Gunpla Build - Revival Gundam

Here’s one of the goodies I got on my vacation trip. It’s a fascinating little model called the “RX78-2 Gundam Revival Version”, which is not to be mistaken for the Revive Gundam.

It’s a little retro wonder, and I’m really excited to talk about it.

A Piece of History

In July 1980, Bandai released the very first Gunpla:

Yes, this looks just like the box for the Revival Gundam, and you, my clever readers, have probably figured out what that means.

To put it simply, the Revival is a fully modern model kit that tries to recreate the exact look and feel of this original model, minus the pain of having to put the thing together.

What I mean is that that OG kit is as primitive as you can possibly get. It has massive seamlines everywhere, and you have to assemble the joints using glue¹. It’s also fully unpainted:

(Credit to the always-amazing site dalong.net, which is the only place where I could find pictures of the original model unpainted).

Now imagine trying to apply all the colors to something like this without the aid of an airbrush or official, perfectly color-matched paints. It’s not an easy thing. And that’s where the Revival kit comes into play.

On the Revival, everything is snap-fit, and everything is perfectly colored. And using modern tech, they were able to hide almost all of the seamlines. What you get is a perfectly looking OG Gunpla right out of the box.

Now of course, the big question is whether it’s worth the price of admission. Why would you anyone even want a model like this, especially if you’re a westerner that has no nostalgia for the original?

We’ll get to that later, but for now, let’s look at how what’s in the box, and how it’s built.

The Manual

The instruction manual is a thing of beauty. It’s formatted to look just like the one for the original 1980 kit. Compare this:

With this:

But that’s not all. Throughout the instructions we get all sorts of facts about how the original kit was assembled, as well as nostalgia and reminisces about what it was like to be a kid during that initial Gunpla craze:

There are so many fun (and fond) facts, memories, and anecdotes to read. You’ll forgive my sentimentality if I say that it helps me feel more connected to the past, and reminds me that the spirit of creativity, customization, and adventurous spirit was there from the very start.

The Build

Gaze upon these runners, photographed atop a ugly red vinyl cushion in a hotel room:

In terms of the overall part count, I wouldn’t classify this as a primitive model. By my eye, I’d say it’s almost as many parts as an Entry Grade:

That being said, there are a few individual parts that are simplified and/or primitive looking. The backpack for one, or the fact that the Beam Sabers are molded as a single fixed part.

(The beam rifle is also a single part, but that’s actually a good thing, because that means there are no seamlines)

Chest

They actually use some nice, modern parts layering to get this to look this way:

And look, it even has a molded crotch-V. No stickers needed!

Shield

I do appreciate that there’s at least a little bit of surface detail on the inside:

Head

No need for an eye sticker, but also no need to color in the Vulcan Cannons.

I feel like that’s a nicety that High Grades have only very recently started to have, so it’s cool to see it here.

(PS - there are some seamlines on the head, which I can’t really hold against it. It’s kind of hard to avoid at this scale)

Legs

Here’s where things get interesting. On the left, you’ll see that the thigh is made out of two parts: an “outer shell” section, and an “inner” part that fits inside of it. This is how it eliminates the seamline:

As for the lower leg, that part you see on the right is the front of the leg, but there are two parts that go behind it, and those do create a seamline in the back. But at least it looks perfect from the front.

Arms

The trick with the thigh assembly is kinda-sorta replicated with the upper arm, with one plastic part sliding on top of another:

This means the arms have no seamlines at all.

One other thing is that you have to attach the shoulder armor upside down, and then flip them over to lock them into place.

Weapons

Of course we get a pre-molded “toothpick” beam saber, though the clade is more of a cylinder than a toothpick. You’ll have to paint it pink if you want.

As for the beam rifle, the scope has no surface detail whatsoever, but you can still paint it yellow.

Finished

It took me all of a couple of minutes to put together at the hotel, and I was so smitten with the design that I decided to give it that extra TLC when I got home. Panel lines, paints, top coat, the works:

It turns out that I really love this thing, way more than I anticipated.

To be clear, if you compare it to the official lineart, or to some of the better animated scenes from the show (and definitely if you compare it to modern renditions of the mobile suit), then you’ll probably think it looks like a weird, lumpy little thing.

But if you compare it to some of the weirder, off-model depictions:

Or even some of the stills that are in the category of “not quite off model, perse, but still kinda rough looking by modern standards”:

Then I’d say this model actually does a fantastic job of capturing the Gundam’s true vibe as it appeared onscreen in 1979 (as opposed to the cleaner, sleeker version that exists in our heads and memories).

It just feels … right. And I feel like I understand why the original became immediately popular. Setting aside that you’d have to paint it and all that, it gave you a chance to make something that did surprisingly well at representing the thing you saw on your TV every week. That had to have been so exciting.

Stop Motion

One last thing I did with this model. I tried my hand at a tiny bit of stop motion, in order to try and recreate this very early Gunpla TV ad. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to do this, but it ended up being even tougher than I imagined. I tried using sticky tack to keep it in place (and from falling over), but it didn’t work all that well against gravity. But hey, at least I gave it a go:

Miscellany

A few more thoughts and notes before we wrap up.

First, legend has it that Bandai still makes the original 1980 kit, but they only sell it at the Gundam Base(s) in Japan. And it’s exactly as it was back then, unpainted and unglued and everything.

Second, this instruction manual taught me that the older kits actually came with glue for you to use, so you could build it as soon as you bought it. However, the glue doesn’t have a reusable cap, so unless you had another bottle lying around, you’d have to do all your gluing in one go.

Third, this reddit user got the original kit and painted it up using all their modern tools and techniques:

Which looks at least as good, if not better than what I presume is a professional build in this photo:

I doubt most builds looked that good in 1980, but it’s an important lesson that with enough love, even the simplest and lowliest model can be brought to life.

Conclusion

This kit is about $14, and you might reasonably question whether that’s worth it for a model that looks so simple and poses so poorly.

To that I will say: this shouldn’t be your first build. Hell, I’m not even sure if it should be your 20th!

But if you care anything at all about Plamo history, you need to check this out. If you have enough builds under your belt already, and maybe you think you’ve seen it all, then you also need to check it out. I think the Revival Gundam is the kind of thing that can reignite one’s passion and appreciation for the hobby.