Bandai Hobby MG Gundam Exia Gundam 00" (BAN159452)

I picked up this MG Exia because I quite like the MS designs from the 00 TV series. The title suit Exia is kind of the spiritual successor of the Strike Gundam which was the last real close combat/melee title suit since the earlier UC days. The Exia design itself is a bit more fantastic, being very lithe and athletic appearance which goes along with it's use in the anime, basically a close quarters combat unit equipped with mostly sword weapons and nearly martial arts like in it's agility. The lack of huge backpack/wings/addon crap that has plagued Gundam designs as of late (and later done on title MS, 00) makes it one of my faves from the last several series.This MG kit really does justice to the mecha and design in terms of construction, detail, proportion and articulation. Basically the kit is designed with the latest in inner frame/skeleton technology which allows for superior articulation and allows it to assume nearly all the athletic poses it can do in the show. Basically in terms of posing you're only limited by your imagination. For details it comes with a full set of adhesive decals, but I recommend the waterslide decals especially for the longer details used to pinstripe the weapons and shield. The Exia kit is highly durable and will stand up to several attempts at posing and joints use a combination of plastic-on-plastic and heavy duty polycap type joints which I like, ensuring joints are super tight or will go loose too quickly. However it is a model kit and not a toy, so joints will wear out over time with too much use.For those who notice the MG Exia Ignition Mode kit which is more expensive, what is the difference?1. This kit does not come with the LED units that light up the GN drive. After buying aftermarket LED units ($20) I probably should have bought that version instead, but thats ok.2. Blade edge parts are a dull flat silver, not chromed. If you want to get the shiny blade look, you'll have to paint it yourself.3. Does not come with parts to make it 'battle damaged Exia'. I have no plans to build the kit this way, so I don't really care.Overall a fantastic gunpla kit, a solid build that will take you some time, but well worth the results. Instructions are very straightfoward despite not being in english.

The GN-001 "Exia" is a melee beast capable of performing intricate maneuvers in a dance-like manner, so the challenge of the Master Grade model version is to bring the lithe power of the animated version to life- a feat that it achieves in almost every way. The torso has multiple articulation points that allow it to roll its shoulders and upper half in a full 360 degrees. The legs are designed with a variation on the classic two-point knee joint, allowing the legs to fold up tightly, and with the vertically sliding hip joint, this Gundam kneels better than any other kit I've assembled. The sliding pistons in the arms and legs are a nice touch as well. A few of the joints are a bit loose, as others have noticed, but that will likely change once the kit is fully painted.The assembly process is drastically different than all the other MG kits I've assembled (mostly Wing and 08th MS Team), but the instructions are still pretty easy to follow, even without Japanese knowledge. Some of the sprue nubs are in hard to reach places to sand down, but not so much that that it gets frustrating. The plastic colors are pretty good right out of the box, and the parts are molded so that paint is more or less optional for a complete look, but I will be painting mine to get rid of that plastic look.There were some issues in assembling the kit. The first is the flywheel that goes inside the back of the GN Drive. Mine falls out of the clear piece it goes into, though I suspect there were some subtle nubs that I may have sanded off that held it in place. The biggest issue was with the chest assembly. The space that the GN Drive was supposed to slide into had a large chunk of plastic molded inside so that it blocked the drive from going in. I used a Dremel with a sanding attachment to remove it, so it wasn't a huge deal. Other than these two problems, the kit was pretty straight forward.Overall, the kit was a satisfying build. I plan on displaying it on the action base with the internal LEDs installed, and even some for the other GN Condensors on the arms, legs and head.

I built and painted this model over the course of several weeks.Design: The proportions of this kit are spot on. Every major seam is well hidden and there is a lot of detail throughout the kit. The clear blue holographic pieces for the legs, arms, chest and head are also a really nice touch. My only complaint is that the spur connections could have been better placed on the chrome plated pieces.Articulation: The articulation of this model is really fantastic. The joints have a large range of motion, yet they're still very stiff. Exia has no problem holding the gigantic GN sword over it's head, or in any number of dynamic poses. The feet, hips and ankles also have a good range of motion, but the knees are a bit of a pain to bend.Color: The molded colors look good right out of the box. It's obvious that the designer went to great lengths to keep the color design as close to the design as possible. The kit looks 100 times better with paint and panel lines.