Finally finished the NG 1/100 Gundam Exia.
Front view.
Rear view.
More front and rear views.
Face.
Rear view of head.
The head sensors were cut into shape using 0.2mm clear Tamiya Plaplate. Getting the right shape took several tries as the parts were tiny. They were painted with a thin coat of clear green and backed with silver plastic tape. UHU glue was used to keep them in place.
Torso.
I initially planned to paint the underside of the clear lenses silver as I did with my 00 Gundam. When I obtained decals from Samuel Decal, one particular silver marking looked at home on the chest orb. To maintain visibility, the parts beneath the clear lenses were painted in flat black. The decal on the chest was applied and covered with the clear part painted with a thin coat of clear green. The end result looked better than expected.
Groin area.
Left leg. Katoki-style huge block letters with tiny, indiscernible essays plastered at an angle over the left knee. The essays serve as an effective visual distraction against the enemy.
Right arm.
The same method done on the chest was also used on the arm and leg orbs for consistency. I like the effect shown in the photo above.
Right leg. You can see how the orb looks black when viewed straight on, but looks green when viewed from an angle.
Cockpit region.
GN Drive. As there were no panel lines underneath the clear ring, I had no choice but to use the provided silver foil sticker.
4 Beam sabers stored on the shoulders and back side.
GN Sword Rifle Mode.
Close up of the barrel area. The tiny clear green sensor was added using the same method described for the head.
GN Sword Sword Mode.
GN Shield.
Underside. It was too late before I realised I should stick scotch tape to the shield mounting peg as the tight fit caused paint to rub onto the arm.
Other extra accessories. 1 open palm for the left hand, 2 pairs of beam saber blades, GN Long Blade and GN Short Blade.
Action shots will be up in the next entry.
Work process:
- Straight assembly and sanding of sprue/gate marks
- Seam line work and modifications (link)
- Mr. White Surfacer 1000
- Imperfections in putty work fixed
- Paint (all parts airbrushed in their correct colours with masking or hand-painting for multiple colours on one part)
- Semi-assembly to fix more seam lines
- Fixed parts painted, more painting
- Repeat steps 5-7 until all parts are painted and seam lines fixed
- Mr. Super Clear Gloss
- Panel lines
- Decals (bought over the interwebs)
- Mr. Super Clear Flat
- Affixing of clear parts
Colour scheme:
White: Flat White + Neutral Gray (tiny bit)
Gray: Neutral Gray
Blue: Cobalt Blue + Flat White + Fluorescent Pink
Red: Red Madder + Flat White + Fluorescent Pink (tiny bit)
Yellow: Yellow + Red + White
Clear Green: Clear Green
Silver: Mr. Metal Color Chrome Silver
Black: Flat Black
Panel lines: Tamiya Enamel Paint Black
All colours used were from GSI Creos Mr. Color line (most recognisable from the bottle caps with tabs on them) unless otherwise stated.
Nice exia!
Very neat and clean ^_^
okay no seamline detected lol
good job!!!!
Impressive work you got there! Loved the custom decals you used on Exia.
Thanks! The MG Exia looks way better without paint and I recommend you should get your hands on one while’s it’s still available.
Haha thanks, its actually on my buy list! Might be buying both the regular and the ignition mode.
nice exia~
may i know whats the % mix for your blue.. cos i keep getting purple. tks!
One suggestion to prevent you from ending up with a blue that’s too purple is to start off with Cobalt Blue and a generous amount of White to lighten up the shade. Then add just a tiny bit of Fluorescent Pink and mix to see if the result is good enough for your taste. If you add Purple instead, try to add it in very tiny amounts as it will also darken your mix.
If you make a mistake you can add a good amount of Cobalt Blue and White to turn the colour less purplish but you may end up with more paint than you’ll need.