The 'Windam' is a successor to the 'Dagger L' mass production mobile suit from "Gundam Seed Destiny". This, the Dagger L and Dagger are all based on the Strike Gundam and its modular design, from "Gundam Seed", based in the 'Cosmic Era' timeline.
Aesthetics:
The model kit is anime accurate and the mobile suit itself is mostly color correct with the exception of some minor details.
The Windam itself comes in a royal blue, pure white, darker teal and some grey inner parts and thrusters, while the flight pack attachment comes in an almost lilac grey. It has a yellow V fin.
The color separation is quite good, surprising even, considering it's a cheap grunt kit and it has a fair amount of details, such as the inside of the shield which has molded missile launchers and a good amount of panel lines on the flight pack.
On the negative side, the color correcting sticker sheet is huge. One sticker is for the blue visor on the head, two are for the head cameras, one is to color correct the "fin" on the front of the shield from blue to yellow and then eight of them to color correct the flight pack, six of them dark grey and two of them orange for the wing tips.
The problem is that they all fold around parts, meaning that they will eventually loosen and peel off. The worst one is the one on the shield, because there's already yellow plastic on the runners for the V fin, so why not cast a part for the shield!?
There are guides on the plastic on where to put them, so it's not hard to do, just annoying.
The mobile suit itself looks good, the aggressive V fin is fun and the colors are nice and strong.
Mechanics:
The articulation is fairly basic and the arms are single jointed. Nothing really stands out.
The vents on the calves go slightly up and down and the thrusters on the side of the calves spin around, as it's just a piece pegged into the leg.
The Windam is a simple'ish grunt kit - The double C clip leg joints used in other kits, like the Maganac or Leo, which are designed to be quick to build, so you can have a little army, if you want. The rest of the kit is more involved than the other 'fine build system' kits, due to a higher degree of color separation (more parts) and aforementioned stickers.
Although the design is completely different, the ankle armor tends to fall off, just like the Leo. Must be tradition.
Being a Seed grunt kit that's based on the Strike Gundam, it is compatible with striker packs (2014 HG Aile Striker) and in fact comes with a flight pack of its own, which has its own articulation.
The flight pack can turn 90 degrees and the wings go up or down for a full 180.
Equipment:
1 Flight pack with 2 detachable missiles and 2 detachable rocked pods, all in dark grey. All four of them tend to fall off, since the fit isn't very good.
1 long Beam Rifle - It has a handle that looks like it swings, but doesn't. It's just 2 pieces of plastic put together. Looks okay, but it's an odd choice.
1 Shield that has two attachment points and goes onto one of two ball joints on a clip that goes on to either arm.
2 Beam Saber Hilts that attach to the side skirts. Comes with 2 beam saber effect parts.
2 holding hands.
Conclusion:
It's a nice grunt mobile suit that stands out. It's a little taller than average model kits and it does look quite good, though it might stand out a little much in the vivid and saturated colors. The teal looks *great*.
Normally I'd deduct from the score due to the stickers and single elbow joint, but the fact of the matter is that it's a cheap kit and the jet pack is an "extra". While you rarely saw this mobile suit without the jet pack in the show, it's meant to be extra equipment.
There's nothing wrong with the kit other than the missiles being a little loose, so it gets full marks.
