Review: Bandai HG Weissritter

Super Robot Wars is Bandai Namco’s tactical RPG game that smashes together just about every mecha franchise Bandai has the rights to. Playing the game will give you never-before-seen interactions between different Gundam pilots, like Suletta Mercury and Heero Yuy!

This week, we’re sharing a review of an unusual Gunpla: a nonscale High Grade model that’s unique to the Super Robot Wars universe, the HG Weißritter (which we will localize here as Weissritter). Read on for Gunpla 101 contributor Arthur’s full review of the kit.

First Impressions

Unlike most Gunpla models, the Weissritter isn’t from one of the Gundam anime series or manga, it’s actually from a spin-off called Super Robot Wars. The Super Robot Wars series is a turn-based game where mobile suits from all the various mecha anime (including many of the Gundam Series) fight in a war against each other, and has led to some unique exclusive mobile suits, the Weissritter being one of them. It debuted in Super Robot Wars Compact 2 Part 2 in 2000, and was something I never expected would get an official Bandai release, so imagine my surprise when I saw it sitting on the shelves at a Gundam Base!

It was an instant purchase, and after looking back on the quality and the build, it was a great decision.

Color and Design

This kit has a very unique design, with a stocky body reminiscent of the MSK-008 Dijeh and X wings like the Crossbone Gundam. However, the most outstanding feature is that absurdly large Octan Launcher that it carries. When standing upright, it’s even taller than the mobile suit!

This kit has amazing color separation which isn’t too hard to do when there’s only three major colors. This is most evident in the shoulders, shown by the layered wing-like shoulder pads. I wish there was a little more detail in the legs and waist, since there should be more yellow vents in both areas that the kit doesn’t have, but for a High Grade the amount of detailing suffices.

Difficulty

As a High Grade kit, the difficulty of this build is relatively low. However, there are a lot of runners for this particular kit. Nothing crazy like the overly large Hathaway models, but still a good amount of runners for its size. Since the kit is a newer release (March 2025) the instructions are very straightforward and fully explain the entire build process. There is very limited use of stickers as well, which I’ve always found personally difficult.

Articulation

The articulation for this kit deserves serious praise, and is comparable to Master Grade kits in this regard. The forward and backwards movement in the hips is very limited by the skirt but there is virtually no restriction in sideways movement. The knees can fully bend until the thigh and the calves are touching. The shoulders can extend the joints outward for additional range of motion and the head joint can also raise and lower so the chin doesn’t get stuck on the collar of the upper body. The abdomen even has additional flexibility, being able to bend at the waist for even more movement. This lets the Weissritter pull off some seriously dynamic poses. All this is possible even without the use of ball joints! Just be careful as I’ve noticed that some of the joints are rather loose and the appendages tend to pop out when posing.

Extras

The main weapon of this kit is definitely the Octan Launcher that it carries, but it has some other extras as well. The Weissritter also comes with two beam sabers, a wrist mounted triple beam cannon, and open, closed, and trigger hands for posing. This is also one of those rare kits that comes with an Action Base (7) included with the kit, so no need to buy one separately for your posing needs.

If you happen to buy a HG Gespenst as well, the Weissritter is compatible with the split missile pods and you can attach them to the backpack (I wish I had the HG Gespent so I could see how the kit looks with the missile pods).

Final Verdict

To finish the kit, I’ve noticed there aren’t many sections where you can panel line. The pieces are all very smooth, and the areas that would normally have panel lines already are color separated. Because of that, I decided to just dirty up the kit with some soot Tamiya Weather Master. I added a little bit of color variation to the Octan Launcher with some light gun metal Tamiya Weather Master, but it didn’t exactly turn out the way I was hoping.

The Weissritter is definitely worth it. It’s a great, relatively simple build experience for a very articulate and dynamic kit, the only qualm I have about it is the price. It uses completely new pieces and runners so Bandai had to make new mods for the kit, however at $50 on Amazon I can’t say it’s a slam dunk. Its Japan release was ¥4950, the equivalent of $31 USD, so if you can, get it in Asia where it will be much cheaper. Otherwise, I would hold off on buying the Weissritteer unless you have some money to spare.

As a P-Bandai fanatic, Arthur is constantly on the lookout for ancient hobby shops that hold past relics. Currently, he’s obsessing over the release of the MG Cross Contrast Astray Variants.