Ifrit's Hellfire: (Semi-Painted) MG God Gundam

Well after a long... LONG time, my MG God Gundam is finally finished. I kept putting off painting this guy because I was always afraid of messing up; but I finally remembered and realized that I was just starting out and that I will make mistakes. But I won't lie, I feel I did a pretty amazing job on this MG!

To start this off, the stuff I used to paint this guy was a very small amount of stuff... I used (with the recommendation from Vegeta8259) a Real Touch Dark Gray Gundam Marker for the panel lines, and it worked wonders! A standard black panel lining Gundam Marker for some of the vents and stuff, some black paint and fine tipped brush, the small sheet of decals the kit came with, and some toothpicks and cotton swabs.

Painting this guy was a joy, and a slight pain all at the same time. There were details that were harder to do than others, like the chest vents and head unit, and practically the rest was a breeze. I only used one sticker on this kit, and that was the eyes. The black trim on the shoulders, front skirt, upper legs and ankle guards were hand-painted with thinned down black paint. Unfortunately, the black paint on the ankle guards didn't look as smooth as I would've liked (see below).

I will admit, this was an easy build, but the screws were a pain to put in sometimes and in some instances, I didn't use them. My God Gundam has maybe 4 or 6 of the 12 screws in him (shoulders, elbows, and torso). His God Mode transformation is cool, but I realized the armguards had to be slightly rotated to go forward and not be encumbered by the hands.

His articulation is pretty straightforward for a MG. To me the most notable feature is the peg the shoulder armor plugs into and the movement it allows for the shoulder. It adds a bit more flush to the arms movement and overall look to the kit (a good example is the first photo). Standard double-jointed knees and elbows, with ball-joint feet, hips, head, and wrists. The shoulders have a joint inside the torso that allows it to move in and out as well as rotate 360 (keep in mind the Core Lander) and move in and out of the body. The feet are pretty well articulated, with the front half of the foot able to be posed up to make him look like he's stepping forward, or back for an arial pose. Because God Gundam isn't very bulky or have wings, he is very maneuverable, but I have to warn you, the side skirts like to pop off if the legs are moved out too far (maybe it's just mine... :/).

Overall I'd recommend this for a Gunpla builder's first MG, although my first was MG Wing Gundam Zero Custom, the only problem I see with this MG is the overuse of screws in the 'Fighting Action Frame'. But if you aren't too concerned about putting the extra time into the screws, go for this MG. It retails for only about $27 - $30 max, so I feel he's worth it.