ガンプラ命- Z's Gundam Model Review

This MG is from Gundam Sentinel, a Zeta Gundam side story featuring transformable prototypes of all sorts. This Gundam is HUGE! Like… bigger than the MG Sazabi and Nu Gundam.

Out of the Box

There’s a total of 31 frame runners in the package, 31 screws (!), and a 30 page instruction manual. It will leave your workspace covered in a sea of plastic parts. The plastic for the most part are very good quality and doesn’t feel cheap… even the blue looks very solid despite most of its pieces have large surface area. The one part I did not like was the yellow parts on the head which includes the cheek piece and v-fins; they look utter cheap so I painted them a more solid yellow. I skipped the foil stickers for the most part and kept the wings a solid white with panel lines… I must say, I’m quite happy I did that.

Construction

This kit is no way simple O_O. Most of the parts have certain steps to follow and be built in a certain order. Slipping screws here and there aren’t so bad for this model since the bits drop right into the hole for the most part. Cutting the pieces out and filing them clean took a lot more time than putting them together. There’s just so many pieces to one little part! The legs and torso were probably the most complicated and time consuming parts of the model while the rest like the arms and backpack were slightly more straightforward after cutting them off and cleaning it… but even that takes some time. Overall, this model took me the longest to build; I spent roughly over a week on this project. Its beam smart gun also has a lot of pieces. Usually, rifles and cannons are just a couple of pieces clamped together but the Ex-S has a few layers on top of each other to assemble the impressive cannon. If I knew the color of the scope beforehand, I would’ve painted the inside green before inserting the clear piece >_<. Some odd things are how some parts REQUIRES you to use a screw to hold it otherwise it falls off (ex: rear side skirts). There are some leftover parts to complete another core fighter that you can display with the Ex-S on its base.

The one thing that’s not excessive about the Ex-S is….the markings. Decal placements and warning marks are very subtle for this model so I made use of the remaining decals and just slap them on wherever that makes sense or looks good.

Completed Model

Wow… After panel lining and putting on the decals, I was very impressed with the final assembly. It’s so ginormous in every dimension! It’s so… EX-Ssive xD. The average MG will be around 2/3 of its height and width. During construction, I was able to make the model stand but after adding everything on, it will simply topple backwards from its Ex-Ssive weight. Even if I could make it stand, the body will have to lean drastically forward to counterbalance the weight of its backpack… and the model would just look funny.

This model…for what it is and how big it is… CAN pose! The waist has no articulation but the limbs have enough where one can actually do some decent action poses with the beam sabers or the beam smart gun (cannon?). This much is already more impressive than the MG Sazabi and the MG Full Armor Double Zeta Gundam. Maybe it’s because it’s on a display stand?… Speaking of the display stand. I love it. When I saw it in pictures, I thought it would be in solid black plastic like that of the MG Zeta 2.0 but it’s actually slightly transparent.

Knowing my luck with previous transforming Gundam models, I didn’t attempt the transformation on this model so that’s why there are no pictures ^_^. I was afraid I might break something during the transformation and back. But the Ex-S Gundam in MS form is already impressive enough, I can care less to see it as a funky ship >_>. But if you are curious, here’s Dalong’s G-Cruiser.

This model is so big that it’ll be sure to catch someone’s attention almost immediately if they were looking at your collection. It’s a magnificent kit that consumes a lot of your time, patience, and energy but definitely worth the effort. For those of you who already have it but left it aside because you saw how complicated the manual was… GET STARTED ON IT! but only focus your view entirely on the pieces you cut out though… Do not look at the sea of runners since it’ll be the fastest way to demotivate yourself to build the kit xD

Some notes:

-Painted the yellow parts for the head

- Screw the foil stickers, the parts look better without it.

- Painted tail binder “windows” and chest pieces green