Hi-Resolution Barbatos is a strange and expensive beast, that’s also a fine looking Gundam! The frame is gorgeous, with nice articulation and loads of detail. What’s disappointing is that you don’t get to build it yourself.If you built the frame yourself, this would have to be one of the nicest 1/100 Gundam kits available. Because the frame is pre-built, it because more of a curiosity.  I didn’t do my usual paint job on this kit, preferring just to go with the nice “special finish” on most of the armour parts, although I did find that the “special finish” is not as strong as I’d have liked it to be and ended up re-painting the blue armour parts. The frame is strong enough to hold the big gun nicely. Some of the joints are loose (like the knees) and the hip joints are really stiff. The arm joints are somewhere in-between. There’s fantastic detail with the working hydraulic pistons.The backpack gimmick is pretty cool, and the overall design is fantastic. Bandai – nice try. But no. It’s a model kit, so let me build it. Please.