Bandai’s Entry Grade Gundam line has given us entry grade Gundam fans some great looking models to build. Following my first foray into the line, the EG 1/144 Strike Gundam, it seemed right to go for something even more stylish for my second build.
That brings us here, to the 1/144 RX-93 Nu Gundam. As I’m still learning I’ve yet to actually encounter this Mobile Suit in any media. But even without any foundational knowledge, the white and navy blue design, tipped with yellow accents, is pretty stunning in my book.
I purchased this model with my own cash money from the good folk at Gunpla.co.uk.
Inside the box you get five runners split over two baggies. You also get instructions and a small sticker sheet. Very exciting.
The Build
Step one of the instructions is to build the head – but I’m not falling for that again!
On the Strike Gundam build I followed the instructions and started with the head. However it takes me a little bit of warming up to make good cuts and clean nubs, and the Strike Gundam definitely suffered from my lack of finesse. And this is on the main focal point of the model!
To avoid making that mistake again on this build, I started with the legs.
This was a fun process, and actually more involved than I thought it would be. The colour separation with the yellow elements works well. I also really like the hidden details, like the booster jet hidden in the calf.
Completing both legs took a little over one hour. By contrast, putting the hips together took about 10 minutes.
For such a small part of the build you would think there would not be much to report, but in fact the colour separation going on here is impressive.
Next up, the torso. This took about 30 minutes.
After the legs and hips, this section was good by comparison… but not great. This might be where the “Entry Grade” comes into it, as there’s less built up detail using separate parts, and more single moulded pieces.
During the build I worried about snapping the antennae on the backpack. A good reminder that this is a model kit rather than an action figure!
At this point I felt warmed up enough to tackle the Nu Gundam’s head, which ended up taking about 10 minutes to build.
The parts separation is very good, with multiple abstract pieces pushing together to form the small but well detailed face. The eyes in particular – a lovely light emerald green – look incredible.
Throughout the build I was impressed with how the nubs were generally well hidden; however with the head there were fewer places to hide, and so the nub here left an unfortunate misshape on the Gundam’s yellow crest. Hopefully it’s not too noticeable on the shelf!
Next up, to round out the main build, came the arms. These took about 40 minutes to build.
There is once again a bit of unfortunate nub placement; however, other than that they look good. The yellow vent detail looks fantastic, and the addition of the sticker (number one of two) helps to further complete the look.
With the base mobile suit complete, it was finally time to build out the armaments.
The RX-93 Nu Gundam comes with a beam rifle and a shield. The rifle looks fantastic – it’s very pleasing to look at. The shield also looks great, especially with the addition of the second, larger sticker; however it attaches awkwardly to the back of the Gundam’s forearm. I don’t know the source material so it may be that this is how it’s supposed to be, but it feels like it would sit more comfortably on the side of the arm.
It still looks good on display, but it feels a little awkward in-hand and it’s something I couldn’t help notice.
Both weapons use colour separated pieces to layer up and cover the otherwise-obvious nub marks. The weapons took about 10 minutes to build, which brought me to a total build time of 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Final Thoughts
Even though both are 1/144 scale, the EG RX-93 Nu Gundam stands much taller the the EG Strike Gundam. This makes sense given the RX-93 is a much bigger Mobile Suit in the media, standing at 23 meters to the Strike Gundam’s 17 meters. Whether that’s an accurate difference in the scale of these two kits or not, I appreciate the difference all the same – there’s nothing like a bit of height variety to make a display more interesting!
Overall, this was a fun build. Quick enough to complete in an afternoon; involved enough to give me a sense of accomplishment once it was done. As someone who wants to get more into Gunpla, this whetted my appetite for bigger and more advanced builds.
In that respect, I’d say the RX-93 Nu Gundam nails the Entry Grade brief.
Next up in NBG03: EG RX-78-2 Gundam
