1/144 Real Grade RX-178/EX Gundam Mk.II Excellent "Karaba Color Ver." [WIP]

Hello!

Hello, Jin from Karaba Mechanics here.
I'll be posting my kits and illustrations here from now on.
First, here's my 1/144 Real Grade RX-178/EX Gundam Mk.II Excellent "Karaba Color Ver." kit.

The base kit is the 1/144 RG RX-178 Gundam Mk.II.

Choosing the color scheme

I initially chose this color scheme for the Gundam Mk.II Excellent. When I headed over to my friend's house to paint, though, I decided to keep the chest vents the same color (yellow) and paint the chest piece grey. I had also changed the colors on the arms, which you will see later in the post.

The colors used in this kit were:
Bosny No. 68 Primer Grey
Bosny No. 30 Rose Pink
RJ London Primer Grey

I exclusively use spray cans, since I don't have the money for an airbrush kit. However, I might get one in the future once I have my own place and won't need to fear for the lives of my 20+ parakeets upstairs.

The remaining white and off-white parts were kept as is, since we were coming dangerously close to the deadline of the local Gunpla club's build-off. We decided to just spray with flat coat instead.

Snap build

The 1/144 RG Gundam Mk.II is probably one of the most satisfying yet easy to build kits I've made ever since I started Gunpla as a hobby.
Despite the tremendous amount of detail in the kit, it took me 6 hours from start to finish to snap build this kit (and do rough nub cleanup etc). I highly recommend this kit for beginner Gunpla builders who've gone through a few High Grade kits as a step forward in Gunpla building.
There are a lot of parts but the assembly is straightforward and the finished kit is very stable and fun to play with. The color separation is pretty good and the final straight build's detail exceeds that of the Master Grade 2.0 version of the kit. I'd say the articulation is on par with the Master Grade or even the Perfect Grade version, so make sure you pick one of these up when you have the time.
One problem I had with the kit, though, is the mesh tubing behind the knees - if you cut them too short, they fray and fizz up like all hell, frustrating you to no end. I made that mistake here and decided to remove them altogether.


Work in progress

Test fitting of the first few painted parts. We had also ended up only including the beam rifle in the initial presentation of the build due to the time constraint.

The kit was panel lined with a fine-point Gundam Marker and a 0.3mm black Copic marker. We were unable to apply decals to the kit due to the time constraint. So, a lesson to all you fellow Gunpla builders: TAKE YOUR TIME!

Final test fit, posed along with my friend's HGUC Gouf Custom and HG GN-X. Team Try Fighters!

Completion (Tentative)

All in all, the build took around 6 hours to snap fit, and around 2 hours to paint and panel line (from start -> topcoat) for a total of 8 hours. I am still considering adding weaponry, a different backpack and custom waterslide decals for the Gundam Mk.II Excellent, so check back in the future for more!

Credit goes to my friend Flickr/Poixquared for taking the photos, and for J_Adrian of Gundam Australia for helping paint the kit on a rainy day. See you next time!