1/100 Gundam Exia Roll Out Color Ver. Part 2

All done
Starting the detailing work on 1/100 Gundam Exia Roll Out Color Ver. after the introduction in Part 1.

Since the more troublesome parts to paint were all taken care of in the All Exia Project, the rest of the kit should be even simpler to handle, especially now when I have tools like Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color (Black) that can simplify some of the panel lining work required. ^^ Furthermore, since I had worked on the first 1/100 Gundam Exia and two of its variations: Gundam Avalanche Exia and Gundam Astraea, I don't think I'll need to rethink on how to detail certain parts anymore. ^^; I just have to "copy and paste" the formula from the first three kits onto this one. ^^


Panel lined some areas of the weapon parts using Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color (Black).


The handle areas of the four GN Beam Sabers/Daggers and GN Blades that used to cost me plenty of time to panel line are taken care of in an instance. ^^


With excessive panel liner paint on the parts wiped away using cotton swabs soaked with enamel thinner. ^^



Panel lining for the tiny slits behind the three shield parts can be considered as new details as compared to the other three 1/100 Gundam Exia-type Gunplas. They weren't detailed back when I was working on those three kits as I deemed the slits to be too narrow and the work too difficult. ^^;


Other details on the weapon parts are done using normal panel liner.


(Left) Details on the GN Blades can be challenging to panel line due to their size and having different designs in front and behind the parts.
(Right) It's nice to see all the teeth-like details on either side of the shield parts again. ^^


The beam parts and GN Blade crossguards are attached temporarily to the different handles as "helpers" for me to hold onto when cleaning up excessive panel liner paint and to apply new ones using normal panel liner. ^^


Simple panel lining for the arm parts.


As with those for the feet.


The white space behind the ankle guards and elbow area of the forearm parts are painted black using normal marker to give them a bit more depth.


A little bit of the edges on the leg armor is painted in gray using Gundam Marker Gray to make it as part of the mechanical interior of the leg.


The border between the top and bottom shoulder block part is painted black using normal marker to highlight the gap.


Unlike the other three 1/100 Gundam Exia-type kits, the GN Drive is not painted black this time. Since I'll be using the foil sticker included for this part (to get the green ring with text details), painting the part is really not necessary at all. ^^


Panel lining done for the body parts.


As usual, the beam dagger mount racks on the rear skirt armor are cut to allow each side to move independently.


Simple panel lining for the hip parts.


Much like the slits behind the shield parts shown earlier on, some minor line details behind the rear skirt armor parts are realized using Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Color (Black). I gave up trying to panel line them on the other three 1/100 Gundam Exia-type kits because of the difficulty in reaching the part's narrowest depth using a normal panel liner. ^^;


Panel-lined the tiny lines on the edges of the gray face part.
The top portion of the face part and the area around the forehead sensor are painted black using normal marker to avoid the slightest bit of their base colors to escape the foil stickers later on.


With the other head parts already completed in the All Exia Project. ^^


Test fitting the parts to see how the head would turn out when assembled. ^^
The gray chin immediately stands out as a refreshing design on this version of Gundam Exia. ^^
And just like that, all the work on this kit is done. ^^ The fast completion on the work reminds me of HG 1/144 Tieren Taozi and Mechanic Collection Mazinger Z with God Scrander, and even Pokepla Pikachu to some degree, where two postings are enough to finish up on the work. ^^ Even though most of the details are treated based on experience from working on the first 1/100 Gundam Exia, Gundam Avalanche Exia and Gundam Astraea, it's amazing that there are still details realized for the first time on this kit, namely the shield rear skirt armor parts. ^^ I'm looking forward to seeing how those details would turn out to be on the completed kit. ^^

As usual, there'll be a bit of offset time between now and when I revisit all the parts again for the final assembly. ^^

1/100 Gundam Exia Roll Out Color Ver. Part 1

Not-so limited limited item
Like the previous review on Shiho Hahnenfuss from MS Gundam Seed Heroines 8 gashapon set, starting this new Gunpla project now would be just right to maintain the spirit of bringing back categories of review that seem to be absent on this blog for quite a while. ^^


This is 1/100 scale Gundam Exia Roll Out Color Ver. Supposedly an event-limited release for the 48^th All-Japan Model Hobby Show (第48回全日本模型ホビーショー) held in mid October 2008 and a few other subsequent hobby exhibitions, I managed to get mine about a year later for an average market price close to that of a regular 1/100 Gundam Exia. ^^ There were plenty of similar instances where certain special limited merchandises became available at market rates outside Japan. The 1/48 scale Unicorn Gundam Head Display Base is one of such stories, albeit not as direct as this special version of Gundam Exia. ^^ What was the exact arrangement that lead to those limited items been "stripped" of their limited status? I have no idea and couldn't be bothered to speculate on the answer. ^^ The triumph of getting a legitimate piece of those limited item is always exciting, especially when the price is good too. XD

Not exactly a brand new kit on the work list, some parts from this kit were selected, painted and detailed collectively with many more from other Gundam Exia-type Gunplas as early as February 2010. ^^ Some of them were parts for the first 1/100 Gundam Exia assembled and reviewed back in January 2011. So, instead of branding it as a new Gunpla project, finishing up on old kit started a long time ago would be more accurate to describe the nature of this review series I suppose. ^^ In many ways, that's indeed the case as this Roll Out Color version is the last Gundam Exia kit to be worked on from the All Exia Project. ^^

Still, this is still not the last Gunpla version of Gundam Exia yet to be assembled in my collection. ^^ By the look of it, the Master Grade version will be the last one to be featured, unless a brand new exciting kit of Gundam Exia is announced, or I suddenly have the desire to get the 1/60 scale version which might cut the queue. XD As of now, I'm very happy to be revisiting this Roll Out Color version. I'm sure my prior experience with the first 1/100 Gundam Exia, then Gundam Avalanche Exia, and finally Gundam Astraea is going to be mighty useful in my work on this kit. ^^


(Left) The special "Roll Out Color" label.
(Right) Instead of the more common "MS Gundam 00" merchandising seal seen on all the regular releases in this Gunpla line, the Sunrise-type can be seen instead.



Introduction of the kit on the box sides.
Just like the box art, the design is all the same as that on the first 1/100 Gundam Exia, albeit printed in grayscale.


Content.




The instruction manual is exactly the same as the one included for the first 1/100 Gundam Exia. ^^
A look at the different runners - since all of them are identical in design to the ones from the first 1/100 Gundam Exia just molded in different colors, I'll refer you to the introduction of that kit on the details.


Runner A


Section of clear parts with their rear sides painted using green highlighter.



Change in molded colors for the parts: white → light gray, yellow → light yellow and red → gray


Runner B


Runner C


Runner D features no change in molded color as compared to the same runner in the first 1/100 Gundam Exia.


Runner E, an ABS runner features no change in molded color as well.


Runner F with the same shade of gray from the first 1/100 Gundam Exia maintained as its molded color.


Runner G


Change in molded colors for the parts: blue → gray.


Runner H is copied directed from the first 1/100 Gundam Exia, and Runner SB-8 for the four beam sabers/daggers.


Polycap set PC-116.


Foil sticker sheet.


While the overall design is the same, the pieces for the GN Drive and GN Condensers have metallic green borders and textual labels added. ^^


All removed parts are organized and stored in individual paper containers.


All of the painted and panel lined parts from the All Exia Project.


As usual, the entire segment holding the clear parts are separated from the rest of the content. The sword is stored separately to prevent any scratches on its painted surface.
Most of the harder-to-detail components, especially the head and GN Sword were already done since a long time ago. What remains now are the tasks of panel-lining and painting all the other parts, which won't be too difficult I believe. ^^