RG 1/144 Gundam Exia

I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get to writing this. I’ve been sick on and off lately, and have just been feeling too sick to shoot photos or write reviews. I FINALLY managed to get this done, though. So without further ado, I give to you all the Real Grade 1/144 Gundam Exia. The Gundam Exia has quickly worked it’s way into my favorite Gundams, and back when I ordered the Master Grade one, I ordered the Real Grade one too. And I have to say, as far as Real Grade kits go, this is one of the nicest looking and well constructed ones I’ve gotten to build.
Like most Real Grade kits, you’re getting quality and articulation almost as good as a Master Grade kit. I say almost here because this kit has a minor articulation problem in the legs that isn’t present in the Master Grade. For articulation, the head is on a balljoint attached to the Real Grade inner frame, giving it a full 360 degrees of rotation, as well as some upward and downward movement. While there’s no articulation in the midsection, the upper body can tilt side to side a little bit. The arms each rotate a full 360 degrees at shoulders and biceps, and have a full bend at the elbows. The hands are balljointed, so they rotate a full 360 degrees, as well as pivot and swivel really nicely. The shoulders are on hinges that clip onto the arm sockets, and will move upwards as the arms do. Thanks to that, the arms can move out all the way. The clear plastic film that connects the shoulders to the arms is much thinner than the Master Grade’s, so they don’t impede the outward movement of the arms. The shoulders can pop off is you you try to move the arms TOO far outward, but they pop right back on, and you won’t need to worry about losing them since they’re also connected to the arms by the clear plastic film. The waist can’t rotate a full 360 degrees, but it can rotate all the way left or right. The front and back skirt pieces are on balljoints, giving them a decent range of motion, however, the front ones limit the forward movement of the legs because of the balljoints. Speaking of the legs, the forward and backward movement isn’t too great because of the balljointed skirt pieces, but thanks to the absence of side skirt parts, the legs can move out almost all the way outward. The legs also get a full bend at the knees, and the feet have a wide range of movement, including a small bend at the tips.
You actually get a pretty fair amount of accessories with this kit. In this kit you get the Gundam Exia’s signature transforming gun blade, a shield, two GN blades (one short blade and one long blade), two long bladed beam swords, two short bladed beam swords, four different sets of hands, and an action base adaptor piece. Pretty much everything you get with the Master Grade. Something I particularly like is that just like the Master Grade version, the GN blades and the blade on the gun are done in chrome silver coated plastic, giving them a very metallic and reflective finish.
While this is a pretty solid kit, it does have a few small problems. First, the clear plastic film pieces that you put on the arms, legs, torso, and in the head are a really pain in the butt to put in because they’re so thin. I highly recommend using a pair of tweezers for those parts. They can be put in by hand, but tweezers will make the job much easier. The next issue is that while the shoulders move upward as you move the arms outward, they tend to pop off if you try to move the arms too far outward. This isn’t that big of a deal since they pop back on so easily, it can just get annoying while you’re trying to pose the arms. The last issue is my only real pet peeve about this kit. It’s the limited forward and backward movement of the legs. While they can move forward and backward enough to strike plenty of cool poses, the balljointed skirt pieces inhibit their movement. I kind of wish Bandai had taken the same balljoint and hinge system for the skirt pieces that they did for the Master Grade, but in their defense, the hinges would have had to be very small, and would probably wind up being too fragile.
All in all, the Real Grade 1/144 Gundam Exia is a beautiful looking kit, and is a great representation of how the Gundam Exia looks in the anime. The difficultly of this kit is rather so-so, so after building a few Real Grade kits, you should have no problem assembling this one. If you’re a fan of the Gundam Exia, or the Gundam 00 anime series in general, this kit is definitely a must have for your collection.