Pre-Orders Are Finally Open for the Gundarium Alloy Model 1/144 Gundam, the Culmination of Materials Created Through Countless Tests for the 40th Anniversary of GUNPLA!

Pre-orders for the Gundarium Alloy Model 1/144 RX-78-2 Gundam, one of the culminations for the 40th Anniversary of GUNPLA, will begin on PREMIUM BANDAI.

This item will be released as the “culmination of materials” from the LINK THE FUTURE lineup, a part of the GUNPLA LINK PROJECT which celebrates the 40th anniversary of GUNPLA.
Gundarium Alloy, a material used for the armor of the Gundam featured in Mobile Suit Gundam has been recreated by using the settings from the anime as a reference and mixing titanium, aluminum, and the rare earth metal yttrium, and casting it with the latest metal molding technology. The kit can be assembled by attaching the armor parts consisting of earth-made Gundarium Alloy to a plastic inner frame.
Pre-orders for this item will only be open for a limited time and only while supplies last.

We have also received comments from Akihiko Yasunaga and Naoki Saida from BANDAI SPIRITS Hobby Division delving into the details about how earth-made Gundarium Alloy was created and how this product was made, so be sure to check them out, too.

Price: US $2,250 / SG $3,120 (Shipping/handling fees excluded)
Release date: (US) August 3rd, 2020 / (SG) August 4th, 2020
・Pre-orders open on PREMIUM BANDAI
*This item is available during the limited pre-order period. Available while supplies last.
*This item will not be available through general sales.
Target age: 15 and up
Number of parts: 71 (47 alloy parts)
Size: Approx. 130mm
Main materials: Titanium alloy, ABS, PMMA, PET
Set contents: Gundarium Alloy Model 1/144 RX-78-2 Gundam, acrylic display base, guarantee card, instruction manual (with commentary), construction manual (assembly manual)

■Special Page: https://en.gundam.info/gundarium/

■Refining Earth-made Gundarium Alloy
As the first step in our search for the actual object, we first tried to settle on the definition of Gundarium Alloy. Although there were various theories, it is speculated that the alloy is a titanium alloy created by processing high-purity titanium mined on the Moon (Luna) using smelting reduction in the low gravitational environment on the lunar surface due to the Luna included in its original name.

But can Gundarium Alloy be recreated on Earth without the special environments required according to the settings? High-purity titanium and yttrium can be obtained on Earth, but it is considered impossible to manufacture Gundarium Alloy on Earth due to its essential conditions requiring melting and casting under low gravity.

■Metal Injection Molding (MIM): A New Crafting Method That Brings the Real Gundam Even Closer
Alloys can be created on Earth through melting and casting, but it was difficult to recreate fine details and sharp forms. It was also virtually impossible to refine the materials in the same low-gravity environment on the moon. Therefore, a change in perspective was required to overcome these obstacles and we focused on the MIM (Metal Injection Molding) method. The MIM method is a technology to create parts by shaping powder materials with molds and performing diffusion sintering to combine the materials. Although the materials are heated to over 1000°C, due to diffusion sintering, they do not reach their melting points and avoid gravity separation caused by Earth’s gravity. The starting materials are powders and allow for composite designs consisting of various materials. In other words, we concluded that we would be able to create an environment for melting and refining similar to the lunar surface and produce Gundarium Alloy if we could uniformly disperse nano-sized yttrium oxide powder in titanium powder and sinter it.

We promptly prepared high-purity titanium powder and yttrium oxide powder with different particle diameters and examined the compounding ratio. A special precision mixing machine was also used for uniform dispersion. We applied different heating conditions, cooling conditions, and ambiance as sintering conditions during our repeated trials. As a result, we successfully created a product with the perfect balance of precision and form for the first time while using the MIM method, creating Gundarium Alloy under conditions close to the lunar surface.
This was how Earth-made Gundarium Alloy was made through a unique combination of materials.


■The Future of GUNPLA Created by a Fusion of Chemistry and Craftsmanship
Although we succeeded in creating Gundarium Alloy through the MIM method, we then had to face the obstacle of incorporating metal into GUNPLAs. Most GUNPLAs adopt snap-fit assemblies and do not require any glue. Snap-fit is a method that could only be created through the designs and molding technology that we have cultivated over the years since 1987. With the Gundarium Alloy Model, we were required to create a product while maintaining accuracy that allows for a snap-fit assembly and to have a form and style with a cool design that is easy to put together. However, due to the difference in the characteristics of the molding materials, the plastic molds, and MIM molds, the molds required processing with special technology. We went through nanoscale trial and error by adjusting and correcting the molds. The kiln casting (sintering) phase during the production stage was especially arduous due to new obstacles in the form of individual differences caused by different shrinkage factors.

All of the non-defective products that successfully went through the kiln casting phase were assembled to inspect the dimensions, resulting in each piece requiring an immense amount of labor, time, and effort. Every one of these processes have enabled us to make the product reach a level of quality that qualifies it to be a GUNPLA.

A Culmination of Materials
BANDAI SPIRITS Hobby Division Deputy General Manager Akihiko Yasunaga
We are now celebrating the 40th anniversary of GUNPLA. This would have been impossible without the support of our fans and I would like to express my gratitude once again.
This year is the 40th anniversary of GUNPLA, and the Hobby Division is working on the GUNPLA LINK PROJECT. The LINK THE FUTURE lineup is a part of this project that aims to develop products that carry messages that will lead to the future of GUNPLA. This is one of the culminations of the GUNPLA Evolution Project which we have been working on for the 40th anniversary of GUNPLA. This product is a part of the project and can be said to be the culmination of materials.
We hope you will enjoy this product which has been created by actually making Gundarium Alloy, a material used for the armor of the Gundam, on Earth by using the settings from the anime as a reference, and savor the wonderful experience of the actual textures of the Gundam.

Thought Put Into the GUNPLA
BANDAI SPIRITS Hobby Division Development Manager Naoki Saida
For this product, we worked with materials that have significantly different properties from ordinary plastic model kits and we had to step into unknown territory for its development process. We were tasked with making a faithful recreation of the alloy and incorporating it into a GUNPLA, resulting in a development process with extremely complicated obstacles. Therefore we are proud of the product that we created through repeated trial and error.
This Gundarium Alloy Model has a design that resembles the 1/1 RX-78-2 Gundam statue and the RG kit. Thought has been put into the shadows on the metal parts, resulting in the molds standing out when you look at the kit from different angles.