Gunpla Build - Real Grade Build Strike Full Package (Build)

This feels like a pretty standard spread of parts for a Real Grade. There’s nothing in here that stands out in particular:

And while I may be using waterslides for this build, here is a closeup of the sticker sheet for reference purposes:

Of note here is the fact that the sheet contains quite a lot of shiny metallic stickers. These can add complexity to a build; if you want them to retain their sheen and shine, you have to apply them after assembly and topcoating. That may or may not be easy depending on where they supposed to go.

And don’t forget that if you apply them after topcoating, they won’t be “sealed in” by the topcoat, and may be more likely to peel off. I guess that’s just the price of style.

One more observation before we begin - Real Grades are often multi-toned. For example, if the main body of the mobile suit is white, the Real Grade might use a combination of white and grey plastic. In the case of the Build Strike, the grey plastic is more of a cream color, which is quite a bit different than usual. You’ll see how it looks very soon.

Alright, now let’s get to the build.

Shield

Since this is my first time using waterslides on a Real Grade, I thought it would be interesting to do a little comparison. Here is a shot of the shield with six of the original stickers applied, and one waterslide applied at the very top. This will give you an idea of just how much of a difference the wasterslides make:

That sticker film is so very obvious on top of the red plastic. If it were just one or two of them I wouldn’t mind, but since Real Grades always use so much more than that, the effect is far more noticeable.

Here now is the shield fully assembled with a full set of waterslides:

I think that looks so much better than before.

A few more observations. First, you’ll notice that we’ve already using a few metallic stickers. While they’re not truly necessary, I do think they add a nice bit of pizazz.

Second, this is a great example of how much detail you can get through simple layering of parts. isn’t very complicated in its construction, but I want to point out that the construction of this shield is very simple. It’s an example of how smart layering of parts can make a huge difference.

Second, if we flip the shield over, we’ll find that it doesn’t have a lot of surface detail:

This is not really typical on any mobile suit shield. I wonder if it’s because this particular shield sits so flush to the mobile suit, which would make it diffiuclt to see the detail anyway.

Beam Sabers

As is typical for a Real Grade, even the beam sabers have decals:

Remember that when applying waterslides to curved surfaces, you should use a bit of Mr. Mark Softer to make them better conform to the curve.

Beam Rifle

This is a play in three acts. First we have the Beam Pistol:

I like how they made it so thick and chunky. It looks powerful despite being relatively small.

We then add an attachment to turn it into the Beam Rifle:

I love the look of this, but I also think it looks a little too slim and svelte. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how it looks in the hand of the Build Strike.

Now for the Enhanced Beam Rifle. In terms of assembly, this is just like another, larger attachment for the Beam Pistol. In other words, you have to remove the Beam Rifle attachment and replace it with the Enhanced Rifle’s chassis:

I really appreciate the fact that it comes with a clear green part that goes inside the barrel. I feel like I’d have to paint that in if this were a High Grade.

Feet

These were surprisingly janky!

Remember that this is an older Real Grade model. In addition to having floppy inner frames, it is my experience that older Real Grades have some other questionable engineering. This is one of those cases.

The problem lies in the fact that ankle guards are made out of two half parts. This is a fairly typical assembly process, but the problem here is that the two halves don’t fasten together very tightly. If you just leave them as-is, they’re likely to separate, creating a very noticeable gap. Here’s a photo so you can see what I mean:

Note that this happened on its own, after assembly and topcoating. I didn’t have to do anything to make it this bad.

The simple fix is to glue the halves together, and then paint a panel line down the small channel that forms in the center.

It’s not something you should have to do, but in this case it is well worth it.

One final note - we’ve get some clear blue parts here. You can easily fasten them after topcoating the rest of the foot, so they won’t lose their shine.

Legs

There is so much to say about these, so much so that I’m going to have to make multiple subheadings. Go go <h3> tag!!

More Gaps in the Armor

One again we have some parts that don’t fit too closely together. In this case it’s these two black parts:

You could glue them together, but I’d be careful doing so. The legs are designed so that some of the armor can shift and slide around when you bend the ankle, and if glue gets into the wrong place you could hinder that movement.

More Clear Blue Parts

Once again, we encounter a clear blue part, but unlike the feet you can’t really attach them at the end. In order to keep them shiny I had to cover them in masking tape before topcoating.

Panel Lines

Real Grades have great part separation, but they still also have a lot of panel lines. You’ll have your work cut out for you here.

Stickers

There are metallic stickers running along the sides of each leg, and these are the rare kind that actually have sticker film around their borders. I still ended up using them; remember that sticker film isn’t a huge deal in small doses.

Visual (and Mechanical) Design

This is what Real Grade is all about. There is so much detail crammed into just these legs. And that’s only counting the surface - when you bend the knee, and all the armors starts to slide around, you’ll find even more detail underneath.

It’s this kind of stuff that makes it feel like so much more than a simple model.

Waist

The waist is made out of two sections that stack on top of each other. It works just fine, but it’s also kind of weird.

This is our first really good look at that cream colored plastic:

Admittedly, it looks more like grey in this photo, but in person it definitely has a strong hint of brown.

At first I wasn’t sure if this would look good, but I warmed up to it over the course of the build. It’s certainly different from the norm to say the least.

One last note - there are large metallic stickers underneath the side skirts. They seem kind of superfluous - maybe they’re meant to suggest that there’s additional layers of shiny metal underneath the exterior amror, but that seems unnecessary.

Torso

This is made out of a lot of parts, and it’s all the more gorgeous for it:

I love the embedded thrusters in the back, and the panel lines running through the red plastic. It just looks and feels so wonderfully intricate.

Head

Compared to the original Strike Gundam, the head on the Build Strike feels more rounded, which feels more in line with older Gundams.

The head is also where the Build Strike really starts to look like the design of a thirteen year old boy, what with its double set of vulcans, and its double V-Fin:

I can say from experience that at that age, you really do think that the best way to make a cool thing even cooler is to double (or triple!) it up.

A few more notes - some Real Grades have surface decals on the head, but the Build Strike does not. I don’t really think it’s a problem in this case, as it is certainly flashy enough as-is.

Second, I did have to do a little bit of color correction here. I only bring that up because it feels so rare and noteworthy whenever I have to bust out the paints for a Real Grade (note that there is a difference between having to paint for the sake of color accuracy, and wanting to paint to make something look even better. I often do the latter with RG’s, but rarely have to do the former).

Arms

These are just so nice. Both the arms and the shoulders are multi-layered, with lots of metallic stickers, and even more of that clear blue plastic.

There are so many mobile suits where the arms in particular feel like an afterthought. They’re generic and blocky and don’t really add much to the overall presentation. Thankfully that isn’t the case here.

Build Booster

The Build Booster is basically a Gunpla in its own right. It is made out of a number of smaller component parts which all have to be attached to each other:

A few observations:

• The fuselage section requires a ton of panel lining and shading to make it look nice. If you don’t, then it risks looking too much like a big hunk of plastic.
• The decals can be a bit trippy to apply, since they’re basically mirrored on each side of the wings.
• There is a set of wings that are layered beneath another set of wings:

Your best bet is to topcoat the middle layer before you secure them in place, otherwise you’re unlikely to get full coverage:

Overall, the individual components of the Build Booster feel kind janky when they’re separate, but when you put them all together they really do make a strike fighter of some sort.

Waterslide Report

All told, I think I lost one decal, and broke one in half. All in all, that’s not too bad in terms of accidents. I’m glad to see that maybe my skill in applying decals has gotten better with practice.

Conclusion

Not only is this the first time I’ve decked out a Real Grade in waterslides, but I think it’s the first time I’ve used better quality topcoat. The difference is striking - not only is this possibly the best looking build of the year so far, but it feels like it’s on a level above and beyond all my other Real Grades. I’ve always liked RG’s, but this … I feel like now I truly get what the RG line was always meant to embody. And I can’t wait to show it all to you.