Is this the biggest build I’ve ever done? I’m not sure, and quite frankly I’m too lazy to try and find out.
But it is big. Like, really big:
Let’s go over a couple of important notes before we get into it.
Polycaps
This kit is older than you might think, from all the way back in 2012. As it turns out, they were still using polycaps in Master Grades back then, as we have two sheets of them in the box.
I don’t really care about this, but I’m once again rolling my eyes at every MF’er who has ever gloated about how MGs are better by virtue of them not using polycaps. Sure, it might be true now, but it wasn’t for a long time.
Psychoframe
There’s not that much clear green plastic for the psychoframe, and as I eventually discovered, it doesn’t really matter. All of the Psychoframe is hidden by default; the only way to get a peek of it is to put the model into its “Activation Mode”. In other words, all the fuss people were making was for naught.
Metallic Stickers
We get a fairly large sheet of metallic stickers:
These are actually double sided (meaning they’re also shiny on the sticky inner part). Each sticker is applied to the inside of a piece of psychoframe in order to make it look extra shiny and metallic.
Color Correcting Stickers
Yes, this kit has some color correcting stickers:
I’ve seen a lot of people complain about this online, and I can definitely understand why. The best way to describe it is that, if this were a Real Grade, or a new Master Grade, they would have used color separated plastic instead.
And having now applied most of these stickers, I can tell you that they can be a pain. They’re very sticky, which means they’re very hard to move around and reposition. They’re also kind of fragile, as it’s easy to unintentionally put tears into them.
Waterslides
I’ve seen people act as if putting waterslides on a Ver Ka is the equivalent of painting the Sistine Chapel. But this … doesn’t look too bad? Seems close enough to the decals for the Master Grade 3.0 Gramps. The collective Internet made me nervous to put these on, but now I’m not afraid.
Comparisons to Real Grade
I’m going to do my best to do some comparisons, but Ill note right away that I’m not going to take the Real Grade Nu apart to do it.
Beam Sabers
The Real Grade version has a little sticker on it, and I miss it on the Master Grade:
Without it’s just so plain looking. Maybe I can find one to add there?
(Side note - either the plastic on my Real Grade model is starting to yellow, or it’s made out of a slightly different tone than the Ver. Ka)
Beam Rifle
There’s a seamline here, though it’s not terribly noticeable. The bigger “problem”, if you want to call it that, is that it’s lacking in color. See here, the Real Grade version has this little bit of yellow on it:
It’s small, but I feel like it adds a lot to the look of the thing, so I painted it into the Ver. Ka myself:
I think it’s looking pretty good now.
Hyper Bazooka
This one is pretty good on the color front. It does have a wraparound waterslide decal on the tube section, and believe it or not it went on without much fuss.
Shield
The shield is big, but maybe not quite as big as I would have thought. Look at it next to the shielf for me (unfinished) Real Grade Hi Nu:
And here is the finished version next to the Real Grade Nu:
Interesting to see that the big main decal is different, with the Ver. Ka’s looking less like an emblem and more like a coat of arms.
It’s also interesting to compare the differences in detailing. If you look closely, you’ll notice that there are quite a lot of them. While the shields may share the same shape, their surfaces are entirely different.
I’m sure there are folks that frown upon that, but I think it’s cool. I like when different models from different grades take creative liberties like this. It keeps things fresh, and sometimes it can even change your perspective on a design.
Feet
I’ve talked about this before, but it bears repeating. I happen to think that the Nu Gundam looks like it’s black, but every model kit of it that I’ve ever come across instead has it as a dark blue, including this one.
On the Real Grade version, it was small enough that I just painted it black to have my way, but that’s a bit of a taller order with this one, I’ll just have to adjust to this Nu blue world.
Each foot has two yellow bits in the front and back, and for some reason they can move:
No idea if this is a gimmick or what.
Moving on, we get our first bit of psychoframe:
Maybe it’s just me, but the metallic stickers seem like they’re a little bigger than the surface they’re supposed to cover. Or maybe they only seem that way if you’re not super precise when applying them. Either way, it kind of doesn’t matter. Once the green plastic is tucked away where it should be, everything ends up looking just fine.
We also get our first use of those color correcting stickers, which are used right here:
Honestly, it’s such a minor change in tone that you could easily skip these if you wanted to.
Okay, let’s look at the result:
As you can see, there’s yellow ring on the inside of the thruster, which turns out to be a common occurrence across the entire mobile suit. Normally I paint up thrusters in all sorts of metallics, but I think I’m going to leave them be this time.
Now here is the transformation gimmick. This tiny bit slides inward to reveal a sliver of Psychoframe:
Comparisons to Real Grade
Alright, let’s line ‘em up:
On the underside, the shape is identical. The Ver. Ka just has a bit of extra yellow where the Real Grade doesn’t.
And from the front they also look identical. They didn’t even have to make any tweaks to enable the transformation gimmick:
Things do look a little different from the back, however. On the Ver. Ka, the back armor is made to look like there’s a big chunk taken out of it:
I don’t have any explanation for this. Did they think it looked cooler? Were they trying to emphasize that the Nu Gundam is incomplete and unfinished?
Legs
The legs are usually the most complicated part of any build (at least in regards to Master Grades and Real Grades), and so it’s no surprise that this part took me a while.
We’ll start with the upper leg. We got some sliding piston action up near the knee, and while I would love to paint those pistons for the visual effect, I didn’t do it, because I know the paint would easily scrape off:
(Side note - the pistons are liable to slip out of their casings if you bend the leg too far, which is unfortunate)
Here is the upper leg next to the framing for the lower leg:
Have you ever seen those builds where someone just goes to town, applying different metallics to every tiny bit of detail on the inner frame? I feel like this model was meant for that kind of touch. Just look at all those layers.
Or, if you don’t want to display the frame, you can just cover it up with the armor like a normal person.
Now it’s time to start adding stuff. Start with the psychoframe:
Remember, this is all going to be hidden unless you enable the transformation gimmick.
Now some armor:
And then some blue armor, along with some more of those blue stickers:
These were a little bit trickier to apply than the ones on the feet, and as you can see I put a little tear in one of them.
There’s also a grey color correcting sticker applied on the knee:
Not gonna lie - if this were a newer model, I’m positive they would have used color separated plastic instead of the stickers used here on the leg. You could easily skip them, but I think they add a nice bit of extra color contrast.
Anyway, let’s look at the finished assembly:
I’m still getting used to this dark blue instead of black, but otherwise these are looking good. But they don’t … move good. This is all you get when you do a full knee bend:
Just a little piston action, and that’s it. That’s a really huge bummer.
How to Reveal the Psychoframe
This is a little more complicated compared to the foot.
First, we’ve got the knee armor, which pulls out just a tad:
Just don’t pull it too far, or it will just pop off.
Next, we’ve got the upper leg. There’s a part on the back of the leg that acts like a log. Pull it open, and the upper leg can slide upward a bit to reveal the green inside:
And now for the side of the leg. There’s another bit of armor that’s acting like a lock, but this time you actually have to flat out remove it as part of the transformation. Once you do that, the blue armor on the side of the leg can slide apart to reveal more Psychoframe:
Notice that the big decal is now split in two. You have two options here: you can either apply the regular decal and cut it in two with a knife. But the model also comes with a pre-split version (really two decals) that you can use instead if you want.
Comparison to Real Grade
Unlike the feet, there’s quite a lot different about these two. The surface detail, the shape, as well as the size of all the yellow vents.
And of course, there’s the fact that even just standing there, the armor on the Real Grade looks like it’s ready to split apart, which it does with aplomb when you bend the knee:
Is this cool? Yes, at least I think it is. But one drawback is that when the model is just standing still, it can be hard to get all the armor to fold back in and look flush. Since the Ver. Ka doesn’t have all this action, it doesn’t suffer from the same problem.
(That being said, the individual bits of leg armor on the Ver. Ka are separate, and if you aren’t careful about assembly you can easily introduce unintended gaps)
Looking around back, we see another interesting difference. Not only does the Real Grade only have one rear thruster, but it also doesn’t really pop open like the ones on the Ver. Ka:
This may seem small, but it makes a big difference. Having those tow big thrusters flair out on the Ver. Ka makes it seem that much more powerful.
Lower Torso
There’s nothing too thrilling about this part of the build - except for the mistake I made. There’s another Ra Cailum logo that goes on one of the front skirts, and these being (less than stellar quality) Bandai waterslides, it broke apart. So I ended up using my grey Gundam Marker to try and fix the lettering on the “R”:
It’s not perfect, but I think it’ll look well enough from a distance.
Interestingly, while the lower torso has no Psychoframe, it still has a gimmick where you can pop up off that grey panel from the front skirt to reveal … nothing:
We get two more of those grey color correcting stickers here, one in the corner:
And one that goes at the top of the side skirt:
Now let’s zoom out and get a better look at the whole thing:
While the build may be simple, there’s so much nice parts layering and color separation, especially in the back.
Comparison to Real Grade
Let’s put the RG into a nice T-Pose so its arms get out of the way:
As you can see, the front skirts have entirely different surface details. Which got me thinking - is this how they looked in the Gundam Evolve 5 short film?
It’s not an exact match, but I’d say the Ver. Ka version is a much closer match than the Real Grade.
Believe it or not, the side skirts on the Ver. Ka have better color separation:
Moving around back, the thrusters on the bottom are completely different, but otherwise they’re pretty close:
Though interestingly, the Ver. Ka seems to have more surface detail.
End of Part 1
That’s all I’ve got built for now folks. I’m sorry it took so long just to get this much done, but I like I said, I wanted to take my time with it. We’ll see how much more of it I get done before the end of the month.
In the meantime, I’ve got one other side project that I completed. I stripped all the stickers off the GM Night Seeker II and applied the waterslides I got for Christmas. At some point this week I intend to take some new action shots so you can see how it turned out.