Pros
-Quick build
-Easy to snap off runners
-Moderate Sticker use
-Easy transformation
-Several gimmicks, plus crossover gimmicks
Cons
-Requires extra work (painting/panel lining) to look even better
-Some joints are loose and can fall off
-Some sticker trouble spots
I’m sure that most you at some point have seen little chibi versions of various Gundam and mobile suits at one point or another while roaming around the dealer’s hall at a convention or at your local hobby shop. These lil’ guys are the Super Deformed BB Shenshi, a line of Gunpla kits that takes various Gundams and Mobile Suits from the various Gundam anime shows and shrinks them down to size and give them deformed proportions, hence the name Super Deformed. The SD line of Gunpla kits happens to be one of the oldest and longest running line of kits in the history of Bandai. These kits are usually easy to build, require no painting and are affordable. If you are a beginner builder and have no idea where to start, try picking up a SD kit. Like this one that we are going to take a look at, the SD BB Lighting Gundam from Gundam Build Fighters Try.
The SD BB Lighting Gundam is the SD version of the HGBF Lightning Gundam piloted by Yuuma Kousaka of Team Try Fighters. This form of the HG Lighting comes with a beam rifle, a shield and its Lightning Back Weapons System, aka its jet pack with attachment ports. The kit has four runners, one polycap runner and a set of stickers. Parts are easy to snap off the runners and leave little to no trace of nubs and white nub marks. There is moderate sticker used on the Lighting and are located on the eyes, chest, gun, V-fin and head.Patience and a steady hand is needed to put on stickers, but looks good when applied on. However the SD Lighting could use some panel lining and a coat of paint.
Articulation in the joints of the SD Lighting are somewhat limited to only the arms, feet and head. Moving the joints too much cause various parts of the Lighting to fall off, such as the legs, shoulders and arms. You can get a good couple of poses out of the SD Lighting if you are patient enough.
The SD Lighting borders on moderate to heavy sticker usage. The areas of the kit that stickers are uses are as follows: center of the v-fin, eyes, center camera slot, shoulder flaps, shoulder turbines, center of chest, vents on chest, feet. Placing stickers requires a steady hand since some of them need to wrapped around sharp and rounded corners. If off by a bit, stickers will look crooked and wrinkled. There are some areas of the kit were it should be painted, the the top of the feet, but stickers are used in stead. It also needs some panel lining work to make it pop. I suggest taking some time and sprucing the SD Lighting with paint and panel lining.
As for gimmicks, the SD Lighting has a few. Its main gimmick is that it can transform into a jet. With a few simple twist of the arms, feet, shoulders and combining the shield and jetpack, you have a jet. Another cool thing about the SD in its jet form is that the SD version of Build Burning Gundam is able to ride on his back. The other gimmick that the SD Lighting has is that its beam rifle can combine with other parts and can use them or be used by the HG version. One of the weapon combinations is combing the SD’s beam rifle with its jet-pack to form a ridiculously big gun for the HG to use. I tried to use it with the SD, but the gun is so heavy that it tips over. The other combination weapon is the Winning Launcher. The Winning Launcher consists of combining the foot of the Winning Gundam with the SD Lighting’s beam rifle. Both the HG and SD can use this weapon.
Over all this was a pretty fun and fast build, which took about an hour or so. The gimmicks are pretty fun to mess around with, especially if you have the accompanying SD Gundam to pair it with, like the SD Build Burning Gundam or the SD Winning Gundam. The only problem I had with the ik is that where there are areas of the Gundam that are suppose to be painted, a sticker is used, So be prepared to put in some work panel lining and painting the kit if you want it to look better. With all that said I highly recommend that you give the SD BB Lighting Gundam a chance.
