My Love For Life Review

This time I will be reviewing the 1/100 scale NG (Normal Grade) Gundam Exia by Bandai. Lets start off the review with the photo of the box art. Gundam Exia can be seen occupying most of the background with a picture insert of Setsuna F. Seiei, the pilot in the foreground. I hope that Bandai will start using the actual picture of the model on the box art instead of an illustration. Though it may look inferior, hobbyists like myself can have a clear picture of how the completed model will look like easily.


The left side box art shows the actual completed model with some inserts of stills taken from the original anime. There is also a short description of Setsuna in Japanese.

The right side box art highlights some of the gimmicks and action poses of Gundam Exia using the actual completed model. Several prominent accessories of the Gundam Exia model kit like its shield and swords are also shown here.

Top box art showing Gundam Exia in the background and a young (child like appearance) Setsuna in the foreground.

Bottom box art depicting Gundam Exia in the background with an older Setsuna in the foreground.

Front cover for the assembly manual. I actually like the illustration done here showing Gundam Exia swinging its GN Blade in the background with an insert of the actual model in the foreground. Bandai could have used this arrangement for the box art instead of just using the artist illustration without the actual model.

First page of the assembly manual showing all the runners of the Gundam Exia model kit in color.

Page 2 of the assembly manual showing some general tips on how to snip out the plastic parts from the runners.

Page 3 of the assembly manual showing the actual assembly steps.

Page 4 of the assembly manual.

Page 5 of the assembly manual showing the character designs of Setsuna F. Seiei. It is a shame that Bandai didn't use color for this page.

Page 6 of the assembly manual illustrating the mechanical designs of Gundam Exia with its weaponry. Again, shame on Bandai for not using color on this page.

Page 7 of the assembly manual.

Page 8 of the assembly manual.

Page 9 of the assembly manual.

Page 10 of the assembly manual.

Page 11 of the assembly manual.

Page 12 of the assembly manual highlighting the color scheme of the Gundam Exia model for those who wish to spray their model for better appearance.

Page 13 of the assembly manual showing the various gimmicks and poses of the completed Gundam Exia model.

Alright now that we are done with the box art and assembly manual(took quite a while), onwards to the actual completed model of Gundam Exia! Here is a special shout out to Herman Turnip of Terrible Analogies: the reappearance of my clear soda can! A side by side size comparison of the 1/100 NG Gundam Exia with my 12cm high clear soda can.

Frontal view of NG Gundam Exia.

Rear view of NG Gundam Exia.

Top down frontal view of NG Gundam Exia.

Top down rear view of NG Gundam Exia. I like the design of the GN drive protruding at Gundam Exia's back.

Closeup on the upper body of NG Gundam Exia. I really like the design of Gundam Exia especially the GN condenser (dark green circular chest part) which uses clear plastic parts.

Diagonal side view on the upper body of NG Gundam Exia. Light reflection can clearly be been from the clear plastic part of the chest GN condenser.

Side view on the upper body of NG Gundam Exia.

Closeup on NG Gundam Exia's head. I did not use the sticker for the eyes but painted them instead.

Side view of the head. Painted the GN condenser of the head in light green instead of using the dark green sticker.

Rear closeup on the upper body of NG Gundam Exia. If you look closely I have painted the GN blade with metallic grey.

Closeup on the GN drive of NG Gundam Exia.

Frontal closeup on the legs of NG Gundam Exia.

Rear closeup on the legs of NG Gundam Exia.

The shoulder V fins (yellow parts at either sides of the neck) can be moved up and down.

There are GN condensers on both arms which I have colored light green.

NG Gundam Exia with all of its included accessories. In total it comes with 7 swords and a shield.

This is the clear pink runner for the beam components of the beam sabers and beam daggers. I have not remove them from the runner because I plan to pose my NG Gundam Exia with all the beam sabers and beam daggers sheathed.

Closeup of the accessories. From the left: GN blade (signature weapon for Gundam Exia), GN Long Sword, GN Short Sword, 4 beam sword hilts and GN shield.

Diagonal frontal view of unarmed NG Gundam Exia.

Diagonal rear view of unarmed NG Gundam Exia. Notice the 2 beam sword hilts sheathed on the lower rear side of both shoulder armor and the 2 beam dagger hilts sheathed at the rear hip.

Bottom top diagonal frontal side view of unarmed NG Gundam Exia.

Bottom top diagonal rear side view of unarmed NG Gundam Exia.

Closeup on GN blade mode front view.

Closeup on GN blade mode back view.

The GN blade can be sheathed and the handle stowed to change to GN rifle mode.

Closeup on GN rifle mode.

Closeup on GN blade mode.

The beam dagger hilts on the rear hip can be moved up and down and also bend sideways.

This is to position them for easier access whenever Gundam Exia requires their usage.

Gundam Exia reaching for the beam saber mounted at the rear side of the shoulder armor.

Closeup on GN shield front view.

Closeup on GN shield back view.

The GN Long sword and GN short sword can be mounted on right and left sides of the upper legs respectively.

Rear view closeup on both GN swords mounted.

Bottom top diagonal frontal view of armed NG Gundam Exia.

Bottom top diagonal rear view of armed NG Gundam Exia.

Top down diagonal frontal view of armed NG Gundam Exia.

Top down diagonal rear view of armed NG Gundam Exia.

Articulation range of the arm and leg of NG Gundam Exia.Even though the elbow is double jointed, the arm cannot bend all the way for the hand to touch the shoulder due to obstruction from an arm component.

NG Gundam Exia balancing on one leg.

The legs cannot bend up much further due to the obstruction from the skirt armor.

The legs of the NG Gundam Exia are on ball joints hence they can be rotated to the sides to perform poses such as this one.

Closeup of the leg.

I also like the design of the leg which IMHO is semi phase shift armor. Meaning that the armor plating on the leg will move when the leg is bent. Compare the left and right legs in the picture and see how the different degree of bends will expose the inner shin part in dark grey.

The legs can also perform the full kneeling position where there are minimal gaps between the legs and the ground.

Diagonal frontal view of NG Gundam Exia in kneeling position.

Top down view of NG Gundam Exia. There is some freedom of movement for the shoulders to the front and back due to the connector joints design.

NG Gundam Exia determined pose and ready for action. I always prefer the open hand than the close hand part due the dynamic poses which the former can perform.

Closeup view of GN blade unsheathed.

Frontal view of GN blade unsheathed stance.

Top down frontal view of GN rifle mode pose.

Top down closeup diagonal view of GN rifle mode pose.

Front side view of GN rifle mode pose.

Back side view of GN rifle mode pose.

Frontal shot of NG Gundam Exia kneeling and taking cover behind the GN shield and aiming using the GN rifle.

Diagonal rear shot of NG Gundam Exia kneeling and taking cover behind the GN shield and aiming using the GN rifle.

Frontal view of NG Gundam Exia crouching and readying the GN blade over the shoulders to attack.

Rear view of NG Gundam Exia crouching and readying the GN blade over the shoulders to attack.

I like the overall design of Gundam Exia. The color scheme is considered generic for the leading mobile suit Gundam through the various series which consist of blue, white, dark grey, yellow and red. The articulation range is acceptable for a NG model but Bandai could have designed the arms and legs so they can bend further without being obstructed.

My Love For Life Gundam Review rating for Bandai NG 1/100 Gundam Exia: 3.5/5


My Love For Life Review