit Review
The first HGUC release was a pleasant surprise. I never really thought of the Guncannon when I thought of Gundam models. I had recently bought the High Grade 08th MS Team and High Grade Fighting Action Endless Waltz kits and was fairly impressed by their level of detail and proportion (the HG 08th M.S. Team kits being the weaker of the two series). I suspected the HGUC series would have roughly equivalent levels of details and articulation. I was wrong....
Basic high-grade head, the main camera visor being a foil sticker like the HG RGM-79[G] GM ground type. The head attaches to a knob on a polycap neck (tastefully hidden inside a collar molded on the torso pieces) like the HG Fighting Action EW Gundams, and is capable of tilting upward at a 45 degree angle (all the better to replicate the Guncannon’s prone firing pose).
More complicated than I expected, mainly to accommodate a yellow vent block, superior to the older plate-type vent parts in earlier releases (this won’t fall off and get lost). Sturdy separate shoulder joints with molded ammo bands serving as posts to mount the Guncannon’s trademark weapons are used in place of older-style pre-molded divided joint posts (or, heaven forbid, arm joint posts molded on either the front or back torso piece only - DON’T GET ME STARTED!!). The cannons themselves can rotate to 90 degrees vertical (the spray missile launchers rotate to 45 degrees). The torso connects to the waist by a post-and-polycap arrangement like the HG Fighting Action kits, the waist polycap allowing the Guncannon to bend back and forth as well as limited side-to-side movement. The backpack attaches by post-and polycap and is stabilized by two tabs from the shoulder plates sticking out the back. The skirt is jointed in front, allowing for extreme leg movement. Unlike the original HG Gundam, this kit does not come with a removable Core-Fighter (there simply isn’t any room for one). The increased sturdiness and poseability of the kit’s design almost makes up for it’s absence.
The shoulders are contained within sleeves simulating the louvre-style anime joints. The upper arms have a feature unique (at the time of it’s release) to HGUC kits: instead of designing a shoulder with a tab-style rotating cuff (where one would attach two upper arm pieces around the joint as in the HG Zaku II-J from 08th M.S. Team), the shoulder parts are molded with a thick rod which the upper arm slides onto like a sleeve. This post-and-sleeve arrangement won’t accidentally catch on seams (as tab-and-block joints are prone to) , allowing for smoother arm movement and more “realistic” posing. The end of the post fits into a polycap at the elbow, which is covered by a piece that fits into the upper arm. The two-part lower arm attaches to tabs on the elbow polycap, making the whole arm rotate left or right versus just the lower arm as in earlier releases. Another polycap serves as the wrist joint for Guncannon’s various nicely detailed plastic hands (the wide variety of polycap hands contained on the PC-120 sprue aren’t needed).
Standard late ‘90s High Grade legs for the most part, the covered knee polycap joint and the separate ankle joint piece (with some surprising mechanical detailing) being the main HGUC features. The feet have nicely molded soles (far better than the rather cursory HG Fighting Action sole patterns and the utterly blank bottoms on the HG 08th MS Team EFSF* kits - UGH!).
Regarding the Guncannon elbow and knee joint covers: these are not true to the anime, which has ribbed hose-like joints (eyeball the pic in the Mecha section). This has proven to be a characteristic of the HGUC line - while very much like the anime or manga version overall, at the nuts-and-bolts level there are occasionally significant design differences to what’s drawn or shown on-screen.
*I believe this kit debuts the term “EFSF” (Earth Federal Space Force), replacing “UNT Spacy”, featured in Gundams 0080 and 0083, perhaps to avoid confusion with “UN Spacy” from Macross.
The Guncannon comes with its anime-featured large beam rifle, and non-anime featured spray missile launchers (I’ve only seen the Gundam compilation movies, so I’m not entirely sure of this. If the spray missile launchers do appear in the anime, I’m guessing it would be towards the end of the series). Four hands are included with the kit (two open hands for the prone firing position, a gun-holding right hand and relaxed left), but the Guncannons grenades (and the above-mentioned Core Fighter) are left out. A sticker sheet is included with the compilation film Guncannon numbers (108 for Kai, 109 for Hayato), but they aren’t necessary to complete the kit.
A very tight little kit, great for posing or foolin’ around with. It’s relatively small size and light weight helps it almost totally avoid the sagging limbs and instabilities of larger-scale kits. The crisp molding and relatively high level of surface detail makes it (and all the rest of the HCUC series, in my not-at-all humble opinion) superior to small-scale toys like the MSiA series, and it’s sturdy snap assembly, mostly pre-colored, well-proportioned parts, low price and high availability beats garage kits any day. Recommended! [Source: MAHQ]
[amazon asin=B00030EVBQ&template=banner easy]
Notice: Copyrights of Mobile Suit Gundam, characters, images and related items by Bandai, copyright of review by Jameson Leaser.
1/144 HGUC RX-77-2 Guncannon Model Kit
Source: www.scalemodelmuseum.com
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