I actually started to build this thing late last year, and as I opened up the box again, I discovered that I had gotten through quite a bit of it already. That was a pleasant surprise, as it ensured that I’d get this build done before the end of March:
I have a few observations to go over before we get to the build.
Two-Toned Color
When it comes to “traditional” Gundams, Real Grades typically use some combination of white, off-white, and grey plastic. Epyon does the same thing, but instead of white and grey, it mixes in bits of dark red plastic alongside its traditional maroon armor.
I’m curious to see how this comes through when it’s complete; since it’s all such dark plastic, I’m not sure if the difference in color will be noticeable. But it’s certainly better than not trying at all.
Advanced MS Joint
Epyon uses no Advanced MS Joints in its body, but it does still have some in the box. Specifically, its entire whip is prebuilt, color accurate, and ready to go:
This is brilliant. These kinds of things are incredibly repetitive (and thus incredibly boring) to build by hand, so I’m quite pleased that I won’t have to.
Decals
Epyon reminds me a lot of Real Grade Shining in regards to stickers. It’s sticker sheet is largely unremarkable, filled with mostly small markings.
And if you look at the guide in the back of the manual, you’ll see that the overall coverage on its body is rather sparse:
Compared to other Real Grades, there’s just not a lot going on. And this is where things get interesting.
As usual, G-Rework’s sheet of waterslide decals comes with extra, unique decals for you to augment the existing ones. But this time it isn’t just a few one-off markings. Not even close:
For context, the standard sticker sheet is numbered from 1-to-somewhere in the low 50’s, while the G-Reworks go from 1-to-somewhere in the low 80’s. It’s basically a complete overhaul that transforms the entire presentation of the model. Case in point, here is an image of a finished Epyon with the stock stickers:
And here it is with G-Reworks:
I think this is a dramatic improvement, but there’s only one problem: G-Rework doesn’t provide any sort of guide or diagram for how to apply their custom markings. You just have to look at their promotional photos and try to figure it out yourself. I’ve done this before, but never to this degree, and to be honest I was quite intimidated.
Eventually, though, I bucked up and got started, and I discovered that it wasn’t so bad. Stare at the promo photos long enough, and you can (usually) figure out where everything goes.
(Protip: G-Rework provides a whole lot of extra decals, like the ones below. I think they’re there for customization purposes, meaning you don’t have to use them if you don’t want to)
One more thing about the decals; they’re more of a light grey than a full on white, and they have a bit of a metallic sheen to them (one that isn’t fully dulled by matte topcoat). It looks really nice on Epyon’s dark plastic.
Alright, time for the build now.
Shield
Not many parts here, but that make use of some excellent parts layering.
Also, I broke it:
Luckily it was easy enough to glue it all back together. Now it just looks like there’s a bit of a stress mark.
The shield doesn’t have a ton of decals, but I love that Epyon logo running down the one side:
It feels weirdly classy, when it could have been garish.
Now, about the whip. It has two modes. For the “deployed” mode, you just plug the whip right into the shield, easy peasy:
But there’s also an “undeployed mode”. For this, we have to take the wrist mount off, and then flip this little peg out:
Then you have to remove the very tip of the whip, and plug it into the peg:
(side note - I found it very difficult to detach the tip, to the point where I was afraid I might break something. Be careful)
It’s never been obvious to me where all the links of the whip are stored when it’s like this, and yes, I know that that’s me overthinking things.
Speaking of those links, let’s take a moment to look at their articulation. Each joint on each link can be both bent and rotated, allowing you contort it as you see fit:
Sword
I can’t find the sword blade from my Master Grade Epyon, but I found this old photo of it where it just so happens to be lying next to my cutting board; a cutting board that just so happens to have units of measurement running along the sides:
I’m going to guesstimate and say that it was somewhere between five and six inches long.
Now let’s put the Real Grade blade in the same place and measure:
It too is between five and six inches long, meaning this Real Grade model is using approximately the same size sword as a Master Grade.
This is exactly the same situation as with Real Grade Wing Zero and its Buster Rifle, in that they took something that’s supposed to be big and exaggerated and made it bigger. It was the right call.
Now, for equipping the sword, the model comes with two little cylinders. One plugs into the hilt, and the other fits snuggly inside the hip-mounted power pack (but only after we open up the pack like so):
Then we plug the included wire into both ends, and it’s done:
Feet
Epyon’s feet have always been little dragon heads, but on the Real Grade they’re even more so, as they’re now molded with extra teeth on the top:
Also, on a sad note, I accidentally cut into this orange part here, which I tried to cover up with a bit of paint:
The dragon feet thing has always been more than a little silly, but I’m now of the opinion that if you’re going to be silly, you might as well lean all the way into it, and I think these do a good job of exactly that:
Legs
Because Epyon’s legs are meant to look scaly and segmented, the ankle is built entirely separately from the upper leg (with the ankle guard being yet another separate section).
This is not surprising, as the Master Grade Epyon does the exact same thing. But what is striking is how different they are visually. On the Master Grade, the two segments look largely similar in shape, whereas on the Real Grade they don’t:
On the Real Grade, the upper segment is more squat and rounded, whereas the lower one is longer and more squared off. It’s such a smart choice, as it makes the legs so much more distinct and visually interesting.
A few more notes about the legs. There is what appears to be a seamline running down the lower segment:
I could tell right away that this would be a nightmare to try and remove (both due to the shape and the color of the plastic), and as far as I can tell it’s visible in all the official promo photos, so I decided to just panel line it and leave it be.
Inside of the legs, we find lots of slidey bits and articulation:
According to some of the promotional material that was put out during the model’s reveal, this is to ensure that the spikes protruding out of the front of the legs don’t get in the way when the knees bend. I’m really glad to see them trying to ensure that the model’s visual design doesn’t get in the way of its poseability.
Skirt Armor
Like on Real Grade Wing Zero, the inside of the skirt armor is made out of a lot of parts which then fold and compact in on themselves:
Meanwhile the outer armor isn’t made out of all that many parts, but they do such a great job with layering that it looks more complicated than it is:
A few notes about the rear skirt. First, it opens up as part of the transformation gimmick:
(It also reminds me a bit of a pair of bat wings, which is quite thematically appropriate)
Second, you’ll notice how much mechanical detail is on the inside of the skirts. This is the first I’m mentioning it, but the entire model is filled with this kind of extra detail, not only on the inside, but often on the outside as well.
Is it more detail than even other Real Grades? I can’t say for sure, but it certainly feels like it. It seems to be part of a very concerted effort to overhaul Epyon’s presentation. The best way I can describe it is that the original design is a monster posing as a mecha, whereas the Real Grade is a mecha posing as a monster. RG Epyon goes out of its way to remind you that it’s a machine; a heavily stylized one, to be sure, but a machine nonetheless. I don’t get that vibe from any other version, not even the Master Grade.
Upper Torso
As you can see above, the inner frame is a bit different than usual. On most Real Grades (and even High Grades), a ball joint in the shoulder connects into a socket in the chest. But Epyon instead has two pegs coming off the chest that connect to sockets in the shoulders.
This feels decidedly old school, as you typically see this kind of “peg and socket” design on the very oldest High Grades. That means there must be some reason why they did it this way; the only clue I can find is that the two pegs have the same “lock and key” design that’s commonly used on modern Real Grades.
That little notch on the peg means that it can only go into its socket one way, and once the limb is rotated into place, it keeps it from falling off. Maybe it needs this for the transformation gimmick? Or maybe it is to keep the shoulder secure when using its weapons? Perhaps I’ll figure it out later.
Anyway, we get more of that nice parts layering:
Put it all together, and this is what we get:
This Real Grade design may make a lot of changes overall, but the chest looks and feels very accurate to the original TV show design:
I used to think I preferred the MG version, but I’ve changed my mind. I think it’s because the Real Grade manages to actually capture the original design in full fidelity, while also tightening up all the proportions.
Head
Just like Real Grade Wing Zero, the eyes here are color separated (with an optional sticker to put in front of them if you’d prefer)
It’s funny; I’ve never liked the “elf ears” on Wing Zero, but Epyon basically has the same thing, and for some reason I don’t mind it as much. Maybe it’s because Epyon’s are tapered back more, so they look more like vents or thrusters rather than ears.
Also, is it just me, or have they tweaked the shape of the face? The Master Grade head looks like a normal Gundam head in “evil” colors, whereas the Real Grade looks like it’s plotting your demise:
It’s in a constant state of mean mugging. 10⁄10, no notes.
Shoulders and Arms
Epyon’s arms are unique, especially among Gundams, in that they’re round and cylindrical rather than boxy and square. And as it turns out, this isn’t an easy look to pull off. In the original lineart, the arms look very stubby, and the forearms look as wide as Megaman’s M-Buster.
It’s a bit goofy is what I’m saying.
The Master Grade model tries to fix this by, well, making it more Gundam-like. The upper arm is now back to being square and boxy, while the forearm is now a bit more narrow, tapering even further at the wrist:
It’s better I suppose, but only because it cheats a bit by betraying the original design.
Then we get to the Real Grade, which has an even better idea. The upper arm is now cylindrical again, but the forearm is made out of three separate cylinders of different lengths and widths:
This makes it look a bit longer, and also a bit more visually interesting, while still preserving the intent of the original design.
Now for the shoulders. They are built on a very narrow inner frame that doesn’t quite represent the true shape of the shoulder armor:
But there’s a reason for that, which is that the front and rear panels of the shoulder armor are on hinges:
According to some of the promotional material, this was done so that the shoulder armor won’t get in the way when it’s swinging the sword around:
Again, it’s nice that they didn’t let the visual design get in the way of articulation, and I really appreciate that.
I don’t believe that other Epyon designs have that extra little talon on the backside of the wrist, but I like it. Hopefully they will look really nice when it’s transformed.
I also love just how much detail there is, including the little side vents, and everything going on in the inside of the shoulder.
Wings
We’re finally ready to build Epyon’s signature trait: it’s giant dragon wings.
But before we begin, I have a query for you - how are they supposed to function?
Each of Epyon’s wings looks like it is made out of three interconnected segments, and you might reasonably assume that these segments can separate and unfurl from each other. And sure enough, that is exactly how they work on the Master Grade model:
But as far as I can tell, this was actually a new gimmick that was introduced for the Master Grade redesign. It is not how they originally worked.
Recall that I recently watched some clips of Epyon fight scenes. I went back and watched them again, paying particular attention to the wings. I noticed that they cam move up and down, and flap back and forth, but the actual body of the wing is always fixed and rigid. The three “segments” never separate or unfurl.
So. How do they work on the Real Grade? It’s based on the TV show design, so you might assume the wings will be rigid. But that would be pretty boring for a model kit, and unbecoming of the high degree of articulation present in the RG line.
I also wouldn’t want it to work like the Master Grade, as it turns out that the whole separation gimmick works better in theory than in practice. It’s been a while since I played around with them (I no longer have either of the wings), but I recall they were often difficult to slide in and out, and were liable to split open and fall apart.
Also, from a purely cosmetic standpoint, there are visible gaps where the wings tuck in, and in my opinion it just doesn’t look good:
As it turns out, the Real Grade goes in a slightly different direction. It uses a similar sliding and unfurling gimmick as the Master Grade, but it’s deployed in a different manner. The “main” wings are fixed and rigid like in the TV show design, but there are now two smaller wings hidden underneath them, which can slide out and open.
I think approach works - and looks - so much better. The sub-wings unfurl so much more smoothly and easily, and because they’re positioned on the bottom, the “gap” that they tuck into looks much more natural
As you might imagine, the wings have a ton of decals, and on all four sides. It was quite a workout, but I think the results speak for themselves:
Finished
This build turned out way better than I was expecting. I had fun writing about it, and I had fun putting it together. And the end result is a Gunpla that looks phenomenal. I can’t wait to show it to you.