My first completed model since FFF's 31-days contest in early 2009. Geez.
This kit was long overdue to be finished. I bought it when I was on vacation in Tokyo in September 2008; testfitted it in November 2009; took it apart to mod after the 31-days back in March 2009; and it sat there, skewered and ready to prime until the end of November 2009.
I wanted my 1/60 Exia to be a little special, and different from the rest of them out there, so after Gundam 00 ended, I figured I'd make mine the Repair II. I conveniently waited for the 1/144 HG version to be released first; at least I'd have some decent reference pictures to work with.
The Gundam itself was completed on December 30th 2009, but I couldn't get the blade for the GN-Sword right; had to strip the paint and re-paint 4 times. Ulgh. The whole thing was airbrushed with Tamiya acrylics, and this also happens to be my first time doing any sort of shading on a Gundam.
Anyhow, onto the good stuff.
Full body pic to start with. I opted for a much lighter tone of blue and red (almost baby-blue and pink) to give a softer look. I really liked the "Designer Colors" for the 00-Gundam, so I went with something along those lines. I also painted the top/middle of the shoulderpads white to break up the large blue surface.
1/60 Exia Repair II
Not as elegant and most of yours, but the inside of front and back skirt armor have been filled up, with some lines carved in and some holes drilled in:
1/60 Exia Repair II
Empty holes filled in on his GN Sword shield, and the new GN Sword blade:
1/60 Exia Repair II
Imitating the PG Astray and 00-Raiser, certain details to the feet have been covered in self-adhesive foam sheet:
1/60 Exia Repair II
Blue GN straps on his shins have been replaced with solid plastic:
1/60 Exia Repair II
New thrusters at his calves:
1/60 Exia Repair II
Thighs have been changed to look more like the 00-Gundam's, which is how the Exia ReII's look like:
1/60 Exia Repair II
New thruster-style rear skirt armor (or "butt-covers" as I like to call them), and modded hip-holders for the GN Beam Sabers:
1/60 Exia Repair II
Opened GN Drive:
1/60 Exia Repair II
New elbow:
1/60 Exia Repair II
Shoulders with GN strap removed; GN Beam Sword's holder has been changed to a thruster as per the Exia ReII's design, and the opening on the side has been covered by some random vent-like panels.
1/60 Exia Repair II
Home-made waterslides for the shoulders and GN Condensers:
1/60 Exia Repair II
Chest GN Condenser with decal... that unfortunately was placed too low and get covered when the cockpit hatch is closed (see inset):
1/60 Exia Repair II
Closeup of head. Forhead decal says "EXIA", back of head decal says "GUNDAM", side GN Condenser decals say "GN-001 REII":
1/60 Exia Repair II
Thanks for looking!
