MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.3.0 [WIP: Lower Body]

Even without the Upper Body attached to it, the RX-78-2 Gundam Lower Body still manages to look impressive all by its own. At least to me it does. After weeks of work in which I could only see the separate sections of a greater whole, it was extremely gratifying to finally put all the pieces together. And truth be told I'm delighted at how the paint job (and to a lesser extent, the decal work) turned out. Far from blowing my own horn and patting myself on the back for a job well done, I am actually truly surprised I had managed to get the results I did, seeing that this is my first Gundam project.  

Master Grade RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 Work-in-Progress: Lower Body (against a blue backdrop)

Complicated design of the Lower Body serves both an aesthetic as well as functional purpose ...

... aesthetic as in the whole Lower Body blends curves and hard edges for a gorgeous mecha look ...

... and functional in that freedom of movement build into the structure allows for a highly poseable Lower Body

Back view of the RX-78-2 Gundam Lower Body (against a blue backdrop)

Exposed back knee not only shows the metallic innards but also enables the joint to bend inwards to a high degree

Side profile of the RX-78-2 Gundam Lower Body is a brilliant marriage of straight and rounded lines

Color separation of the armor panels combined with strategically placed decals makes for an impressive look

If you had been following my work-in-progress posts these past few weeks, you would then easily comprehend the immediate photo below. Up until today, much work was required to get the various sub-assemblies - Waist Unit, Legs, Ankle/Feet - done up. It was almost a relief as I pieced the sub-assemblies together to form the Lower Body of the RX-78-2 Gundam. Even so, at this stage, I still can't piece the Upper Body and Lower Body together for you to get the first glimpse of a fully assembled (and painted, and decaled) Grandfather Gundam. More on why at the end of this post.

Sub-assemblies of the RX-78-2 Gundam Lower Body: Waist Unit, Legs and Ankles/Feet

Meanwhile, putting the Lower Body against a darker seems to focus one's eyes on its many details and features. It could be just an optical illusion but that's how it feels to me. Below then are a series of photographs of the said section against a black backdrop.  

Master Grade RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 Work-in-Progress: Lower Body (against a black backdrop)

Dark backdrop makes details on the RX-78-2 Gundam Lower Body stand out even more impressively

Tons of details are visible on the Lower Body from the waist all the way down to the feet

Painting of the outer armor panels were done based on the official recommended color scheme

Back view of the RX-78-2 Gundam Lower Body (against a black backdrop)

While the Lower Body and Upper Body (see previous post) of the RX-78-2 Gundam is now complete ...

... there is still the matter of the mecha's Body Core (not shown here) to be assembled, painted ...

... and placed in between the upper and lower bodies thus acting as a connector for both halves

So very close now! The next logical step is the joining of the upper and lower halves of the RX-78-2 Gundam. But as I alluded to earlier, I can't do this yet. There is a matter of painting, assembling and weathering the Core of the Body, a sub-assembly which is to be placed between both halves; serving as a connector. This Body Core represents the mid-section of the Core Fighter with its cockpit open and the pilot exposed. And while I can actually transform the already completed Core Fighter and used it as the connector, I won't because I would prefer to display the completed fighter by the side of the mecha. So I best get to work on the Body Core ... no slowing down now as the end nears.

MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.3.0 [WIP: Waist Unit]

Most colorful section of the R-78-2 Gundam Lower Body is perhaps a term I could assign to the Waist Unit that has been completed here. But that's perhaps pushing it a bit seeing that the only extra splash of color the Waist Unit has over the other components of the Lower Body is the bright yellow on four armor panels around it. Both feet, if you remember, do indeed have a large amount of red hue. Regardless, as it stands, the last piece of the Lower Body puzzle is now complete.

Master Grade RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 Work-in-Progress: Waist Unit

A quick analysis shows the Waist Unit puzzle as having the most amount pieces that need to be assembled when compared to other components of the Lower Body (i.e. versus an individual leg, ankle or foot). However things aren't as complicated as they would seem. Upon closer inspection, you would find that four big sections of the Waist Unit comprises identical pieces that differ only in terms of orientation. This reduces the actual complexity of the build. Instead what it does is just draw the assembly (as well as the earlier painting) process out a bit more. Tedious but manageable.   

Numerous painted parts of the Waist Unit before assembly; some decaled, some not

When laid all out on the hobby mat, the numerous tiny pieces of the Waist Unit can seem a bit daunting. But as with the painting process, slowly but surely, the assembly was completed without a hitch. The only frustration, if you could call it that, was having to place sticker decals in the right place at (almost) the first try. My clumsy fingers made that part more of a pain than it should've been.

So many parts that it almost blows my mind, almost as there is a pattern to this chaos ...

... there are actually "four-plus-two" almost equal sections that surround an inner core of the waist ...

... at this stage of the assembly process the "four-plus-two" sections that I mentioned becomes clear ...

... the Waist Unit is finally near completion with only the final sticker decals left to be applied ...

... sticker decals that due to their shape can only be applied post-assembly.

Not all the sticker decals could be placed onto the Waist Unit prior to assembly. Such was the way the decal was shaped that a few pieces could only be placed onto the Waist Unit post-assembly. Luckily for me things went rather well and no major FUBARs like the torso decal occurred this time.

Waist Unit of the RX-78-2 Gundam painted, decaled and assembled

That tiny yellow chevron in a sea of red is actually a separate part by itself

All six pieces of skirt armor surrounding the Waist Unit have some freedom of movement

Having all six skirt armor pieces able to move will allow the legs, when attached, a high degree of poseability

As much as I dislike sticker decals, they admittedly make the Waist Unit look much cooler

Back of the Waist Unit differs from the front only in the groin area

In addition to paint and decals, the Waist Unit also received some panel lining

Side view of the Waist Unit is a pretty boring one

As to why it's so I don't know but the red groin area (the one with the chevron) is movable as well

From above and below, the metallic innards of the Waist Unit become highly visible. Upon attachment to the torso and legs respectively I do not expect the metallic innards to be very visible at all. But as I've often repeated ad nauseam ... just because you won't see something in the final build doesn't mean I won't paint it. I can't afford not to. My hobby OCD insists that I paint everything. Well, almost everything. There are some really hidden spots that I can now let go of. Only just.

View of the Waist Unit from above showing the pegs that will attached to the body's core section

Inner sides of the Waist Unit skirt armors were painted with a metallic hue

So the bits and pieces that make up Grandpa Gundam's Lower Body is now ready to transition from their sub-assembly form into the final build. I'm pretty excited to see how the Lower Body will look when the photos are finally taken. This week I'll end my blog post without any quotes. I'm just glad I could even finish writing the blog post and upload before the week was over. And with that I thank you for taking the time to read my post on the RX-78-2 Gundam project so far. Cheers!

MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.3.0 [WIP: Leg Outer Panels & Hip Joints]

Like meat on the bones, the outer armor panels - when attached to the Leg Inner Frames - provide a significantly bulkier presence to both legs. This might seem like a natural progression of the build but the designers deserve some kudos for designing great looking shapes, combining both sharp and rounded edges, to deliver legs with oomph; legs worthy of arguably the most famous Gundam.    

Master Grade RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 work-in-progress: Leg Outer Panels &  Hip Joints (isometric front view)

Master Grade RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 work-in-progress: Leg Outer Panels &  Hip Joints (isometric back view)

Although I would've expected it to be the other way around, the part count of the Leg Outer Panels turned out to be actually higher than those of the Leg Inner Frames. Detailed analysis shows this was due to the larger single-piece-molded-parts on the skeletal frame (as an equivalent think femur and tibia on the human leg). Apart from some minor masking, the painting process was straightforward.   

Numerous tiny pieces of the Leg Outer Panel parts were all individually painted before assembly

Meanwhile, putting it all together was almost intuitive but not quite. I don't have the experience for that to happen yet. There was a lot of referencing to the instructions to make sure the right pieces went into the right place. But if push came to shove, say I lost the instructions, I dare say I could've figured it all out like a jigsaw puzzle if I spent enough time tackling the assembly task. Below are the series of photos showing the various parts being slowly put together one sub-assembly at a time.

Pieces of one Leg Outer Panel all painted up and decaled; awaiting assembly onto the Inner Frame (center)

First some of the outer panel pieces were pieced together prior to being attached to the Leg Inner Frame

At this stage, most of the outer panels have been attached to the inner frame except for the knee area

Only the uppermost Leg Outer Panel (white part) is left unattached together with the Hip Joint (metallic part)

RX-78-2 Gundam Right Leg: Outer Panel & Hip Joint fully attached to the Inner Frame

As is the case for the entire RX-78-2 Gundam so far, color separation of the leg outer armor panels was well thought out by the Bandai designers. I just followed their recommendations and painted the panels as intended in the instructions. What's nice to know is that one doesn't really have to follow the recommended color scheme. Because the parts are already separated based on color, one could use that as the basis to paint your own color scheme. For example, you can just replace the light brown panels with another color say pink; the light bluish grey with violet; and the white panels with red, or a different combination all together. This would result in a whole different Gundam altogether.

Color separation on the outer armor panels make the leg look less flat as a whole

Orientation of the Hip Joint means that this is the right leg of the RX-78-2 Gundam

Exposure of the innards at the back of the knee ensure the inner frame is not completely covered up

Metallic innards are most visible around the knees, especially when the leg is bent

Decals on the leg aren't numerous but enough exists to increase the realism of the whole pice

Color separation of outer panels; metallic innards; and strategically placed decals form a potent mix

On my previous post I had shown that the Leg Inner Frame could bend in on itself at a 180 degree angle. And as expected, once the outer armor panels were attached the leg could no longer bend that much. At best the thigh could only bend around 120 degrees towards the calf. But in all fairness, even this level of movement was extremely impressive considering the bulkiness of the outer armor.

As expected, the outer panels on the leg prevent it from fully bending in on itself

Freedom of movement of the leg with the outer panels attached was still very impressive

Notice how the outer panel armor on the knee opens and closes to facilitate flexibility of the joint

Now complete, both legs are part of larger Lower Body section that also comprises the Ankles/Feet and a soon to be completed Waist Unit. Below are photos of both completed legs.

Both legs of the RX-78-2 Gundam sans ankles and feet (front view)

Both legs of the RX-78-2 Gundam sans ankles and feet (inner side view)

Both legs of the RX-78-2 Gundam sans ankles and feet (back view)

Both legs of the RX-78-2 Gundam sans ankles and feet (outer side view)

For the legs to be part of the larger Lower Body it needs to connect to the Ankles/Feet via holes on the lower end and to a Waist Unit via Hip Joints on the upper end (see below).

Ankles/feet will attach to the holes (see above) at the end of both legs

Hip Joints at the other end of the legs will attach to the soon-to-be-completed Waist Unit

So all that's left of the Lower Body to be tackled is the Waist Unit. This will be the next step. Once done, the lower half of Grandpa Gundam will be ready for assembly. And as always I leave you with quote that may not be entirely relevant but it's a quote nonetheless. This week we have a quote from Lucifer Morningstar who says ... What I hate more than anything is a liar, a charlatan, someone who doesn’t believe in what they say. That's a lot of people to hate. Oh well, have a great week ahead!