I just got this kit from my seller good friend and wanted to share with you my work in progress ;) I'm not meant to boast but I do think that I am the 1st in Malaysia to have this kit on my hand besides my reseller friend, YEAH!!!
My friend is going to sell this at RM80 per piece and I was WTF when he told me that... having said that, when I actually open up and see the contents with my own eyes, I do agree that RM80 is a fair price base on the following points. (Do know that I also own and built the SD Nightingale from MC Model)
- EX-S has more parts (100+) then Nightingale;
- EX-S has better detailing, as MC Model having the experience of producing 1 SD & 2 HG;
- EX-S has 8 runners, decals, plus LED unit and batteries included.
- EX-S is an SD with HG Sazabi's complexity.
The box size is very much smaller then SD Nightingale, but the fact is SD Nightingale does not need such a big box anyway so MC Model reducing the box size actually make it easier to post ;)
Well... let's get started...
Manufacturer: MC ModelScale: SDOrigin: Gundam Sentinel Side StoryPrice: RM80 (might increase when stock getting low, like the SD Nightingale)...19th August 2011 @ 8:00PM
Part 1: Box Art
The box art is pretty nicely done, with bling-bling name and MC Model logo ;) You can see the size comparison with the HG Nu Gundoom released by the same company below.
Part 2: Runners
This kit consists of 9 runners, 1 polycap runners, 1 LED unit plus batteries, 1 sticker and a small piece of water decal... when did you see an SD comes in 8 runners besides the SD Nightingale by the same company? Even HGUC The-O comes in 7 runners only :p
Runners
LED & Polycaps
Stickers & Decals
Part 3: Instruction Manual
As usual, MC Model is producing an excellent instruction manual with very detailed introduction to S Gundoom and EX-S Gundoom for the benefits of those who wanted to know more about this mecha ;) The quality of the manual, I must say, is EXCELLENT!
I got this near to midnight yesterday so I rested after that since I've got to work today :p I am too eager to build this kit so I cut out all the parts for the head and did this while I was having my early dinner after work ;)
Parts the Forms the Head
You can see that there are quite a lot of parts for just a head ;) This includes the LED unit and the on/off switch.
Completed Head
The parts separation is pretty nicely done, and most parts already come in the desired color except the Vulcan cannon at the side of the head, and the "fin" on the side of the head :p Yellow stickers are provided for the "fin"s but I would prefer to do partial coloring instead some time later ;)
Completed Head, with LED Switched On
The on/off switch are made with very good innovation... you press the back of the head (the dark gray parts) once to switch on the LED, and once more to switch it off.
I did not bring my black marker pen and uses the stickers for the eyes so you guys would see that the are some leak at the green transparent parts which I would touch-up at a later time ;)
My Review So Far...
Parts & Runners - very well done!
LED and innovation - very good.
Head - Pretty well done :) Could be better instead of left/right separation for the helmet... I would be most delighted if they did it the way they did the Hi-Nu Gundoom but that would add a lot of complication to the LED assembly :p
Well... let see if I can continue the rest in a while ;) Stay tuned!
... 21st Aug 2011 @ 3:40PM
Part 5: Body
The parts above what forms the body and the shoulder joints :) The shoulder joints, to my surprise, employed the pull-out mechanism.
Parts & color separations are done nicely here.
Part 6: Torso
The torso is the simplest of all... I do not have much to say about this :p The kit comes with red color sticker for the back skirt, but I colored it with Gundam marker instead.
Part 7: Legs
Although this is an SD model, the legs are as complicated as an HG, if not more! The hip movement is excellent for an SD, but there is no knee movement i.e. cannot bend the knee :p
The parts snap-fit nicely but I would recommend modelling glue for the following section...
- The tight - after fitting in the polycap and snap-fitting the tight, glue the 2 parts that forms the tight to prevent it from getting loose due to posing ;)
- The knee parts that's sticking out - There are 2 sections to the knee... the top part would pops out very often due to posing so I would suggest to glue them together too ;)
Other than these 2 issues, the legs are very nicely done. Although this is an SD, the detailing are superb ;)
Part 8: Arms
Are we looking at a HG or SD? There is an elbow joint so the elbow could be bend to a certain degree :) The upper-arm also could be twisted left and right, giving some pose-ability to the arms.
It comes with 4 pairs of hands... Open hand x 2, closed fist x 2, finger pointing x 2, and rifle holding hand x 2 ;)
I must say that the shoulders are excellently done! very nice parts and color separations although you still need to do a bit of coloring if you want to have the original color :p I don't really border with the coloring as the detailing is more than enough to make up for the coloring.
Part 9: S-Gundoom?
The main mecha is completed, putting together what done so far :) I supposed we can call this S-Gundoom, right?
Let's enjoy some pictures before moving on ;)
Size Comparison with MC Model SD Nightingale
Nightingale is still a bit bigger than EX-S ;)
Adding Bandai SD Wing Custom Zero to the Comparison
EX-S is larger than the normal SD ;)
Comparison with HG00 Exia
... let move on ;)
Part 10: Backpack
As you can see from the picture above, the backpack is consists of quite a number of parts ;) The detailing are fantastic, with moveable left/right packs and moveable cannons. Its pretty hard to explain so do look at the pictures below ;)
Parts 11: Completed EX-S Gundoom
Finally, completed! I do felt like just finished assembling a HG EX-S! As I've mentioned earlier, this kit comes in 8 runners, which is easily 3 times more parts than an ordinary HG00 kit!
Having completed this kit, I would like to do a more comprehensive summary instead of quick review...
Head
The head are very nicely done, with the LED unit included. One possible frustration is that the mechanism for the on/off switch could be a little complicated for some of us ;)
Body
Parts and color separation is pretty nicely done here.
Shoulders & Arms
The shoulders and arms are very nicely done with very good detailing. Some extensive coloring would be needed if you would like to have the original color.
One issue here is that the shoulder movement is pretty limited side-way due to the huge armor and the way the upper arm's joint. The elbow can only bend less than 90 degrees but is still a good additions to an SD kit.
Torso
The torso is pretty simple and not much to mention :p
Legs
The legs are very detailed and also nicely done. The plus is that the hip/tight could be moved side-way, which add a lot of pose-ability to the kit ;) There is no bending of knee but the tight could be turned left & right for posing ;) The ankles also have moderate movement capability.
Backpack
The backpack is nicely done with moveable parts and cannons ;)
The "whatever" attached to the arm/shoulder...
I couldn't find the right description to this piece of things... it the big piece of metal that attached to both arm... These parts are attached with a peg, and is easily fall off during posing. No a bit issue as I put a bit of blu-tag to help it to hold :p
Size Comparison with HGUC RX-78-2 (1/144)
Size Comparison with MG 00q (1/100)
Size Comparison with MG Gouf Custom (1/100)
MC Model's SD Series
Plastic qualityPlastic quality is pretty nice.
ArticulationsWe couldn't expect much in the articulations department of any SD kit... let see what this EX-S give us ;)
- Head/Neck: OK movement side-way... heads are too big for good movement :p
- Shoulder: Cannot move side-way due to the big armor and odd joint system, but the shoulder joint to the body saves the day.
- Elbow: Able to bend to about 65%, which is a good addition to an SD kit!
- Wrist: Normal.
- Waist: Normal without the backpack. Normal- with the backpack as we need to separate the upper and lower body in order to turn the waist.
- Skirt Armour: None... No side skirt... back skirt is not moveable :p
- Hip/Tight: Excellent! Side-way movement is possible
- Knee: What knee? None :p
- Ankle: Normal ;)
Looks and FeelsSee and judge for yourself! If you ask me, this is a MUST GET!!!!!
Fin ;)
