Real Grade Evangelion Unit-00 [Work-in-Progress: Arms & Legs Assembly]

 Being a straight out-of-the-box (OOB) build, assembly of the Bandai Real Grade Evangelion (Eva) Unit-00 model kit is progressing fairly quickly. For this stage of the build, more major sub-assemblies of the Eva Unit-00 itself i.e. the arms and legs were put together. The Eva's head and torso sub-assemblies had been completed in the previous stage (please see preceding blog post). Technically the Eva Unit-00 project is not a pure OOB build because some work was done on the kit e.g. a little panel lining as well as selected application of stickers (shown below, in the first photo only).

Real Grade Evangelion (Eva) Unit-00 work-in-progress: Arm & Leg assemblies

 Assembly at this stage began with the legs, which comprised the thigh, knee, shin/calf, ankle, and foot sections.The only work done on the legs (shown in above photo only; photos below show the OOB builds) was application of (i) a stripe of white marking sticker on the uppermost part of the thigh; (ii) two stripes of black marking stickers on the white armor section on each side of the knee; and finally (iii) some panel-lining on the feet. The outer armor was not painted.

Bandai Real Grade Eva Unit-00 work-in-progress: Leg Assemblies

 Similar to the Eva's torso in the previous post, work on the legs began with the assembly of a detailed inner frame, which sported an organic-cum-mechanical look (see below). This was followed by the attachment of outer armor pieces in four colors - gray for the thigh, yellow and black for the knees, and white for the calf and shin. When put together these armor pieces form the musculature of a human leg, which befits the true nature of an Evangelion. Frequently mistaken as being giant mechas, Evangelions are actually living organic creatures with grafted-on cybernetic components.    

Inner frame of the Eva's legs have an organic-cum-mechanical look to it ... 

... which is matched by outer armor plating that is 

... as befitting a living organic creature with cybernetic components

 Just like the legs, both feet/ankles also have an inner frame (see below). The feet armor had a tri-colored scheme consisting of yellow, white, and reddish-brown pieces, while the ankles had a bi-colored scheme of yellow with black circular depressions. Also like the legs, the ankles and feet have good color separation for a straight build, although admittedly it's not as good as the color separation that exist on the torso and head. On balance that feels about right because too much color separation can create a look that's too 'busy', which like the other extreme i.e. too bland, isn't good.    

Both the ankle and foot also have their own inner frame upon which the outer armor attaches

Real Grade Eva Unit-00 ankle and feet assemblies (front view)

Real Grade Eva Unit-00 ankle and feet assemblies (back view)

 As for the arms which comprised the shoulder pylons, upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, and various hand options, the level of parts color separation was excellent and on par with the head and torso. However this time around, the impressive color separation comes with a price because instead of the usual simple joint connection at the elbow between the upper arm and the forearm, there was a gray piece on the upper arm close to the elbow that fitted extremely loosely. This part seem to fall out constantly while I was moving the arms. This loose part can be seen in action in a video upload titled RG Evangelion Unit-00: Weapons & Accessories [Part 3 of 3].

Bandai Real Grade Evangelion Unit-00 work-in-progress: Arm Assemblies

 Unlike the legs, the arms lacked a true inner frame. I believe this contributed somewhat to the loosely connected part I mentioned in the preceding paragraph. A small price to pay for excellent color separation as the said part can still be glued on if need be. Meanwhile, a cursory glance shows that gluing the loose part onto the upper arm should not restrict freedom of movement at the elbow joints. That being said, I will put off any gluing until I can be absolutely sure I saw things correctly.  

Upper arm, elbow, forearm, and wrist section of the EVA Unit-00's arm assemblies

Impressive color separation of yellows, whites, grays, and blacks on the sub-assemblies

Non-weapon related left and right hand options for the EVA Unit-00

Upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, and various hand options of the EVA Unit-00; fully-assembled

 Finally the shoulder pylons - shown below prior to having the relevant stickers stuck onto the pentagonal-shaped section (the part with the green v-stripes; see below) - were assembled. At the risk of repeating myself ad nauseam, colour separation continues to be excellent for the shoulder pylons. There is a gimmick (not shown here) whereby the triangular white section on the shoulder pylons can be swung out to reveal a storage space for the Eva's combat knives.  

Real Grade Eva Unit-00 shoulder pylons (view of the outer section/side)

Real Grade Eva Unit-00 shoulder pylons (view of the inner section/side)

 With all major sub-assemblies such as the head, torso, and limbs completed, the Eva Unit-00 (sans its weapons and accessories) can now proceed to final assembly. First though, I plan to complete assembly of the Eva's weapons and accessories. So the next post should be one of a fully-assembled Eva Unit-00, and its weapons and power supply plug/cable. Following that, the post after the next one will be of the Eva Unit-00 in various poses by itself as well as with its weapons and accessories.

 Also please do check out the final video of a three-part series on the Real Grade Eva Unit-00, either via a direct link I provided in the fifth paragraph above or indirectly via my hobby-related YouTube channel by clicking on the FourEyedMonster Miniatures banner immediately below this paragraph. Do note however that the videos are ahead in the project timeline when compared to the blog updates. With that I'll end this blog post. As always dear readers, stay safe and be well.