HG 1/144 Gundam Exia Review, Part 1

Since I have much lack of time as of late, I would not be able to build many models(then again it is impossible for me to buy so much) for the next few... years. Though, July seems to be free and there are some Gundams I want to get at that time, both being HGs. ^^

This particular model took me 4 days to complete, built after I got back home right after classes has ended. Even if it is a HG, it took me a while, as I tried to "level-up" my Gundam Marker skillz, which, personally, has ways to go.

For this review, which is not entirely a review, as I'll give comments on my building process and what not. Another thing is that this Exia, is not the previous Exia I shown which is the special edition one, which I dare not play much with as it might do damage to the coating. Coating versions actually are preferred not to be built but left within their boxes for braggin' rights. XD

Now, onto the first part.

Gundam Exia is the main Gundam of the newest installment to the Gundam franchise, Gundam 00. It appeared in the first episode od Gundam 00 defeating an ace pilot from the AEU(forgot what it means, sorry) with great ease, using its main weapon, a huge "gun-sword", the GN Sword. The pilot of this short-range/melee Gundam happens to be Setsuna F. Seiei(also known as Soran Ibrahim), who happens to specialise in close quarter combat(and sucks like hell in shooting).

The Exia is my total favorite Gundam of any Gundam series, due to the fact it is most a melee suit and has a big sword. Who doesn't love big sword warriors? XD It also has the most special design of any Gundams ever seen, making it even more special. I was especially happy when Exia R2 came out in the end of Gundam 00 to fight the final boss, it was just, awesome(comming out June).

But, enough of the walls of text, onto the review and building process!
Note: The pictures has been re-sized to 10% of original size to quicken up uploading, decreasing bandwidth usage and to not show you my "suckiness" in painting that much. >_>

Price: 1200 Yen

Gundam Exia, GN-001
Height: 18.3m
Weight: 57.2t
Armaments:
1x GN-Sword/Rifle
1x GN-Shield
1x GN Long Blade
1x GN Short Blade
2x Beam Sabers
2x Beam Daggers

Exia is also known as the Seven Sword Gundam, since it incorporates the seven sword system, whereby it is equipped with seven swords and all are used as they have specific uses(though, it is mostly a throw fest for Setsuna XD).

Box, open!

Basic packaging, 2 plastic bags and one instruction booklet.

Spreading em' out. This can be considered a very easy build.

Oops, forgot to put this one with the rest on top. This part is rubber and will be used for the shoulder "power connectors".

Zoom up on the stickers. Man, that's a lot of stickers there. Sucks that the shield will need a sticker...

Zoom up on the legs part. If you look to the top left, you will see a circular shape with a hole with the thigh parts. Sigh, there goes some articulation in the thigh area.

If you notice, there are no beam parts! They did give this "toothpick" though. @#$%^&* I guess seven swords is too much for 1200 Yen...

4 beam saber handles! All they need are beam parts... damn... luckily, Nadleeh has two! Yes, that's right folks, if you want saber parts ofr most of the HG Gundams 00 Season 1, you'll be looking for Nadleeh to supply you two in every box! Oh yays. GN-Xs do have, but sadly not compatible. I dunno where you can get the beam daggers though...

The shield... yep, sticker on top later on~

Clear parts~

Clear parts are then painted green with the BB Sangokuden Meta-Green marker, looks pretty nice. Oh yes, there is a little trick with this Gundam Marker, if you paint it lightly enough, it will be translucent, nice. I rather paint it before cutting them out, as you can see, it is very small to hold nicely to paint easily.

Flipped it. Notice the one of the top left didn't come out very nice... Though, it won't be much of a problem.

Parts of the main body. Note that only the 00 series HG Gundams has a psuedo internal skeleton on some parts as of now. Maybe some other more expensive HGs have them too though, as well as newer ones. Go Bandai~ XP

Assembled and painted. Though, I didn't paint some parts as I felt to lazy to paint so much on the first stage and that I forgot that the "Armpit" has to be gray in color. Bleh. I left these parts to dry for a day before I put them together completely.

The back~ The GN Drive(the cone shape) took a while to paint, since it was totally white beforehand.

Upper view~ Gn Drive looks nice IMO. >>

Underside view~

Close up... I think I need a better camera for these close-ups. The yellow part of the "chest exhaust" is painted with the Gundam 00 Second Yellow marker.

The head. I forgot to take a picture of pre-assembling, as the process took such a short while. XP
The forehead "crystal" is painted green and the yellow part of the "cheek guard" is also painted(as it was white and bare before).

Rear view.

This part was annoying. The cheap masking tape didn't work at all, so I just forgone it and painted straight ahead, scratching excess paint after it dries a bit.

"The finished product". I left it to dry together with the main body for a day also.

The shield. Short story, short, I just used the sticker. Painting such a huge area with Gundam Markers is a a big no-no for me.

The underside. Seriously, the shield is mainly made of 2 parts.

This part was built on the 2nd day. So many pieces for the arms, then again, this is only HG.

Luckily, the arms only need panel lining, which is easy and fast to do, if you're careful.

Looks very nice IMO, with those panel lines and given sticker. ^^

Limited arm bending. Awww...

You can turn the elbow joint around for some bits of articulation.

IIRC, I did this on the 3rd day. This is the GN Sword/Rifle, still in pieces. The gray part you see for the big piece(small shield) is painted messily with the gray Gundam Marker. Pretty easy to do and the outcome was really nice and smooth.

The GN Long & Short Blade you see at the bottom only had two pieces, which is the white and the blue pieces. The gray part was also painted. It came out really damn nice. I really like the gray marker, best marker in the Gundam 00 Second market set. ^^
The "shield" you see on top is part of the GN Sword/Rifle with the sword...

...being in the painting process. Gundam Marker Silver sucks, tried the BB Sangokuden and the one I bought earlier. Sucks. Sadly, this cannot be undone and I tried to layer it a bit for a nicer look, though that failed. Of course, with a bit of sanding, I in turn, create a more "real-sword" look for it, which kinda satisfies me. I'll show that in part 2 later on. >>

The feet, really basic feet. Did this on the fourth and final day.

A little bit of paint can really make this HG look a bit more detailed than it is already.

Underside, though a bt hard to see...

Sorry for the messiness, my paper cover is getting a bit dirty because of the current marker usages.

The right leg assembled, with paint being used mostly for the thigh parts.

Other side.

Painted this part, takes a while, 2-3 layers of paint and lots of scratching excess paint. Took a good hour or two.

Gn Short Blade mounted.

Maximum bend! Not that great, but pretty good for a HG.

After all that, the brand new Exia stand with the others on the shelf. Yes, that's Dynames and Arios in the background. XP My Season 2 00 is almost complete... main character Gundam-wise.

Well, that's it for Exia, for now, as it is past bed time already as I finish this up. =(
As I said before, Exia is my favorite Gundam, next up being Arios then 00. XD, I became a fan of Arios after I finished building it since it really look nice up close. The anime didn't do much justice for it due to low amounts of screentime. >>

Part 2 will be posing pictures, along with the 1/100 Exia + Conclusion. ^^

Part 2 here.