MGAnno Domini

GN-001 Gundam Exia Roll Out Color

The same brilliant Exia engineering, dressed in the plain grey it wore before the paint truck showed up.

MechaGrade Score

3.9/5

Exia · 1/100 · 2009

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2009

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I like this kit a lot more than its plain grey box suggests I should.

Underneath the roll out colors it is the same MG Exia frame that built its reputation on double jointed knees, a real switchblade GN Sword, and clean assembly, and none of that engineering changed for this version. The catch is that the whole point of the scheme is unfinished business, this kit wants a modeler to bring paint or markers to it before it looks like anything special on a shelf. Straight out of the box it is a technically excellent kit wearing a placeholder coat.

Best for: MG builders who already want the Exia frame and are excited to paint rather than snap and shelve

The full review

What it is

This is the standard MG Exia engineering wearing the flat grey prototype color scheme from the anime's early roll out footage, before Celestial Being painted the suit its familiar blue, white and red. Building it feels exactly like building the regular colored release, the frame goes together fast, the GN Sword still folds between its rifle and blade modes with a satisfying click, and the twin GN beam sabers and daggers all peg into their storage points cleanly. What changes is entirely cosmetic. I found myself enjoying the assembly itself just as much as any other MG Exia, the parts fit is tight, the runners are logically laid out, and nothing fought me getting it together in an evening.

The catch

The grey scheme is the entire reason to think twice. It is molded in flat, mostly unified grey plastic with far less color separation than the standard release, so out of the box it looks unfinished rather than intentional, and reviewers of the standard colored Exia already flag conspicuous nub marks on the feet and gate placement right on top of pegs that hold the GN power line in place, problems this shares since it is the same frame. Panel lines are deep enough to hold ink well, but you need to actually do that plus paint or marker work on the grey plastic to get the look people picture when they think of Exia. Skip the plan to display it straight from the runners.

Who it's for

Get this one if you already love the MG Exia frame and want an excuse to break out panel line accents and a few paint pens, or if the muted prototype look genuinely appeals to you over the finished blue and white Exia. If you want a great looking kit with zero extra work after clipping parts, buy the standard color MG Exia instead and save this version for a second build. As a display piece before any painting it reads as a rough draft, which is honestly the point, but it means the reward here is proportional to the effort you put in after the parts come off the runners.

What works

Identical rock solid MG Exia frame, with the same clean part fit and satisfying GN Sword switchblade action
Deep, crisp panel lines that take ink and marker work beautifully once you commit to detailing it
A genuinely different, lore accurate look at the suit before its show colors, appealing if you want an Exia that stands apart from every other one on the shelf

Worth knowing

Flat grey molding with minimal color separation means it looks unfinished until you paint or panel line it
Shares the standard release's conspicuous nub marks on the feet and awkward gate placement near the GN power line pegs
Elbow bend is limited to roughly 90 degrees rather than the fuller range typical of other MG kits, which caps some dynamic poses

Sold? Grab it.

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The build story

What the build is actually like, and the engineering worth knowing about.

Assembly matches the well regarded standard MG Exia experience, quick and mostly painless, with tight part fit throughout. The GN Sword's fold between rifle and blade mode is one of the more clever engineering touches in the line, and the frame's double jointed knees give it real range for a 2009 era MG. The rough spots are cosmetic to gate placement rather than engineering, watch for nub marks around the feet edges and near the pegs that hold the GN power line in place, since those are in conspicuous locations on the finished model.

Articulation is strong for a suit without side skirt armor, it can do a full leg split and lift the arms well past shoulder height, though the roughly 90 degree elbow bend limits some sword poses compared to kits with a fuller 180 degree range. Color separation on the frame and inner details is good, it is the outer shell plastic that comes in flat grey here rather than the finished palette. The loadout is generous for the price band, two GN beam sabers, two GN beam daggers, the GN Sword, GN Shield, and the GN Short Sword and GN Long Sword combination pieces all included.

Lore & trivia

01The roll out color scheme reproduces the flat grey, undetailed look Gundam Exia wore in its earliest reveal footage in Mobile Suit Gundam 00, before the show's final blue, white and red paint job was locked in.
02Exia is piloted by Setsuna F. Seiei, one of the four original Gundam Meisters fielded by Celestial Being in the show's first season.
03The GN Sword's signature trick is a switchblade style hinge that folds the same weapon between a melee blade mode and a ranged rifle mode, a mechanism Bandai carried faithfully into the MG kit's engineering.
04The torso is designed with a cavity for the GN Drive that can hold up to two small LED units, and the MG version added a molded handle for the GN Sword and Shield beam function that the earlier non grade release lacked.