{"id":1823,"date":"2025-08-19T22:12:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T12:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/?p=1823"},"modified":"2025-08-20T15:20:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T05:20:28","slug":"goddamn-i-built-a-gundam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/?p=1823","title":{"rendered":"Goddamn! I Built a Gundam!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
So after years of scrolling Reddit, seeing these amazing Gundam builds, and thinking, \u201cYeah, nah, way too fiddly for me,\u201d I finally cracked and bought one (or two). And now I\u2019m sitting here, looking at photos of this little plastic dude on my cutting mat, wondering how the hell I actually pulled it off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Picking My First Kit (aka: Jumping in the Deep End)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Of course, being me, I didn\u2019t start small. Oh no. I grabbed the BANDAI RG 1\/144 RX-78-2 GUNDAM Ver 2.0 \u2013 a Real Grade. Turns out RG is like the big leagues, way more advanced than High Grade, with microscopic bits that love to ping off into the carpet. Did I know that beforehand? Absolutely not. But if you\u2019re going to dive in, might as well belly flop straight into the deep end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apparently, this is THE Gundam \u2013 the original from the first series. Even without knowing a single thing about the lore, that red, blue, white, and yellow just screams \u201cmain character energy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Build (or, Me Learning Patience the Hard Way)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Straight away, I was hooked. Everything just snaps together, no glue, no mess. Every click is weirdly addictive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Starting with the head blew my mind. All that detail in something the size of my thumbnail \u2013 tiny vents, those big yellow eyes, the V-fin. It felt like LEGO, but on hardcore mode.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
Then the torso clicked together, and suddenly it wasn\u2019t just plastic sprues anymore, it was a proper model. Blue chest, red body, yellow vents, and I kept stopping to take photos because I couldn\u2019t believe it was actually coming together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Holy Details, Batman<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\nTis but a scratch! Just a flesh wound<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
By the time I had the whole body standing up, I was spotting all these clever little design tricks. Shoulder joints that actually move, colour separation that means you don\u2019t even need to paint, and armour that looks like armour. Whoever designed this kit is a wizard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
And the shield. Mate. Bright red, yellow cross, crisp white border, pure iconic. Clipping that on was the moment it truly became a Gundam.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Lessons Learnt (by Stuffing Up)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
First lesson:<\/strong> patience. Every piece needs to be snipped, cleaned, and slotted in carefully. Rush it and you get stress marks in the plastic \u2013 which, fun fact, look awful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second lesson:<\/strong> respect the engineering. The way these parts fit, the way joints flex without falling apart, it\u2019s genius. I\u2019ve built plenty of IKEA furniture that felt less solid than this little plastic mech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Third lesson:<\/strong> Don’t expect these kits to be like your old Airfix kits. Nice plane at the end of an evening of glueing and decal application. They take time and demand respect. I timed myself on the right arm and shoulder assembly… It took me over two hours to cut, clean, sand, and assemble all THIRTY-TWO pieces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Finished Gundam<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\nRX-78-2 serves bold primaries with a pop of red heel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\nRX-78-2 stuns in a bold crimson shield with gold cross detailing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
So here it is, standing proudly like it\u2019s about to defend the Earth Federation (don\u2019t ask me what that is, I still haven\u2019t watched a single Gundam show). It\u2019s not just a model, it\u2019s proof I actually finished something tricky without giving up halfway. And it looks mint on the shelf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Already have my next kit sitting on the bench waiting. Bandai HG 1\/100 YF-29 Durandal Valkyrie. Maybe I should finally watch an episode of Gundam so I know who these guys actually are.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Would I Recommend It?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Absolutely. But maybe don\u2019t be a muppet like me and start with a Real Grade. Grab a High Grade kit first, get a feel for it, and then work your way up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You don\u2019t need to be a diehard fan. You don\u2019t need to paint or mod anything. Just building one out of the box is hours of fun, and at the end, you\u2019ve got something genuinely cool to show off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welcome to Gunpla. It\u2019s fiddly, it\u2019s addictive, and it makes you feel like a mix between an engineer and an artist, one tiny bit of plastic at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So after years of scrolling Reddit, seeing these amazing Gundam builds, and thinking, \u201cYeah, nah, way too fiddly for me,\u201d I finally cracked and bought one (or two). And now I\u2019m sitting here, looking at photos of this little plastic dude on my cutting mat, wondering how the hell I actually pulled it off. Picking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gunpla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1823"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1975,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823\/revisions\/1975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG20250410201555-1024x733.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG20250410212056-1024x665.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_20250816_151638715-975x1024.jpg\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_20250817_104717491-787x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/finished-03-787x1024.jpg\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/finished-02-787x1024.jpg\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/finished-01-787x1024.jpg\")
![\"Box](\"https:\/\/www.stefwill.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/signal-2025-08-19-220630_002-1024x608.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n