GUNPLA review | The weight of Experience / Stellar Kit

The MGSD Barbatos

First of all ... this Kit is stunning. There haven't been many things - in this world - that made me sigh out loud "Oh God" in a positive manner.

Well - I don't know if this is standard for MG - and if so since when. One thing that makes this one outshine my Ecopla Strike Gundam by far, is the Plastic of the inner Frame. And maybe it is also due to its size, that the Armor Plating contrasts so well with it - but the different Plastics come together really well. The colored parts are somewhat soft, the plates are really stiff and the inner frame ... I don't know. It's Premium stuff however. The way it feels ... alone makes this Build an awesome experience.
Whatever it is that they did there, it's absolutely amazing.

One thing I noticed while posing, is that the Armor plates on the shoulders pop off when they get too crunchy with the backpack - and the side panels on the calves interfere weirdly with the heel-plating of the feet. And that's like ... the only negative thing I can say about the whole dang thing. Hmm, the Gun may also be a bit unweildy, but ... if we want to get that specific - I'm moreso impressed by how stable this thing is. All the poses you see on the images I made are done without a stand or any assistance. So, the Katana isn't used as a third leg either. So, they are 'stable poses'.

Easiest to paint - when disassembling - would be the blue. Yellow ... I'm not sure if I would do it and red ... that's like 'complete disassembly'.

So, it is well thought out - I believe, with the caveat here being the unweildiness of the ... Cannon, but ... I'm not sure if that's ... something to be concerned about.

Overall, I think its size makes it Perfect. It's an absolute unit. The feel of it, how solid. It makes the High Grade feel Flimsy by comparison.




Its proportions make sense (I mean that in the sense of "impressiveness"*>) and it somehow intuitively ... "likes" to stand on its toes. They give the model some, dare I say, ridiculous flexibility - though the previously mentioned armor plating does get in the way ever so often.

*> It's ... I have never seen anything this cool in my life. Well, except maybe Goku going Super Saiyan. It certainly resembles a Milestone. A ... "we came out of the mud and from the trees over cooking with fire to this day and age" type of one. Like, if you want to experience Gunpla and you don't know what to go for, but you want it to be cool and impressive, this is like 56 bucks on Amazon. But it's also not entirely easy to build. There are some instances that are somewhat fiddly or puzzling. But when a part is done it's done and it's ... solid.

Skill Issues

I chose not to paint this because ... I felt like it. And yea - without stickers, without anything, it just looks so dang nice. The plate separation is in my opinion panel lining on its own - and the multi-layered plates with the metallic "inlet"s is just ... chef's kiss.
And did I mention the Plastic quality?

Looking at the colored sheet I was a little disappointed at first. Because it's soft, it gave me a somewhat cheap impression. The plastic the Mace is in also didn't pass the initial sniff test. But upon looking closer, I don't know but it looks great. And the inner frame ... I don't know what that is. "Plastarium".

It certainly feels solid.
And so does the combination of it all. Ultimately.

And while building it I tried to focus on finding the ideal cutting position for each part, and eventually cut them directly from the runner - with some exceptions. So, I don't mind that there are visible marks - that ... I think kind-of adds to the charm.
Like ... it isn't a "Gundam" in the sense of being a Model to a Gundam as in the show, it's its own ... type of thing. Gunpla.


This little excourse I excuse to be here -in order- to write about Experience.
And about Art. Perhaps Love. But ... to keep it short ...


The previous text describes a 'drive' that we have that makes us stubborn. The experiences we have are the stepping stones for our mindsets; And the more we use them to step out into the world, the more we learn about our environments.

Posing this thing ... that should almost be a human right, for instance. Though also a privilege to be earned. It's a meditational thing. To see it as an experience that's also a physics exercise. But not sports. Or ... sports for the mind and the senses.

Like, posing it isn't as easy as it comes. I would say, start with the head and the arms, the position the torso - and then find some way to make it stand.


And that is why "we smoke weed". To open the inner eye and have experiences beyond the sterility of the soberplane. Maybe to each their own - but there is also a matter of attuning the inner eye to the world around at play.

The world around us ... fill in the blanks ... - and what drugs we use can matter. Like, when I'm high I don't like to be "outside". Unless ... it's cozy. I like to let my mind wander, soak up whatever I can and improve my ways of thought. Or how to put it. The picture I'm trying to draw involves a line that sits between different environments. Calm and Peaceful versus Loud and Hectic for instance. And however the drug synergizes with different 'states' - it can either enhance or [opposite negative] them.


What we become is in all of that hard to tell. We can aspire for goals - certainly - but whatever the idea of that is or produces, is next to what actually happens. What happens and how our response or activity leads to the next - that is inseparably a part of who we are. It's woven into us - "our past defines us" some people say.

Anyhow ...


What I'm getting at is - uhm, also that I'm relying on my experiences to navigate this hodgepodge that is my current mindscape. "Where ever the wind does carry" ... is pretty accurate when it comes to this.

Like - there's no logical reason why I should now write about the Enlightenment part of my message; But other than that somehow it makes sense because what I have to offer ultimately requires a fertile mind. As the parable of the sowman goes - it's about ... our mental states; As to move into a state of focused curiosity for instance. Or ... whatever is appropriate at the time. And to get in touch with the divine - well ... one must find the time, within themselves, to reach out for it.


Something something ... something else.