Bandai Hobby Bandai #01 RX-78-2 Gundam 1/144, Real Grade (BAN163280)

This was the third kit I ever built, my first model that wasn't a High Grade, and also my first Real Grade. I've heard plenty of good things about this kit, but I knew I had to see it for myself. I was mainly looking around for the best rendition of RX-78-2 around for the best price, and this Real Grade version meets that requirement perfectly. In fact, I think a little over $30 is a steal for something with such an exceptional level of quality, attention to detail, and a healthy number of parts akin to Master Grades.Now that quick intro is over with, time to get on to the fun stuff (oh joy :3 )!The package came in a pretty big Amazon box. Much bigger than my expectation. I was puzzled at why would it be packaged in such a large box for such a small kit, but upon opening the packaging, I was surprised by how large the kit's box actually is. The box itself reeks of quality in comparison to past models. No actual cardboard is visible on the outside of the box. Black underside, a nice & detailed shot of RX-78's head plus a CGI of the whole Gundam on the front, and side illustrations of the various features of the product (though written in Japanese, easy to understand what the illustrations are trying to convey).Upon opening the box, you will be pleasantly welcomed to TEN (that's right, TEN) runners/plates containing a whopping total of (if memory serves me correctly), 276 individual parts. Wow. Talk about a healthy and hefty amount of time spent enjoying the building process of the kit. And it sure did deliver in that regard.Looking at RX-78-2 by itself on the cover of the box, you expect the colors of the plates to be white, blue, some red, some yellow, black/grey, and pink for the beam sabers. That is exactly what you get, right? Not necessarily, because upon closer look at the plates/runners, you will see that there are MULTIPLE shades of color. Past models of this Gundam has been just solid white all throughout, but in this kit you'll see that there are pure white pieces, light grey pieces, light brown pieces, blue pieces, light blue pieces, red pieces, maroon pieces, and yellow pieces all spread throughout. The inner frame parts aren't even all just plain gray either, it comes in two shades. One dark grey and one lighter grey. Simply put, the colors are spot on and definitely do justice in giving RX-78 a realistic touch and feel to it, contrary to past models that are more accurate to the anime but thus naturally come off as more cartoony.I really like how the instructions show a summary illustration of which part you are currently working on, and certain parts of the pictures highlighted for emphasis. Following the directions were very simple and a joy to go through.Now for the build. I actually ended up buying this same kit twice. The first kit was a "practice" run through, I'd say, since it was a rushed build using just standard scissors (bad idea, I know). Even then, the end result was nothing short of amazing. This is a kit that you don't need to paint, as individual panels of the armor come in different shades of color to add detail before you even have to add it yourself. If you do have to paint, it would likely to just mask all the nub marks (especially if you don't have side cutters like I did at first). Even then, Bandai does a fantastic job in placing attachment points at discrete locations so that nub marks are hardly visible on the kit.You begin with the feet and work your way up. As soon as you complete the feet, you'll pretty much get an early sense of satisfaction seeing how much articulation it actually has. I continued to become more and more impressed the more parts I finished, especially the legs. Individual armor pieces move along with the legs and arms and don't remain static, giving the kit a sense of having realistic armor mechanisms. Articulation is just gorgeous. It's as if you're dealing with something that's pretty darn accurate to the human skeletal system. Thus, you can recreate essentially every iconic pose from Mobile Suit Gundam right down to the exact angle. The inner frame of this kit is a work of beauty, though not as complex as perfect grade (naturally), still VERY impressive for something of this price.No screws or glue were necessary (thank goodness!). Everything was a snap fit. You really only need side cutters, tweezers for applying decals, a hobby knife & Gundam markers (to clean up nub marks).The end result was exactly as I expected it to be: simply beautiful.If I had to nitpick, I would say that the tiny pieces gave some difficult in assembling certain parts (such as the core fighter), and the kit itself is unfortunately small. But again, you get what you pay for, AND THEN SOME. The side skirt armor and thrusters on the backpack do come loose easily, but that's easily fixed with a bit of adhesives.I recommend this as a good starting point for anyone getting into building Gundam model kits.

This was the first model in the Real Grade line, which means a couple of things. On the positive side, Bandai's designers clearly wanted to make an impression and distinguish the Real Grade from the existing High Grade line. So everything is super complex and you can tell a lot of engineering went into starting the Real Grades with a bang. You get a nice complement of weapons, and the inner frame and moving armor panels make this model very satisfying to pose. It'll hold a pose pretty well without too much falling off in the process.The flip side of being first in the RG line is that the designers didn't have the benefit of learning from previous models. Some parts are a little too tiny for their own good and will break easily if you're not careful. The inner frame is already articulated fresh from the runner, which is awesome, but I managed to break the hip section while trying to get the joints to move. (Thankfully a glob of superglue put everything back together). The other thing that disappointed me is that it only comes with two sets of hands - closed fist, and the fiddly articulated hands. There's no dedicated trigger fingers or open hands like in later RG models. The action base mount also leaves something to be desired: it fits too loosely into the model for comfort, and only fits the square tab of an actual Action Base - no peg-hole for cheaper stands.PROS:+ Master Grade complexity in High Grade size+ Inner frame means high poseability and complex moving armor+ Comes with beam rifle, shield, bazooka, and two sets of beam sabers (with and without tabs for hands to grip)+ Transformable core fighter can dock with suit, or you can use the provided block to give some more flexibility+ Satisfying build process+ Lots of stickers for a realistic lookCONS:- Parts can break if you're not careful- No dedicated trigger finger, open hand, or saber holder hands- Disappointing action base mount (notice the wire stand in the pictures)- Beam sabers are preposterously longOverall this is a great treatment of the first-ever Gundam and a great start to the Real Grade line. Later RG models have improved on it, but this one still holds up. Definitely a great addition to your collection.