I've just gotten the kit, and what I can say is that it's a breath of
fresh air, in terms of gundam kit construction.
*Head:*
this is probably the 1/144 head with the most number of parts - the nice
touches being the clear parts at the ears. The headspikes are
refreshingly thick and stubby. My only complaint is that the head is
VERY tiny for the size/height.
*Torso:*
The next big change is the use of "side" parts for the outer chest areas
- this makes the shoulders much more natural looking when it's in an
action pose, but the ABS-ABS jointing is a bit iffy for me. The Cone
backpack is a change of pace for Gundam designs. The waist has a lot of
clearance, ensuring that mobility is very extensive. The front clear
window is also a nice touch, though it reminds me of Bomberman/B-Daman.
*
Crotch:*
The hip area is actually a bit of a throwback to older kits, but with a
twist: rather than have an axis, it has a ball joint in the middle of
the hip area, so that it allows for more posability - add to that the
practically nonexistent front waist plates and having no side waist
plates, you've got a very posable hip area. the only problem is the fact
that the beam saber holders literally make the sabers stick out of its
butt. even with the hinges at the base of the saber mounts, it looks
very odd.
*Arms:
*The arms are somewhat new in design - while the shoulder armor being to
halves that are connected to the shoulder itself via the usual
cylindrical plus-minus parts. There's a rubber part, though, that links
the shoulder armor to the arm itself. It's a nice detail, but i can see
it cracking from age. The horizontal elbow joint is something i dislike
- plastic-ABS connection. I can see that one making the elbow drop from
the socket, the main joint is a covered polycap, thankfully. The whole
internal of the forearm is an ABS part that functions as both the
forearm plug-in for the gunblade weapon and the shield, as well as the
socket for the wrist ball joint. The hands are detailed well, but the
plastic ball in the ABS socket is, again, something I'm not too fond of.
Finally, the Beam sabers at the back of the shoulder armor SUCK. it just
looks about as awkward as the butt-mounted swords.
The outstretched hand is also very detailed, but feels rather blockish.
*Legs:*
The knees are made of two joints: one obvious one, and one that is
hidden in the lower knee area, and rotates around the clear plastic area
at the calves - it looks nice, and affords a lot of posability, but in
some angles, it looks very awkward. Still, combined with the hip
articulation, the Exia can do a very nice genuflection. The ankles are
standard for an HGUC, but it's more posable due to the fact that the
Exia does not have bulky ankle gueards, more than anything else. The
feet are in three pieces each: top, bottom and ball joint polycap.
*Weapons:*
The main weapon, the gunblade, is nicely done, and it swings into
position correctly. the only problem is that
it always has the arm-mounted beam sabers get in the way.
The Shield is pretty standard -but also surprising, as it can be posed
flush to the shoulder armor.
The Beam sabers are a main point of frustration: there are no clear
parts for the saber hilts!
The two solid blades are very nice for posing, but when stored in the
hip mounts, it renders the posability nil. one simple solution to the
problem is to ignore the insturction manual and reverse the clamps -
instead of letting the sword rest on them like a cradle, the swords
should be hanging from the clamp.
The one-piece unpainted beam saber is very cheap looking.
*
Verdict:
This kit screams of posability. You can actually duplicate a lot of the
moves seen in the anime, but my main beef is that in order to do this,
there were many questionable sacrifices in terms of durability - and to
be honest, the beam saber placements really, really look awkward. SO
while I bought it and appreciate it, I can imagine how much trouble it
will be in the future.
*
