Let’s get right to it.
Shield
The instructions come with a small decal guide, but it never shows a head-on picture of the shield. All of the shots are at an angle, so you have to look really close to notice that the decal goes directly above the cross, with no space between them. But even once you figure that out, you still have to get it on straight:
I ended up tearing my decal in two. With a bit of touch up paint, it now looks more wrinkled than torn, and I’m okay with that.
Gun
Originally I was going to go all out with the detailing. All the leg and knee joints were going to be filled in with red and blue, and I was going to paint the Beam Rifle white, with lots of red and blue fill-ins.
But then I decided against it. The model already does a good job with the color balance (I think), and too much extra color might make it look too busy. So I opted instead for a few minor bits of added color.
The red scope is really the highlight of it all.
Head
The chin is normally blue, but someone on Reddit remarked that they thought it would look better if it was red. I happen to agree - without it, the only red is in the eyes. Changing the chin leads to a better color balance:
Chest
The panel lining here looks a bit sloppy, so I ended up fixing it after taking this shot:
I think this will look better once it is fully assembled. On its own, the colors don’t feel well balanced.
Lower Torso
If not for that bit of blue, I’d say this looks almost like a Famicom themed Gundam.
Feet and Legs
There a red stripe running along the right leg. I’ve seen this before on at least one other version of the Grandaddy Gundam (I’m thinking of the 7-11 version in particular).
Not much to say about the feet. I didn’t paint or detail the bottoms. I really wanted to keep this build simple:
Arms
More problems with the decals. I put them on the wrong sides, and even in the wrong orientation. What can I say - I was being sloppy.
Finished
The USA Gundam is a very silly idea, and yet the color scheme works better than it has any right to. Take away the stars and stripes, and I dare say it would still look halfway decent.
I guess it’s appealing in the same way as a firecracker popsicle - there is something about setting that bright blue and deep red against white. It just works. You can really see what I mean in this comparison shot up on the shelf:
It stands out even more than the 7-11 Gundam.
I’m not going to do poses for this one. It does all the same things as the original Entry Grade, so go check that out if you’re curious.
Worth the ten bucks, but I don’t think I need another flag-themed model kit ever again.