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.

Great gunpla. Bought it for my nephew as he loves building things.

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.

This Kit was fantastic to build I have always been a fan of the 00 Gundam Series and it is great to finally have this sucker sitting on my desk I would recommend getting the Ignition Mode as well just cause it is different enough and it looks cool having both the damaged and full repair modes next to each other. The quality of the whole thing is great the Kit itself can go into tons of poses all by itself I did order an action base to go along with it and i would recommend one for the cool space fights. All and all this Kit definitely is worth getting.

Muy buen kit

Der Bandai MG Exia ist ein älteres Master Grade Kit von Bandai. Das merkt man leider auch wenn man ihn mit aktuellen Kits wie z.B. dem MG Dynames vergleicht. Aufbau: Der Aufbau von Exia ist wie jeder MG der damaligen Zeit. Nicht zu schwer aber auch nicht zu einfach. Nur das Anbringen der "Kabel" ist etwas fummelig und erfordert etwas konzentration. Man baut den Inner Frame wie gewohnt zuersst und bringt im Anschluss die Rüstungspanele an. Die einzelnen Teile sitzen fest und lassen sich gut verbauen. Positives: Das Aussehen von Exia überzeugt als MG alle Mal. Der sehr biologische Aufbau von Exia mit den Proportionen ist immer sehr ansprechend gewesen und kommt als MG perfekt rüber. Die 4 Effekt Parts, 2 Schwerter, 1 Schild und GN Sword sorgen für viele Möglichkeiten zum Ausstellen des Kits. Negatives: Die Knöchel von Exia sind grottig ohne das man sie bearbeitet. Das Kit kann nach einiger Zeit nicht mehr aufrecht stehen in normalen Posen ohne das die Knöchel nachgeben. Demnach muss man, wenn man eine dynamische Pose will, diese verstärken. Die Hände fallen leider auch in den Bereich schlecht. Es sind die typischen 3 Finger 1 Finger Split MG Hände. Leider haben sie Probleme schwere Waffen fest zu halten. Gerade beim großen GN Sword wäre es schön gewesen Hände zu haben die fester sitzen. GN Drive. Der GN Drive ist extrem fummelig und fällt sehr schnell auseinander. Das Einbauen der LED Units (separat erhältlich) ist ebenfalls einfach (WICHTIG: Wenn man sowohl die Front als auch die Rückseite des GN Drives beleuchten will sollte man darauf verzichten die Sticker für die Innenseite der Brust Clear Parts zu nehmen) Alles in allem ist Exia ein sehr schönes Kit mit Macken aufgrund des Alters. Wem allerdings der PG Exia zu teuer ist und der RG Exia zu klein ist kann gerne zuschlagen.. Dennoch wünscht man sich das Bandai dem Exia seine lange verdiente 2.0 Version verpasst.

Un Gunplat de référence à avoir absolument dans sa collection ! de plus il est éclairer par le torse et le GN-drive.

Its an amazing experience building a gundam, and this model is relatively cheap yet gorgeous. I would definitely recommend it to any first time builders!

Pase 2 dias enteros armandolo y poniendole lineas y transfers y fue una experiencia genial, y el resultado final es simplemente hermoso! La unicas pega que le encuentro es que el plastico que conecta la espada principal al brazo no esta muy bien hecho y no conecta del todo, por lo que es un poco dificil hacerlo posar con la espada extendida, si tan solo fuera un poquito mas al fondo seria perfecto, de todas maneras no es nada grave