Former Games Workshop Presenter Builds His First Gundam! - MG EX Strike Freedom 

First ever kit being a MGEX is defo a mental choice like god damn

Modern Bandai kits are pure magic. The engineering and quality is just insane. Also a flex starting with one of the best Gundam kits.

Welcome to the dark world of Gunpla! Jumping in with a MGEX is a bit mad, but I’m glad you enjoyed it. Love to see you guys take on painting one, it’s a blast! Also if you’re looking to build one with your son try out an Entry Grade, much simpler, quicker, and cheaper but just as cool engineering and sturdy enough for a kid. Just built one with my nephew and he loved it.

Love all the warhammer people getting into gundam and all the gundam folks getting into warhammer that's been happening recently. A lot of the skills transfer over to each hobby.

Gundam model kits are definitely designed to be a builder's kit. There are a lot of great Gundam painters and converters. But they've really designed it to feel like an experience just pushing pieces together.

Would have been epic to see Pat in perpetual forward motion during the Wayland Games ad

Honestly, the God Hand clippers are a god send. Well done on the build, lads

Worried about him building that smaller real grade kit. The first few waves of RG kits were plagued with loose joints and parts that would fly right off, but the ones coming out nowadays are the peak of small scale model engineering

I too remember my first Gunpla. Gunpla is in my opinion one of the most accessible plastic hobbies. There's such a wide range of price ranges and build difficulties that anyone can pick it up and start, and the only tool you need is clippers. Then you can go beyond a straight build and apply panel lines to bring out more detail and even paint it if you want, or get real crazy and kitbash your own custom Gundam. As the saying goes "Gunpla is freedom"

Bandai's engineering make Games Workshop's attempts look like the works of the beaker people by comparison. I love Warhammer and appreciate that gaming pieces are different to what Bandai are going for but still... funky japanese space magic plastic sprues are just at a different level! Different colours, different types of plastic sometimes all on the same runner. And ya dinnae need glue! Anyway, glad you enjoyed it! Much like Warhammer it's a darned slippery slope!

I've been consistently impressed by the incredible snap-fit tolerances of Bandai's kits. They are a guilty holiday pleasure for me to build around Yuletide.

I love watching experienced wargame modelers trying Gunpla for the first time. Always a treat and you did end up with one of the most elaborate kits to build OOB

Hey! Gunpla's great but when using single bladed nippers (godhands et al.) DO NOT USE THEM ON TRANSPARENT PARTS YOU WILL BREAK THEM. Transparent plastic is harder than regular runners and it'll snap/dent the fragile blade of a single bladed nipper. Best practice is cut out your parts with a bit of excess runner (gunpla sprue is called runner) still left on the part with a regular hobby nipper then remove the excess with your single bladed. Welcome to the hobby Peach!

Can you imagine how much GW would charge if they made that kit?!

Love seeing Gundam popping up on more hobby channels recently, and they always seem to really enjoy the process. Dave over at MSPaints did a fantastic diorama using the same kit too! :D

Godhand Clippers? Look who's a fancy lad.

After 30 years of making Gundam, Mecha, and more Tamiya/Asuka AFV kits than I've had hot dinners, I can't help but admit JP companies make GW sprues look like rubbish in comparison.

I've been building Gundam for years, then I bought an Imperial Knight. The difference is stark in every conceivable metric. GW could learn a thing or two from Bandai.

I know this is a sponsored video but honestly I love it. What an interesting thing to see the same hobby from a different perspective.

One of us. One of us! Mspaints will be chuckling all day in the background

The emotional attachment is how I feel on a lot of my models, Warhammer or otherwise. I know I've kitbashed or painted things no one else will notice but it's the process of getting there that I enjoy. Thanks for sharing!

Modern Gundam stuff, when Bandai actually puts in the effort and it isn't a remold and/or recolor of an older kit, is Japanese black magic. And starting with an MGEX, you have impressed me with your determination. Built Gundam and Warhammer stuff, including a Knight Castellan, I prefer Gundam stuff every time.

Now imagine that kit with some panel lining and a matt top coat. Honestly sometimes that's really all you need to make a gunpla kit pop.

i was never into gundam as a kid but i must say these kits all look really cool

That part about just knowing that the details are there even if you can't see them can be a really nice feeling.

I literally just ordered a Gundam Caliban from Wayland before clicking on this video...🤣😂😭

The Bandai kits are pure genius and insanity. Also the quality is crazy good for their price. But real flex peachy starting out with one of the most impressive and complicated kits out there. Loved the video its very interesting seeing a Warhammer Veteran building a gunpla kit

The PG Unleashed Gundam is probably still Bandai's peak in engineering and design. Get it if you want to be completely blown away simply by what's on the runners, as well as the build experience, which is in three stages. For starting kits, I could recommend the MG Gundam the Origin or MG Gundam 3.0 equally easily, or if you want simpler, there's now the Entry Grade, same scale as the High Grades, but streamlined like the 30 Minuets Missions kits. You can also try anything from the Revive line, and the HGs from _Witch From Mercury_ are also beginner-friendly. Others have hinted at it, but RGs are for more experienced builders due to all the tiny pieces. They're basically MGs shrunk down to HG scale, so they can be a bit of a pain, but so worth it because they look absolutely great. But there are some things to be cautious about with them on top of that: Early RGs have a partially prebuilt frame, and the joints tend to weaken, making them flop or turn into plastic hand grenades. If you do get an RG, I recommend the later ones, without a prebuilt frame. You'll build it, like an MG frame, and it'll be much more solid. Sazabi over Sinanju, until they build a 2.0 of that, if you get my meaning. The best all-around Sinanju is still the HGUC versions of it. Unless you can afford to go Ver Ka, I guess.

My three favourite hobby things finally collide: Peachy, Warhammer and Gundam 😁

Great work y'all! The build is also just the beginning too (if you want/feel inspired!). Panel lining and repainting are always options you shouldnt feel pressured (for or against). For this one i could totally see leaving the metallic 'structure' and repainting the armor / exterior bits.

Welcome to modern multi shot injection moulding. Bandai are the future, if they ever hit the military kit market, every other brand will fade to nothing. They’re so far ahead of the game. Compared to such as games workshop it’s like Space age versus Stone Age. I’m glad people are realising just how far ahead they are now.

Great! I've accumulated quite a backlog of gunpla to build (and others are coming this Christmas) and the last time I built one was 15 years ago, I needed a refresher and now here it comes my early present! Very appreciated, thanks!!! 😊 P.S. considered that you liked the experience, in the future you can try with the other steps like panelining, weathering, painting, etc...

Okay... I wrote a comment while I was at the beginning of the video about how I'm leaving a view and like just because I like you guys. but also saying that I would never do gunpla because I don't care for it... Now finishing the video... I might...

I build the entry grade gundams with my 4 year old and he loves them as you can just push the parts out the sprue and then he can play with them, would recommend

Went with a MG for your first time?? Crazy love Gundam. My personal favorite is anything from Endless Waltz. Big fan

I just wanna adress a gripe mentioned. 12:20 (around here) The MGEXs sales gimmick is the super intricate and detailed unarmoured body, because you are "allowed", encouraged maybe, to display it without its armour panels. (you'll notice that they show the inner frame off on the box, but other MG kits don't necessarily have this, not to this extent). Some people decide to only add half the armour, others buy 2 kits, and probably the majority just finishes the build.

Peach, any Gundam that has the letters GM are the line troops of Gundam and are usually the coolest in my opinion. Welcome to gunpla!

Bloody gundams!

I’m impressed you started with the MGEX Strike Freedom for your 1st Gunpla build. If you enjoyed the MGEX maybe the PG Unleashed would be a similar experience.

I've always loved Gundam. Started with Gundam Wing on Toonami on Cartoon Network in the early 2000s and have watched a lot over the years. Gundam Seed was great as well. The model really shows whats possible to create these days in a plastic miniature.

Long time warhammer fan shocked that some companies actually offer premium quality for the premium price.

never stopped to amaze me when miniature hobbyists look at how good gunpla hobbyists get. full colored sprues, undergating to keep details nice and crisp, amazingly detailed manual, no glue required. There's also a loving community on youtube pushing each other to paint the best they can. Love the chaos sweater peachy!

My son and I built one, and put the leg together - Damn thing had knee caps built in, and fully moved! its amazing!

They made Entry Grade just for this but honestly going straight into the marvel of engineering that is Master grade extreme is massive respect Also thanks for pointing out wayland sell kits now, had the exact ones I was looking for

That was absolute timing with you guys doing a Gundam kit. I got my first one for Christmas, which was also a Strike Freedom (but not the MGEX, I got a Real Grade one). Was lovely seeing you both having the same reaction I did to the fully articulated pieces straight off the sprue!

Wow, the Tau have gotten some serious upgrades, much needed!

Bandai DEFINITELY know how to build a model kit. They have their challenges but the satisfaction is immense!! It's diffrent than putting together minis, I feel like minis are about the steps it takes to get to the end picking the poses the colors the load out etc, and Gunplah and Bandai models as a whole are about just the journey of putting things together and seeing it all come together at the end Very fun video

Im a gundam nerd and i must say picking RG RX 78-2 is just model kit you dont want to start

Funny you should mention "Maybe not a six year old". My six year old Nephew love putting together gundam kits. He was super interested in putting together GW models when he saw me building them, so his parents got him one of the easier to build gundam kits. He put it together with pretty much no help at all in about a day. The cheaper, simpler gundam kits don't even need sprue cutters most of the time, you can just pop them off the sprue.

My first was an sd 00 diver ace was my first build and paint and first time using a dual action airbrush,turned out ok , 2 years later i own 60 😂 some are over 30 odd year's old , half ive bought new . Love them

Gunpla and Warhammer are so different, I find it hard to say one is better than the other. One thing I can say though is "GW, for the love of... fix your sprue layouts and instructions!"

Now you'll have to get out an airbrush and paint one. People tend to use quite different techniques for these than they do for smaller minis. As for covered details, it does give you an interesting inner layer if you wanted to expose some panels to model battle damage. Also, I think the makers of these think a lot more about the build process than companies like GW do with their kits.

I have been considering trying one of these kits some day, I had not realized the engineering put into them until now. Impressive! Thanks!

Peach, what a chad. Starting with the MGEX Strike Freedom! Next is the Narrative Ver. Ka. 😁 that’s what I’m building next

One of youre best videos so far, i do all kinds of models, minis, scalemodels and gundams. When i paint them, and i do repaint all my gundams, then i build the model all the way to finished, then find out what parts are going to become what color, then i pick it apart again down to single pieces and paint it, and then when all the hundreds of parts are dry i rebuild it again. Its a bit of a prosses but i love it, gundams is so fun

Nice! I got my start in Warhammer stuff and lately I’ve been doing Gundam and it’s been a really interesting experience! I think the two hobbies compliment each other nicely.

my friend in work got me into gunpla, did a few and jumped into the PG RX 78 and oh my god it was beautiful to build

Just so you know, starting with the MGEX is mad and I salute you for your effort

Gundams are pretty amazing and the tech gets better each time! Congrats on your first build experience!

This was such a joy to watch. 🙂 I've been building gunpla since before I built Warhammer and the kits have come such a long way. Their injection moulding really feels like magic and it's so nice to see someone experience that for the first time. 😁

The next step is panel lining/washing. Easy enough although you may want to disassemble the limbs and mask the joints before clearcoating in order to preserve the articulation. You can use off-the-shelf panel liner - Bandai collaborates with a Japanese firm to produce Gundam-branded liner pens in a variety of standard wash colours - or cook up your own washes (as a Warhammer hobbyist this should be easy mode for you). Either way, it's recommended to clearcoat the model first to protect the plastic against the thinner solvent. And avoid the articulated joints when panel lining for the same reason. As for your next kit, or something you can build with your kid: for cheap, detailed and fun kits, the HG Gundam the Origin line is fantastic. Many of the models in this range come with lots of weapon options (always a plus for kids aged 7 to 77), the surface detail is terrific for their size, they look fantastic when weathered, and you won't be covering up a lot of hidden detail (ha!). The parts count is a bit on the high side for their size but much more manageable than an RG or MG. As long as you like the design of the mech, you will absolutely, absolutely not be disappointed by the actual kit.

Now do a custom! It’s a joy to build. Painting, customizing, adding details and weathering are exceptionally fun.

Two of my favorite things, Peachy and Gundams! Your reaction was similar to Adam Savages when he built his first. Just awe at the engineering and joy at the process.

Incredible video 🙌🏻 I’ve build 1 gundam with a friend and LOVED IT, I just haven’t had chance to dive into it more. I wanted to pick some up while in Japan this year but didn’t have the space in the suitcase 😂 seeing peachy’s mind being blown by the engineering was so relatable, can’t believe you just dove in first time with a master grade build sheeeeeeesh

Gundam models are really next level. I've built a few in my life, they're amazing. Really enjoyed hearing and seeing how your first experience went.

That's quite the kit for your first one! Sazabi Ver.Ka is another absolutely amazing experience of a kit!

Absolutely awesome video! I recently started building gunpla - and it's just absolutely amazing - GW could stand to learn a thing or too

Amazing job! I am abit worried starting off with an MGEX might raise your standards too high, but I'm happy you enjoyed the process of gunpla!

Honestly, this isn't a bad first choice. The Strike MGEX is REALLY nice, especially with all the undergating, but you are certainly brave. I didn't assemble this one until I had a bunch of MG experience.

I grew up building gunpla, then became a hobbyist for 40k in my adult years. It just amazes me how different the sprues are. Quality, quantity, mold lines, instructions, not to mention things actually fitting together? With the amount of articulation and moving parts on Gunpla, it makes me wonder how GW can't make two arms that line up proper. Still buy a damn load of those guys, but it is still a wonder. A Perfect Grade kit in the horizon? Maybe a custom paint job on some Gunpla? *wink wink*

There is a woman called "FrostedSnow" who airbrushes Gunplay. She does candy paint on her models. Which is insane in itself... like the same process Mexicans use in California to put candy paint jobs on low-rider cars. The amount of layers you have to spray to achieve that finish is batshit insane. Seriously the quality she is able to get is mind-blowing. Would be incredible to see the Tau Manta with a candy paint finish. Also...can you imagine the requirements to get hired as an engineer at bandai? I think we should all be happy they are making toys.

I had a similar feeling when I built my first gunpla kit, which was actually 1/12 scale Stormtrooper I put together after seeing MS Paints' Gundam video. It is very much like a jigsaw or a lego kit in that you put small bits in and then suddenly hit that milestone of "oh, a complete head." And then that goes on the completed body and you can see the miniature emerging. It's extremely satisfying. I would strongly recommend going for some of the HG kits for simpler builds that are still very satisfying (and cheaper). HG is a range that spans decades, so of those I'd recommend the 'The Origin' ones as they have some of the better/more detailed external surfaces.

Im glad you enjoyed the build,so many people slate them but they are really really well engineered, im building a kenworth truck (revell) its been a chore , gundam build sheets take a little getting used to in regards to learning the symbols but they are awesome 😎

The process is exactly what I love about a Gundam kit; especially when I take my time. It can take me a couple weeks to build an MG kit for painting because I'm taking mold lines out of every part(the few there are in a Gunpla kit; Bandai are a group of mold designing wizards) and sanding every nub down to 1500-3000 grit. Then I'll spend another couple weeks painting and rebuilding it. The whole process is meditative to me.

Bandai already did the hard part of having a expansive catalog of ETB models with colored plastics (which makes the painting optional)... can you imagine how more popular gunpla could get if Bandai just locks a dozen nerds inside a hotel room for a year to cook up a wargame ruleset for their models? I think that they could seriously challenge 40k's dominance and also give me an excuse to build an army full of Leos.

I have both seen and built gundam and other kits and this video has made my evening

It's fun to see so many Warhammer buffs try Gunpla for the first time. They all have various takes on what they build and what they do with them when complete, usually customising them by painting. But it's pretty consistent they - and even you - find fascination in this model series!

That was awesome! I’m definitely going to have to have a go as building is one of my favourite parts of the hobby, love the intricacy of it might do a Pat though as I’m not that brave

First kit being an MGEX? Damn, I'm envious. Can't afford that thing in my place.

I started with gundams and have been collecting for more than 10 years. I am new to games workshop kits and have been telling my new warhammer friends to try out gunpla. Everything i tell them about gundams sound so farfetched to them. No mold lines, no glue, no fitting issues, no warped parts. Imagine a chaos knight made like these

If you want to keep building Gunpla, get the RG Sazabi or the new-ish RG God Gundam. They look fantastic, and they're modern Bandai so the engineering is up to par. The Perfect Grade Unleashed RX-78-2 is also incredible.

The hobby cross over I didn’t know I needed! Definitely look into some of the grunt suits. Good for painting and weathering up

Jumping straight into the deep end! 😂 There is a "starter" difficulty Gundam kits available for newbies.

I'm actually just getting started with my first army after coming from making a fair number of gundam and kotobukiya zoids models, and it's really cool to see you guys coming from the other direction!

Watching a model kit builder experience the sheer black magic of BANDAI plastic models for the first time will never cease to amaze me.

So glad you liked it! For a bit easier build that’s still wicked impressive, the RG Nu or RG hi-Nu are fantastic kits, with an awesome inner frame fun to hand paint. You can display with one side without the armor panels to show painted inner frame. Great kits.

People said that these kits are "plastic crack" and I'm one of them with Perfect Grade of what you showed, Strike Freedom Gundam and they also give springs LED for the build and it's worth my month

I bought my first entry grade after watching the video, thanks!

Love this. Reminds me that I havent built a Gundam up in a while. Must go and correct that

Dear Patrick, RG's are just as, arguably more so due to size, difficult as MG's. I made the same mistake for my first kit. Now my torso barely connects to my dude's legs. Am I still proud af of it? Yes I am. Good luck, and happy holidays. P.S. Try watching the media your gunpla is from. It's like animated lore from 40k. Peachy's is from Gundam SEED Destiny, which is a sequel to an earlier show, Gundam SEED. Both series have been condensed into films. Patrick's is from the OG Gundam, which has also been condensed into a film trilogy. Cheers!

It just amazes me with all those parts that theres no glue required. Great job Peach!

Excellent video. I picked up a Gundam when I was last in Japan, glad I watched this before trying to build it.

The MGEX Strike Freedom is definitely on my gunpla bucket list, glad you enjoyed it. If you want to try to elevate the kit even farther, panel lining and some 3rd party waterslide decals (I've been happy with both delphi and g-rework decals for other kits) can go a long way. As for kids, an Entry Grade could work well. They are simpler and inexpensive kits and designed to not require any tools, including the clippers.

LOL my second favorite hobby behind Warhammer! great video!

I knew coming into this there would be a separate mention of the articulating hands. They are amazing as a piece of a kit

Hey Peachy, I built my first last gundam kit last week. after playing 40k for 20 years its nice to have no glue. Great build on this video

Excellent video! Huge fan of gundam models.

Never been a fan of the Gundam style, but it's fascinating on how insanely well engineered they are. Imagine a larger 40k type model with that level of sprue engineering 🤯

Strike Freedom nice choice. My first kit was the MG Unicorn......many lessons were learned.

there are rulesets for using them in a wargame btw. Free online. multiple options.