Gundam 00 Model Kits

Dumb Kits and Fashion Robots 2023-01-12

Some time ago I wrote a post in which I observed just how much Gunpla - a hobby typically marketed (and patronized) by males - has in common with many activities typically coded as female, such as fashion and makeup.

I tossed it in the trash, but it’s become relevant again for this post (which, to give you fair warning, is going to be a bit messy and meandering). Consider the first bit of this to be an abridged version of the original.

Gunpla Build - Real Grade Gundam Exia (Final) 2022-03-05

To quote myself from last post:

Even before trying to pose it, I could tell that the Exia was going to be a bit of a hand grenade.

And:

I decided to just say “screw it”, and let the chips fall where they may. If something breaks during posing, so be it.

Now’s the time to see whether anything actually broke - and how well the Exia manages to pose.

Gunpla Build - Real Grade Gundam Exia (Part 4) 2022-03-04

Before we get into the finished model, I want to talk about the overall build experience.

This is the oldest Real Grade I’ve built in a long time. In fact, I haven’t built one this old since the Zeta Gundam, and that was eight years ago.

I was curious as to whether the experience would be different this time, now that I have so many more models under my belt. The answer is both “yes” and “no”.

Gunpla Build - Real Grade Gundam Exia (Part 3) 2022-03-03

I wasn’t expecting to finish this model so soon, but it turns out that the arms (in particular the shoulders) were not nearly as complicated as I expected.

The head, on the other hand, was a bit of a challenge …

Head

This could have been a disaster. It should have been a disaster. Instead, it assembled without any missing or broken parts - though some ended up benign a big mangled. I’ll take it as a win.

Gunpla Build - Real Grade Gundam Exia (Part 2) 2022-03-01

This model is taking me way back. This is the part of the build where we finally start to use the prebiult inner frame, which immediately led to a flood of memories about my very earliest builds.

I forgot that the feet are already attached

This is all one piece, straight off the runner. Look at how complex it is. And it isn’t just the frame itself that’s complex, but also the build around it. There are a ton of pieces attached to just this one section of the body. So much so, in fact, that it’s basically impossible to break this build down by components (feet, legs, etc). Instead, it is easier to simply show how the parts are applied, layer by layer (which, of course, is how I kind of sort of wrote my very earliest build posts about other early Real Grade models, so I guess it makes sense that I have to return to that style).

Gunpla Build - Real Grade Gundam Exia (Part 1) 2022-02-26

The RG Exia is fairly old for a Real Grade, old enough that it still features the prebuilt inner frame that was once the trademark gimmick of the product line:

Pay attention to the thing in the yellow baggie. We’ll come back to that soon

This means that the Exia is likely to suffer from a phenomenon popularly known as Early Real Grade Syndrome. Essentially, the frame gets loose and floppy over time, and since the joints are pre-assembled (and rather intricately at that), there’s no easy way to take them apart to tighten them up. Once it starts getting floppy, there’s not much you can do about it other than try and prop it up and hope for the best.