The World Champion Has Been Crowned! Report From the GUNPLA BUILDERS WORLD CUP 10th Tournament Finals and Podium

The World Tournament Finals and Podium event, which crowned the world champion of the BANDAI SPIRITS-sponsored official GUNPLA world championship, GUNPLA BUILDERS WORLD CUP 10th Tournament, was held online on Saturday, December 17th.

The MCs were Masami Kyogoku and Maxwell Powers, who voiced Sergeant Verde Buster Gundam in SD Gundam World Heroes. Katsumi Kawaguchi from BANDAI SPIRITS Hobby Division, whom fans affectionately nicknamed “Meijin Kawaguchi,” participated remotely.

The tenth tournament was held after a three-year blank since the last one, and it was divided into three categories. It featured twelve works for the Under 14 category and fifteen each for the Under 20 and Over 21 categories, for a total of 42 finalists competing for the world title.
Meijin Kawaguchi judged all the builds and praised the participants’ passion, saying, “Maybe it’s because it’s been three years since the last tournament, but the level is extremely high, and all the participants have gone all out. I also found that many works showed a great understanding of Gundam as a franchise.”

Below, you’ll find all the winners and the comments from the jurors, followed by an interview with the World Champions for each category that was held right after the podium ceremony.

＜Third Place＞
Title: Deamon Hunter
Builder: Lilvalacor
Area: Indonesia
【Juror Comment】
This build is so good that you wouldn’t believe it combined three different kits (HG Sengoku Astray Gundam, BB Senshi Lu Bu Tallgeese, and HG Fuun Saiki.) Each kit originally had a different flavor, so it’s remarkable how the builder designed this work by using the BB Senshi Lu Bu Tallgeese as the main kit and adjusting the details of the others to match it.

＜Second Place＞
Title: Siegrune - The Nobel Crusader
Builder: JOVEN TEH
Area: Malaysia
【Juror Comment】
The palette, including beautiful silver and marbled paints, along with a muted nuance of red, perfectly matches the kit and nicely expresses the builder’s concept of “a noble goddess of war.” The builder could reach the next level by also perfecting the bases and the supports that prop the MS up.

＜First Place＞
Title: Trails of New Type
Builder: Liu HaoWen
Area: Inland China
【Juror Comment】
This impressive piece combines several fully built Mobile Suits. We especially appreciate how each of the MSs has been painstakingly assembled and painted and the ingenious way of showing them as a group.

＜Third Place＞
Title: The Spirit of Zeon
Builder: FA green
Area: Japan
【Juror Comment】
The builder’s knack for modeling is easy to see in how they combined several parts to create a large-sized MA with a silhouette reminiscent of the Neue Ziel. The painting also gives weight to the work, making it an MA that really impersonates the spirit of Zeon.

＜Second Place＞
Title: Big-game Hunter
Builder: Phum Pimpipat
Area: Thailand
【Juror Comment】
The builder’s comment said, “The MG Gundam AGE-2 is an underrated kit,” but we felt that they were able to skillfully express what’s great about this kit. The MG Gundam AGE-2’s back is comparatively simple, so we appreciated how they gave it a personal touch by adding boosters.

＜First Place＞
Title: - THE LAST ZEON -
Builder: Feng ZheKai
Area: Inland China
【Juror Comment】
This build uses the HG Neo Zeong as a base. It’s not easy to feel just how impressive it is from the photos, but despite being a large kit, it has been built with a painstakingly detailed technique. We decided to crown this builder as the champion because of how well the painting conveyed its actual size and scale.

＜Third Place＞
Title: GEX001 - GUNDAM DEUS EX MACHINA -
Builder: HAN HOYONG
Area: South Korea
【Juror Comment】
This work uses the method of building one MS by employing parts from several kits. Its bold modeling places two Aegis Gundams on its back, and its lower half that supports that weight is also impressive. Plus, using a Ζ Gundam mid-transformation on its chest was a fantastic idea.

＜Second Place＞
Title: The Power to Make the Ideal a Reality
Builder: Rin papa
Area: Japan
【Juror Comment】
The builder’s comment said that its concept was “A piece that you can enjoy from all angles,” and just like they say, there are no dead spots in this build. The brightness of the vivid pink accents is impressive. The MS itself is perfect, but the base they built from scratch is also great. To reach even further heights, they might want to adjust the size of their diorama or add illumination effects so that the MS is more clearly the main focus of the piece.

＜First Place＞
Title: Fragments of a Star
Builder: manson ng
Area: Hong Kong SAR
【Juror Comment】
The Gelgoog is the main focus, but a part of the Elmeth’s armor lies like a wreck behind it. The setting and scenario are clearly inferred from every detail of the piece. We were absolutely transfixed by it.

At the end of the podium ceremony, Meijin Kawaguchi wrapped it up by encouraging current and future participants, saying, “Just like in previous years, so many fantastic pieces participated from all over the world. The 11th tournament will take place next year, and we’re already making a start dash toward that. The winners’ works will be published on the tournament’s website, so please take this chance to hone your judgment of other people’s works. When you think about how differently you would have built that work, it will lead to discoveries and new realizations.” The curtain then fell on the wildly successful​​ GUNPLA BUILDERS WORLD CUP 10th Tournament.

We will publish the details of the 11th Tournament at a later date, so please look forward to the announcement.

Q: Tell us what the theme of your work is.
・Liu HaoWen (Winner of the Under 14 Category)
The theme of this build was the richness of the story of Newtypes.

・Feng ZheKai (Winner of the Under 20 Category)
The focal point of my work was to create a large-scale piece by combining several types of parts with complex shapes while still giving it a sense of unity.

・manson ng (Winner of the Over 21 Category)
The theme is “lost love.” I wanted to express Char Aznable’s feelings after he lost Lalah Sune in Mobile Suit Gundam.

Q: Tell us what you put the most work into.
・Liu HaoWen (Winner of the Under 14 Category)
I especially worked hard on the explosion effect. I also paid attention to how effective shadows would be as I painted the piece.

・Feng ZheKai (Winner of the Under 20 Category)
I used several hand-made parts on the top half of the MS. I also put a lot of work into combining and painting the different parts so that the effect wouldn’t be jarring.

・manson ng (Winner of the Over 21 Category)
I thought a lot about creating contrast by placing a green scrap of the Elmeth on the background so that the red Gelgoog would stand out more. It also took me a lot of work to adjust the balance of the composition, since it’s supported by a single prop.

Q: When did you start building GUNPLA, and how long did it take to create this work?
・Liu HaoWen (Winner of the Under 14 Category)
I started building GUNPLA when I was about eight years old, thanks to my father’s influence.
It was also my father who convinced me to participate in this tournament for the first time this year.

・Feng ZheKai (Winner of the Under 20 Category)
I started building GUNPLA about four years ago.
It took me about one year to complete this piece.

・manson ng (Winner of the Over 21 Category)
I’ve been building plastic models for more than forty years now.
I started assembling this piece four years ago. Due to the pandemic, I didn’t really have a chance to showcase it, so I decided to enter it in this tournament as it started again after a three-year blank.

(G-INFO Editorial Department)

■World Finals
Date: Saturday, December 17th, 2022