As I continue my project of watching all of Mobile Suit Gundam and building each Gundam after I watch the show, we come to After War Gundam X. Instead of being a space opera, this show takes place on a war torn Earth where all but 100 million people have died.
The show is very fun, with a great cast of pirates and ne’er do wells who end up anti-heroes. The characters are, especially the main two, have a great arc which ends in a legitimately emotional ending. It was certainly a bright spot before the forced march of Turn A Gundam.
I built this quite a bit after watching the series because it was out of print. Building it afterwards gave me a good opportunity to reflect on the show and what I appreciated about it.
Taking place on Earth made it a much more personal story. Gundam on Earth has been a long tradition since the White Base traversed the surface and the added Mad Max feeling of a post apocalyptic Earth took notes from earlier shows like G Fighter.
Each character’s motivations and arc were engrossing. Witz and Roybea were great additions to the cast whose stories complimented the large story being told.
The build it self was really fun. There were a lot of colored plastic pieces like the Nu Gundam that I had to treat separately so they wouldn’t fog during top coating. As a result, the final assembly felt much more epic. There were just that many more parts.
The G-Rework decals were a bit of a beast on this one. The legs weren’t as crowded as some others but there were quite a few decals to get on, especially around the X backpack.
This kit was a great chance to improve my panel lining skills. I’ve largely settled on the pour type pens. The problem I’ve had in the last few builds is that I go too heavy on the top coat and it causes the paint to get pushed around and blur. So I started with a very thin/light coat and then followed up with a heavier coat after the first had dried. It worked a treat!
This has probably been the longest build I’ve ever done since I had so many other projects distracting me during it. It would definitely sit for a few weeks at a time while I tried to find time to get back to it.
But the finished product is great!