Gunpla Build - Real Grade Gundam Exia (Part 4)

Before we get into the finished model, I want to talk about the overall build experience.

This is the oldest Real Grade I’ve built in a long time. In fact, I haven’t built one this old since the Zeta Gundam, and that was eight years ago.

I was curious as to whether the experience would be different this time, now that I have so many more models under my belt. The answer is both “yes” and “no”.

“No” because there are certain aspects of the build that aren’t going to change, because they’re inherent to the way the model is engineered. You can’t escape the prebuilt inner frame and the way it informs the assembly. Nor can you escape the fact that small pieces, once small enough, can break or bend under even the most delicate care. And while this is debatable, I do feel as if modern kits are less prone to nub marks, partly because they do a better job of hiding them, and partly because of smarter placement of sprues on the runners. Removing some of these parts off the runners felt like defusing a bomb due to how little space there was to work within.

On the other hand, I also want to say “Yes”, because there are other areas in which practice and experience can make for a better build (and a better build experience). For example, I was able to fix any parts that I broke, to the point where it’s not obvious they broke at all (and the model didn’t lose any functionality either). I removed some decals, but didn’t actually lose any. Finally, the only missing part was one of the bendy ribbons for the head.

If the cumulative total of mistakes is one missing ribbon, I consider that a huge improvement over past builds. I chalk this up to not only being more careful, but also having better “control”. I can remove and apply decals with greater precision, which makes it less likely for them to fly away. I have places to put particularly small parts so that they won’t grow legs and disappear (though I still came close a few times!). I’ve also gotten quicker and cleaner about removing nub marks. While there are still a few on this model, I no longer need to sand them down and spend as much time cleaning them up as I used to.

All of which is to say that while this was still tricky in the way that Real Grades tend to be, it also wasn’t quite as exhausting as usual. It was actually a fairly pleasant build. It’s few challenges and puzzles ended up being engaging rather than frustrating, and I felt like I could make good progress even working for less than an hour. I don’t know if I would go out of my way to seek out more old Real Grades, but I also don’t think I’ll try to avoid them either.

On the other hand, while this was a more pleasant build than my last two Real Grades, I think those two were much better as finished models. Even before trying to pose it, I could tell that the Exia was going to be a bit of a hand grenade.

My first clue came when I tried to attach the two GN swords. This is what the instructions say to do:

So you’re supposed to pull out the hip armor, and flip the connector peg up and out. I ended up pulling the armor all the way out, detaching the connector peg, and reattaching it in the correct orientation (I was afraid that trying to do it as the manual suggested would cause one of the pegs to break).

But even once you get it out, you realize that these two fairly large swords have to connect to these two tiny, fragile looking pegs. If you keep the swords equipped, it is almost certain that a peg will shear off during posing, but if you take the swords, and don’t tuck the pegs back into the waist, they’ll still almost certainly break off.

I decided to just say “screw it”, and let the chips fall where they may. If something breaks during posing, so be it.

…. but now that this post has gone on so long, I think I’ll wrap this one up, and do yet another post that is all about posing and articulation.