Above: This is the finished RGM-122 Javelin from V Gundam. It is a simple kit, but builds up nicely and comes with this neat stand. There's a background card, too, but it doesn't really work all that well.

The final chapter in Gundam's Universal Century (UC) saga is that of Victory Gundam, usually abbreviated as V Gundam.  The mobile suit designs for V Gundam are quite a bit different from those in other series, and are fairly small, slight and athletic looking.  This kit, the RGM-122 Javelin, is no departure from this trend.

This Javelin, like all other 1/144 V Gundam kits, is a fairly simple and small model.  The construction of this model is easy in the extreme, and in fact reminds me more of a glorified Kinder Egg toy than a normal model.  The sprues are designed so that they can be laid back to back and pushed together, thereby completing the bulk of the assembly process in a single shot.

That having been said, the Javelin isn't a bad kit, and with proper love and attention can be made to look pretty darned good.  The subassemblies come in very few pieces, and none of the major appendages are in any more that halves.  The lower legs and arms are in two pieces, but the upper legs and arms, shoulder flares and lower feet are all single pieces.  In many ways, this makes life really easy, since there is almost no putty throwing to be done on this little guy.

The joints on the kit are polycapped, but in a different way than most other Gundams.  The knees, elbows and ankles are all polycapped in place with what look like rubber claws.  These do not withstand repeated test fittings, however, so care should be taken when using them.  Hands are a single piece of rubber with a square cross section hole in them.  They are by far the weakest hands of any Gundam I've ever seen, and look more like a rubber boxing glove than a hand.  There's no molding for fingers or a thumb on there; only some vague bulges.

The weapons include the Javelin's signature beam rifle and two weird lances that are designed to act both as weapons and a kind of transportation device.  These bolt to the Javelin's back when in storage, but can be held in the hands by virtue of a folding handle.  These weapons look striking, but paint is needed to really make them come alive.

Some foil decals are included in the kit, but most, as usual, are useless.  I painted my kit with a Frankenstein mixture of Badger Amtrak Blue, Tamiya flat white, Testors MM Acrylic green and a bit of Gunze Pale Green.  Needless to say, having 4 different kinds of paint in one jar could be disastrous.  However, it worked very well, and proved to be a forgiving and tough paint for hand painting.

There's not a lot of detail on the Javelin in terms of etching, but the Gundammarker was used to outline thruster bulges and put on a few detail lines.  The engines were painted Jet Exhaust on the outside and Reefer Orange on the inside.  The engines were all given an acrylic black wash, to make them look used.  This was particularly difficult, since only a few of the engines are separate pieces; most are molded right into the kit.

Above: This shot of the Javelin's back shows some of the engines that had to be black washed while still on the mech.  They are one piece with the backpack.  I didn't bother masking, but things still worked out well.

To finish the kit off, the whole thing was coated in Future.  About 8 coats were applied by hand.  The kit also comes with a clear beam saber and beam shield.  These were given a single coat of Future to make them a little clearer.  The final touch was mounting the model on its included display stand.  The stand makes the mech look like it's hovering, and since the Javelin appears to be a space-use MS, I thought this was appropriate.  I don't normally use the stands that the 1/144 V Gundam kits come with, but this time it was rather handy.

This kit is fairly typical of Bandai's mid 1990's offerings.  It has colour molding, and the styrene is HARD.  This makes any sanding that is required very elbow-grease-intensive.  There is, of course, no aftermarket photoetch or resin on this kit, and I doubt any exists.  The instructions are a single piece of paper, with a picture and a description of the mech on one side, and pictorial instructions on the other.  The oddest thing is that the picture given is clearly of a 1/100 scale Javelin: the hands are different and the engines all appear to be separate pieces.  However, to my knowledge, there was never any such kit produced.

This kit would be a great one for those just getting into building Gundams.  While not overly flashy, it fits together well and the colour is quite unique.  A good use for $6.50, I'd say!

Above: This side view shows the clear beam shield to good advantage.  There is some debate as to what the right colour for the Javelin is - the box and the instructions show 3 different colours, depending on the drawing/photograph!