Classic Gundam has strange designs and the Gyan (happy 20th anniversary to this kit) is probably one of the more peculiar ones, with its 'fencing knight' theme, rounded plate armor and gigantic round shield.
It is a close quarters combat (or CQC) mobile suit meant to coordinate with other mobile suits, charging in with its missile shield and powerful stabbing beam saber.
Aesthetics:
It's fairly obvious that it's a robot knight with a Prussian Pickelhaube helmet tip, which is sharp by the way.
What makes the Gyan model kit interesting, is the effort that designers went to, to make the interior look like a futuristic mecha design and the manual has several pieces of concept art.
You can see the cooling fins behind the vent and there are plenty of inner frame details.
There are next to no panel lines on this kit, however it does make it an interesting choice for scribing, which is why I bought this. Just in general, it lends itself well to customizing, since the panels are simple and fairly easy to pull off and paint.
The kit comes with a sticker decal sheet and a dry transfer sheet - Both are a bit simple/boring, but can provide a lot more personality to all those flat surfaces, especially if you don't paint it.
Mechanics:
It's a 2006 kit with ball-in-socket hips. Articulation is a solid B with some interesting joints in the feet, a tilting backpack, opening cockpit hatch and a mono-eye that moves along the star shaped slit in the helmet.
Much more interesting is the gigantic "rapier" beam saber with a fat and hollow beam part effect made to light up with the included diode hilt (CR1220 flat coin battery not included).
Its other feature is the hefty missile and bomb shield that, besides tilting the model from its weight, can move around on its handle to pose in a firing position.
Equipment:
1 Light up Beam Saber Hilt (with an on/off switch)
1 regular Beam Saber Hilt (either hilt can be stored on the inside of the shield)
1 thicc Beam Saber Effect Part
1 Missile Shield secured on either forearm
1 transparent Needle Missile Effect Part that attaches onto the shield for a cool pretend firing gimmick
3 Ball Mines - Individual "caltrop" shaped space mines that you can lose on the floor and step on (they're supposed to be the 'round' bombs dispensed from the center of the shield)
1 large M'Quve figure
2 1/100 M'Quve mini-figures, one in a standing pose, the other with his favorite porcelain antique
Conclusion:
It's a fun odd-ball kit that to me feels like the Bandai designers enjoyed making.
I've learned from practicing scribing on it, which can be challenging due to its curved surfaces but it's not that bad. Because it's so simple and relatively cheap for a Master Grade, you can modify it fairly easily and lean into the medieval design more or modernize it.
Just in general, I recommend trying out the old Zeon design model kits. Building Gundams gets pretty old quickly, but the occasional Gogg, Gyan or Acguy can really brighten up your day.
