Gunpla Build - High Grade Gundam X (Part 1)

Okay, let’s get started.

First, the runners:

In terms the number of runners, there aren’t that many, but they’re all pretty big. At the very least, this kit feels more complex than a lot of other High Grades, though of course that may just be vibes.

Next we have some decal sheets:

I love the colorful, holographic look of reflector decals on the right. As for the “regular” sheet on the left, we have quite a few black color correcting decals. Those are entirely for use on the Beam Rifle.

Speaking of which.

Rifle + Shield

Rather than make a fully functioning Shield Buster Rifle, with foldable side panels and all, this kit simply gives you two different versions of the gun - one in Rifle Mode, and one in Shield Mode.

The Shield Mode version is made of a single flat shield piece, which attaches directly atop the gun (which is itself made of two halves, as it typical for a High Grade Weapon):

The gun itself looks an awful lot like a shotgun, rather than a rifle, but don’t be fooled. In Shield Mode, several sections of the gun retract in order to make it more compact, and to hide them behind the shield itself.

To see what I mean, let’s build the Rifle Mode version:

Assembly-wise, we take several distinct pieces and sandwich them between the shield panels. It may not look like much in the photo above, but once we close it up no one’s the wiser:

As you can see, in Rifle Mode the barrel extends out, and the camera flips up. It’s a shotgun no more.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way. The camera can swing down, and the barrel can be pushed in:

Assuming you then remove the grip, this is how it’s supposed to look when holstered on the mobile suit. I’m glad this gimmick exists, but with all the paint and topcoat I applied,I found it particularly hard to move the barrel in and out.

In terms of detailing, I decided to use paint in lieu of the color correcting black decals provided with the kit. Decals don’t always stay in place on curved surfaces like this, and I was afraid of them eventually peeling off. Granted, my lines aren’t perfectly even, but I think they do the job well enough.

From a purely aesthetic perspective, I really dig the design of the Shield Buster Rifle. I like that it is almost entirely monochrome, and I like the little bit of black trim. I wonder why more mobile suits don’t adopt this style?

Beam Saber

I’m not going to fully build this until I build the Satellite Cannon. For now, here’s just the blade:

It’s a pretty good facsimile of how it looks on the show. It’s wide at the base, with rough and uneven edges.

Feet

These are very simple in construction, through you’ll need to do some (admittedly simple) painting to get them color accurate:

These remind me an awful lot of Wing Gundam’s feet, both in terms of construction and in terms of shape (which does not at all surprise me).

Legs

Despite their clean and simple look, the legs took a surprising amount of effort to build.

This is largely due to detailing. Almost every single piece has panel lines, and a few have additional need for color correction. Alas, my smallest panel lining marker wasn’t quite small enough to fit into some of these creases, so I instead had to use a fine tipped paint brush with the tiniest drops of black paint. That meant painting, repainting, smoothing out, and cleaning up the lines to make sure they were nice and even.

Oh, and those decals on the knees were a pain in the butt.

But once it was said and done, they came out looking nice. Despite being from 2010, this feels like a modern kit, in that it’s got a lot of nice, detailed panel lines, and because it does its best to hide seam lines when possible.

Skirt Armor

I just realized something else about all the AU Gundam designs from the 1990’s - none of them have a Crotch V. I find that extremely ironic. The Crotch V is the most Super Roboty characteristic of the traditional Gundam design, and yet its eschewed by the Super Roboty mobile suits of the 90’s.

But like I said, the Gundam X is the least Super Roboty of the bunch, so the lack of Crotch V is not exactly a loss here.

The skirt armor is also the first place we encounter that nice purple trim, which shows up on the side skirts:

The skirts are long, just like on the Wing Zero, but they’re much less fancy looking. I think it’s a great look overall.

Chest

This is where most of the color is on the mobile suit, and while the parts separation is pretty good overall, there’s still a decent amount of work to make it look fully color accurate:

• There are two black decals to place inside the chest vents
• The chest vulcans needed to be painted if you want them to be color accurate
• There are two ridges the run along the top of the chest. They’re molded in blue plastic, but the top half of each ridge is supposed to be purple. It’s one of those details that’s easy to miss, but once you see it you can’t unsee it.
• There is a holographic decal that goes under the green gem. It’s not super obvious once the gem goes in place, but it does give it a bit of texture underneath:

Here now is the finished chest:

What can I say? I just love it. The are lots of colors, but they’re all working in harmony. It looks great without looking too busy.

Backpack

The backpack has not one, not two, but four polycaps embedded in along its edges:

The One on the top left is for the shoulder mounted Vulcan cannon, while the one on the top right holds up the entire Satellite Cannon apparatus. I’m assuming that the bottom two can be used to holster the beam rifle.

I can’t think of any other High Grade backpacks that use polycaps in this fashion, but it’s a great idea.

Before we go, I want to point out the vents running along the sides:

It’s a nice little detail on what is otherwise a very simple looking backpack.

Head

I have three observations about the head:

1. Just like on the Wing Gundam, this head has little elf ears coming off the sides. However the GX’s ears are a bit smaller, so they look less goofy.
2. The GX has four antennae on its V-Fin, as opposed to the usual two. Four antennae run the risk of looking too extra, too … regal. But I think the GX pulls it off. They’re small and simple in shape, so they don’t draw too much attention to themselves.
3. There’s no red cap in the center of the V-Fin, which I prefer. It’s another small touch that makes it look slightly less Super Roboty.

I think this might be one of my favorite looking Gundam heads. It’s just so … right.

Arms and Shoulders

Here we get more of that lovely purple trim. This time it’s sandwiched in the middle:

We also get little vent on both sides of each shoulder. I painted them metallic black, and then glued them in place. They seemed like the kind of parts that would fall out rather easily.

Visually, it’s a simple look, but I like it. There’s just enough detail; those vents really go a long way.

The arms are just like the shoulders - very simple, with yet some more purple trim running down the sides:

I like that the cuffs are blue. That extra bit of color separation makes up for the lack of general detail:

Let’s strap them to the body and see how they look:

Satellite Cannon

The full Satellite Cannon apparatus is made out of multiple components, but in this section I want to zero in on the actual cannon itself.

It’s a very simple construction. It’s very very long. And it’s got a few opportunities for extra detailing if you’re so inclined:

This is one of the few times during the build that I felt the need to do some seam line removal, as there is a nasty seam running down the length of the cannon. The kind that you can very easily see from the back, and even a bit from the front. I didn’t do a perfect job, mind you. I just did enough to make the seam harder to see from a distance.

In terms of gimmicks, the handle flips out, and the grey piece at the end of the barrel extends forward during firing mode:

Beam Saber Handle

This is a simple, two-part assembly, though it requires a bit of color correction:

Here it is with the Beam Effect Part:

Reflector Unit

This is the most interesting part of the build by far. How exactly does the Reflector Unit work? How does it hold onto four energy collectors and the Satellite Cannon?

The answer is that it all gets stacked around a long rod, with caps on each end to keep it all in place:

The four panels of the Reflector unit can pivot freely along this axis, and can open and close as needed. It’s a clever solution.

In terms of detailing, you’ve got a bit of panel lining on the outside, while the inside features a big, holographic decal:

My only problem with these particular decals is that they tend to curl up around the edges. Over time this will run the risk of creating creases and other imperfections, which in turn will make it that much more obvious that they’re decals.

Complete!

Here now is the completed Gundam X:

I’ll wait until the next (and final) post to talk more about how it came out. For now, let’s close out this post with a brief look at how the Satellite Cannon gimmick works.

The Satellite Cannon Gimmick

First thing’s first - we need to swing open the Reflector Units:

Wait a minute - they’re backwards! Unfortunately that means we have to engage in a bit of “partsformation” by removing the four reflectors, flipping them around, and reattaching them:

Thankfully they come off easily, so there is no worry about anything breaking off.

Next, we have to swivel the whole thing upward, so that the cannon is facing forward. This is only possible thanks to the polycap on the backpack, which is what allows this range of motion:

As you can see, the reflectors will try and move forward as well, so we’ll have to straighten them out:

Now the cannon is in position and ready to fire.

Conclusion

We’ll do the photo shoot and all the usual jazz in the wrapup post. See you then.