Model Kits

Gunpla Build - Master Grade Gundam Mk II (Part 2) 2024-12-31

In Part 1 we covered the weapons and accessories for the Master Grade Gundam Mk II, and now it’s time to build the mobile suit itself.

We already saw how the weapons had quite a few seamlines that, while unwelcome, were ultimately not dealbreakers. It’s roughly the same thing with the mobile suit; it’s got some seamlines, and it needs some color correction here and there, but ultimately none of it was nearly as bad as I feared it would be.

Let’s get this build going, starting with the:

Body, Head, and Backpack

Gunpla Build - Master Grade Gundam Mk II 2024-12-27

I don’t know exactly when I first watched Zeta Gundam … it may have been somewhere around 2009? But I do know that I instantly fell in love with the Gundam Mk II, becoming one of my top three favorite mobile suit designs. In the 15’ish years since then, I’ve watched a lot more Gundam, and encountered a lot more mobile suits, and nowadays the Mk II is … still one of my top three mobile suits of all time.

And yet I only have one model of it. The Real Grade Mk II (in Titans colors) was my third ever build, all the way back in 2014. But since then? Nothing. No High Grades, no variants, no alternate colors.

Let’s put it this way - I’ve built more models of Wing Zero - one of my least favorite designs - than I have of the Mk II. You’d think I would have at least built a second Real Grade in AEUG colors or something.

Let’s change that right now, shall we? But this time we’re going big:

It’s the Master Grade 2.0 version of the Gundam Mk II.

Gunpla Build - High Grade Second V (Clear) 2024-12-24

On this festive Christmas Eve, let us spend time with the people that matter most to us in life - plastic models … 🎄😜

Last month I built my first clear High Grade, and at the time I said I needed to build at least one more clear kit - preferably one in traditional Gundam colors - in order to better calibrate my opinion on the whole clear gimmick. Well, here it is:

This is the clear version of the Second V, from novelization of Victory Gundam. This is actually one of the kits I was really hoping to get from the Gundam Base Tour back in the fall, but alas it wasn’t available at my particular tour stop. Thankfully Bandai did a final online sales push at the end of the tour, putting their leftover inventory on Premium Bandai (which is how I was able to get it).

New Lightbox 2024-12-22

I’ve been using a lightbox to photograph my models for nearly three years now (which is weird to type out, because it feels like it’s been much longer than that). It was - and I guess technically still is - a game changer.

Not only did it force me to learn a little bit more about photography, but it also meant that my photos finally looked halfway decent (at least, they look better to me; you can judge for yourself).

Using the lightbox sure beats putting my models in front of an awkwardly placed piece of posterboard

But there have also been flaws and limitations with the box, and it took me a long time to:

Realize that these flaws and limitations actually exist
Realize that I could - and - should - do something about it

Gunpla Build - Entry Grade Build Strike Exceed Galaxy (Customization Photos) 2024-12-19

Now that we have the Universe Booster and Galaxy Booster complete, it’s time to see what they can do for the Exceed Galaxy. But first, let’s briefly mention how they attach.

First, you don’t actually attach the entirety of the Galaxy Booster, but rather pluck off some of its wings and add them to the Exceed Galaxy’s existing Core Fighter.

Second, in order to attach the cannons from the Universe Booster, we have to add the shield to the back in order to make use of its hardpoints.

Gunpla Build - Entry Grade Build Strike Exceed Galaxy 2024-12-06

Last year I wrote the following regarding Gundam Build Metaverse:

The words of a L i a r

I mean, I wasn’t really lying. That’s truly how I felt back then! But time moves on and opinions change. I admit that I was wrong about Build Metaverse’s Gunpla. Some of them are pretty cool. Which is why I just built the Plutine Gundam, and it’s why I’m building this today:

In case you can’t read the tiny English text near the bottom of the box, this is the Entry Grade Build Strike Exceed Galaxy.