TT Hongli MG 1/100 Strike Noir Review.TT Hongli MG 1/100 Strike Noir Review

I bought this one at the same time when I bought the TT Hongli PG WZC last month at Chow Kit. It was the only MG they had there and luckily, I wanted it. Looking at the box itself, I noticed that this is TT Hongli's first MG.

GAT-X105E - Strike Noir (Gundam)
Pilot: Sven Cal Bayan
Height: 17.72m
Weight: 90.51t

About the Gundam:
Strike Noir is an upgraded Strike, improving various functions from its predecessor. Its piloted by a natural, Sven Cal Bayan in the SEED OVA SEED C.E. 73 Stargazer. Read the manual scans (if you dare) for further information. =)

Read on for the box, box open, runners, manual scans and building process.

EDIT (30/01/10): Added some more detailed explanations.
EDIT (02/02/10): Wrong body part name for elaboration on the legs... knee guards, not the ankle guards. ^^;

Part 1: Box

Just like the other two I have reviewed recently, I had to take the photos while in the hotel. The shots came out pretty nice though.

Part 2: Box Open!

As per usual, TT Hongli is VERY stingy with platic bags. There are only TWO plastic bags used and the runners are pressed onto each other VERY RIGHTLY. Not a good thing. Because of that, some parts came off the runners already...

Part 3: Runners

Note that some of the runners have duplicates. Also, note that the runners are mostly in a matt like color where it doesn't shine like a Bandai original. Good or bad, depends on your preference.

Part 4: Manual Scans

Enjoy the rather large and hopefully very readable manual scans this time. I feel it is better translated than the Destiny one overall. ^^;

Part 5: Building Process
Make sure you have a knife and superglue ready before building any bootleg. You'll also need a screwdriver for this one as well. Plus, some good ol' patience doesn't hurt...

Part 5.1: Torso

At first I wanted to avoid using the screws for the shoulders but it seems that it needs it or else it will be VERY loose. OTL.

The armor parts are actually a little different than the Strike. The cockpit hatch has also been improved! The chest vents are little annoying to put on though.

As you can see, the exhaust vents also has newer parts. This makes the final product closer looking to the boxart especially for us OOB-ers. ^^

Part 5.2: Head

I actually almost lost the black part shown in the second shot. @_@ Luckily I managed to find it.

Also, the V-Fin is a little hard to put in though but not impossible. The face needs a little extra effort too...

Part 5.3: Arms

Note that I didn't push the whole top armor part for the arms in the shot above. I already fixed that though. ^^; I noticed that the elbow is a little loose... hopefully it won't cause any problems later...

The shoulders have been modified from the Strike. Sadly, it looses compatibility to two of the Striker packs because of the thrusters...
If you want to, please put some superglue for the yellow parts to prevent them from dropping off...

Part 5.4: Legs

The feet have been modified from the Strike as well. They are slimmer and has some added functions.

Some changes in appearance for the armor parts. The ankle guards feels less "wonky" too... but we'll see that after I start actually playing with it. >_>
As an early note, the sliding armors on the thighs kinda like to drop off once in a while. Superglue them on if you don't want them to drop off. The knee (not ankle, sorry) guards also tend to drop off... nothing I can do about that though as using superglue for that will kill off its articulation.

Part 5.5: Waist

The front and side skirts got some changes as the Strike Noir uses mostly ranged weapons.

Part 5.6: Noir Striker

I actually missed the long part for both the cannons... OTL I hard to force remove the parts causing the very tight connections to break. With some help from trusty old superglue, I put the cannons back together nicely in the end. Phew.
I also superglued all those yellow parts on. Some of them are rather loose so I don't want to risk them disappearing on me later...

The swords are very straightforward and easy to build though.

Middle section of the backpack.
There are some small thin pieces of plastic that really needs some superglue to stay on or else they will just drop off when you move the mechanism later on.

After all that, put em' together. The sword holder is bit loose though... urk.

Part 5.7: GUNS!

Beam rifles with grenades. Painted the clear part green on the underside (not shown).

The same rifle as the Strike... kinda don't care about this one actually. XD
I painted the sensor with blue if you can see it.
The clear piece doesn't look so nice though. A bit rough on the edges.

If you look closely, one side of the sensor can be moved up and down... and yes, I lost one of the pistol's mouth. ORZ.
Oh yeah, after watching one of prime92's videos on Youtube, the mouth is lose-able. Thus, please superglue it onto the pistols or else you would lose it forever like me... @_@

Part 5.8: Extra Hands

The Strike Noir also come with 3 extra HG-ish hands. This is so that it can hold its weapons better... Bandai was too lazy to give it better hands in the first place anyways.

Part 6: Preview

Okay that's all for the first part of the review. I can say that I built this one REALLY, REALLY slow as I didn't feel the mood to build it for some odd reason. Weird. Maybe I'm just burnt out. XP

Anyways, should I try to apply the clear stickers and decals? If I do it, the next part of the review will be delayed for a while as I would like to build some others first as the clear stickers and decals could be a pain. >.>;

Part 1: Box, Box Open, Runners, Manual Scans & Building
Part 1.5: Clear Stickers & Decals
Part 2: Articulation, Gimmicks, Action and Conclusion

Time for yet another finisher to something I think many of you are curious about! Is this bootleg MG good or bad?! Read on to find out the conclusion!

A total of 98 shots with no edits what-so-ever (Sorry, no story this time, as 1/100s are harder to do.)!

Part 1: Articulation & Gimmicks

Shoulder can move forwards and back. Same goes for the Noir Striker.

Arms can go pretty high like most MGs. Legs spread are limited due to the use of a ball joint.
I also have to warn you that the legs will tend to pop off the ball sockets if you move em' a little bit (but its not as awful as it sounds). I suggest using the superglue trick for the ball joints and try to tightly insert the legs into the waist. Other than that, if you have some spare polycaps from an original MG, you can try that instead.

Great articulation for the arms.
Note that the rear skirt armor can move a bit also but please don't stress that part too much or else it'll break.

Improvement from the Strike - the hands can also turn up and down just like the Astrays.
Warning - the lower elbow joint is quite loose. It can lock a bit at a certain point but it won't easily carry any heavy weapons such as the combined shield from the I.W.S.P.. It has no problems handling lighter, normal weapons, such as its own weapon.

The head can't turn much though since it has a long armor piece covering the neck. O.o

The cockpit is slightly easier to open this time as compared to the rather difficult Strike. Of course, having long nails or something thin and sharp comes in handy here...

The waist can't turn much as the front skirts and rear skirts prevents some movement here.

You can open the armor piece near the elbow to allow it to use some arm installed armaments such as a shield.

The Striker Pack connection here can shift front and back a little. It has some kind of piston-ish mechanism to it also.

Besides the obvious turning point at the "circle" region, the wings can also turn at that point. Thus, it has two moving points. Neat.

The linear gun can be pulled out as so. It has three moving points that allows it to turn and "twist". Note that I said that I messed up these parts when building them... so sometimes they tend to open up... ORZ.

The small wings on top can also bend 90 degrees.

This is an important "trick" as it is detrimental for the boxart pose or what I like to call "Freedom wings effect". I only found out that I can indeed do this pose but by tricking the sword handle into getting "stuck" onto the gray part... the shot should give you a good idea how.

Part 2: Action!

*BA-SHUUUUNG + PEW PEW PEW*
Linked linear guns and dual beam rifle action!

Dual Fragarach 3 beam blade action! Looks kinda plain IMO... but big swords are always good!
Note that the "sword hands" doesn't seem to close completely.

Dual beam pistol action! I really love dual pistols more than single beam rifles (yes, Cherudim is win). Of course the dual beam rifles just now are more win. *_*

Rocket anchor action! They give you two wires but I find that they are a bit thick to go into the holes properly. Thus, I had to shave the tips a bit so that they can go in better but not necessarily perfect. You can shave open the holes instead if you want.

Part 3: Comparison with "Big Bro" (Strike)
Before you say, "Why does your Strike somewhat different?!", my Strike lost its forehead crystal and broke one side of its rear skirt armor. Because I can't live with a forehead-crystal-less Strike, I had to custom one... though it is bigger. =X

Note: Strike here is an original Bandai product. Got it as my first MG. ^^


Besides the obvious external differences, there are some changes internally as well.

The "claps" is smaller on the Strike Noir. It is kinda useless though.

The arm section here has a different internal frame.

With that said, Strike Noir also has more armor pieces at the arms.

The legs are also different. The Strike Noir, luckily, has an improved connection design for the ankle guards. Thus, the ankle guards will not fall of as easily as the Strike ones...

Part 4: Striker Pack Swappin'
Note: Strike and Impulse are both original Bandai products. ^^

Part 4.1: Strike E

Beam rifle is its own while the shield is borrowed from the Strike. It doesn't look so good though... yeah. ^^;

Essentially, the beam rifles between Bandai and TT looks virtually the same except that the scope for the bootleg doesn't look so nice.

Part 4.2: "Strike Noir"

The pack fits in nicely but the color scheme doesn't match that well. XP

Part 4.3: Impulse Noir
You saw those promo shots of the MG Sword Impulse and now... I can do it too!

If only the Impulse has a darker color scheme, this would work really well. It looks quite awesome. o.o

...and it basically steals the spotlights! Well, not really. XD

Part 4.4: Sword Strike E

Just like any SEED suit that can use the Striker packs (that's not the original Strike)... this one also can't use the shoulder parts, sadly. )=

*cough*

Part 4.5: Launcher Strike E

Very bare since it cannot use the shoulder part... ^^;

Part 4.6: Strike E + I.W.S.P.

Weirdly, this one doesn't want to properly stick into the back unlike the rest. O.o It tends to drop off so you guys better don't try this without preparations. Hmmm... looks like I have almost every Striker pack of the Strike now... except the Aile Striker. @_@

Part 5: Conclusion
As for the variation itself...
Pros

• More detailed than the original Strike at some parts
• Fixed some problems that the original Strike had which are the cockpit, ankle guards and holding capability (hands)

Cons

• Made in 2007 BUT doesn't use the newer, much better, MG hands
• Ball joints for the legs...
• NO STAND!!! (and it costs 4500 Yen?!) (and it is a bit back heavy)
  

As for being a TT Hongli kit....
Pros

• Matt plastic (not shiny like the original)
• Stickers work.
  
• WATER SLIDE DECALS!

Cons

• Some loose parts such as the arms and legs (the arms are not much of a problem unlike the legs)
• Some armor parts tend to fall off but you can superglue them if you want
• The sword holders in the Wings are loose
• Tight packaging can cause some parts to fall off from the runners, so be wary
  

This one may take some patience in building if you want to prevent or lower some of the problems but the final product after that will greatly satisfy you. The legs are the number one thing that really annoy me for this kit which is a similar condition as my HG Virtue. However, with a bit of help from the superglue, the legs wont really fall off the ball joint unless you move it a bit. ^^; Just force it in as hard as you can.

Be careful when you put the pistols on the side skirts as well as they may fall off. But they don't really fall off unless you actually touch them accidentally. This is mostly problematic for the right side but the left side has a more solid connection... so I guess it is fixable. I did sorta fix it with a bit of carving. >.>

The face also likes to drop down once in a while You can just superglue that in. I just didn't since I didn't expect it at first. The rear thrusters are very loose. You can superglue those too if you want.

It is a bit back heavy so you better ready off a stand or action base.

Overall, this MG, being a first by TT Hongli, is pretty decent but not amazing. A bit of work is still needed (like most bootlegs since they can't be perfect) to make it more workable. The legs can be quite annoying though but as you can see from my shots, it won't just drop off just like that.

In the end, I can say that I am pretty happy with this guy. Water slide decals... the best thing TT did for it. ^_^
It is not perfect, but for RM4X, I can't complain much. Just make sure you can hold your patience if you want to get this guy or any bootleg kits from TT. I heard one of the best is the MG Unicorn...

Okay, that all for this review. Stay tune for maybe another review soon or maybe something a little bit different if I can get myself to get this thing more...