MHF-01DR Load Astray Double Rebake
This wasn’t one I was expecting. Well, I was expecting it to arrive; I did preorder it. What I mean is I wasn’t expecting this particular unit or gimmick to show up in Re:Rise. I get Tsukasa is a popular character, but even Riku only got a recolor with new weapons. I also wasn’t expecting the back-to-front gimmick. With all the Core-Types in this series, and seeing those feet hanging off the back of the unit in promotional footage, I was expecting this to be another Core with very detailed armor. I’m glad to be wrong on both accounts, as this is a cool unit, but it’s just strange how out-of-left-field it feels.
The Good: This is a fun build with some interesting construction. It’s not insanely complex, but it’s relatively straightforward and makes good use of its parts. There’s not as much deconstruction to get between its two modes as you’d think, either. A little bit in the shoulders, popping the wrists off, and removing the feet so you can make clearance for the new legs. And it’s a pretty stark contrast between modes. It gains an insane amount of height, and the redistribution of parts creates a very different robot than when you started.
There are a few oddities on this unit, like with the Wodom Pod. Not nearly as many, but an unused port on the back of the skirt, unused ports on the backs of the ankles. I wonder if there’s future plans for this unit, though as we only had a single episode of Divers Battlogue, I don’t know where it would come from.
The Bad: With both the Astray No Name and Galbaldy Rebake, its issues come down to posability. The shoulder cape gets in the way all the time when trying to pose the arms as Cuadro, and all the back bulk on the legs limits the range of the knees (it has great ankles, though).
Reverso, while cool looking, suffers from some of the issues you might expect from an alternate mode like this; no posability. Those legs are very tedious, are required to be fully bent to stand, and have trouble standing anyway. The arms have a bit more range than as Cuadro, but are still hindered by the shoulders. It’s a cool-looking mode that’s only meant to look cool.
The issues I have with the kit proper are the yellow Reverso chest pieces and white shoulder armor should have been plastic and not stickers. I understand why the shoulders weren’t, seeing as they were being sold as a separate set, but the chest feels pretty inexcusable considering they had a yellow insert for the belt buckle of all things, but not a much more prominent detail. It also stresses very easily. Granted, I was doing a few things I think I wasn’t supposed to, but even when I was trying to extend the handled on the rifles I ended up putting a little stress on those parts. Be careful.
The Details: I added my usual amount of black panel lining and detailing throughout the unit. Lots of vents and gaps here that could use it. I also replaced all the stickers. There were a number of metallic blue ones all over, some blue on the waist and hips which I managed to color match pretty well, a lot of minor face details, and the two parts I mentioned previously; the yellow chest vents and white shoulder plates. It’s not a lot of paint, but it’s light colors going on top of dark plastic, including the dreaded yellow.
Normally I shave off the added safety nubs on the horns, which I had to do 6 times on this guy, but I also cut the guard bar off the rifles. I know it’s canonically supposed to be there, but it blocks the barrels and I wanted it gone.
Overall, this is not a bad kit, it’s just one lacking posability and requires a lot of paint if you don’t want to sticker it. But with a little love and attention, you can get it to look great and put it in a decent pose that’ll look good on your display. This is one I’d actually say you might have more fun straight building rather than doing anything fancy, which I think is a first for me.