Kit Review: HG AGE 1/144 - G-Exes

Paint it white, because I’m the best there is!

The Madorna Workshop’s G-Exes is the first non-Gundam mobile suit to stand toe-to-toe with a Vagan suit – piloted by the genius pilot Woolf Enneacle. Its pure white silhouette is fitting for an ace pilot that can even keep up with an X-Rounder.

– Info:
Kit: HG 1/144 E-Exes
Series: Gundam Age
Price: 1,320 yen
Release date: Dec 2011

– Design: The G-Exes is based on the Shaldoll’s frame with data from the Age-1 Gundam. But you can tell it’s still heavily based on the grunt look of Madorna’s mass-produced suit. The blocky silhouette is very text-book Ebikawa. He always design the grunt with a very elegant and simplistic appearance. The overall white of the G-Exes is very suitable for its pilot – the White Woolf. Age definitely has the most conventional mobile suit design for grunts, and the G-Exes is a step up from the normal Shaldoll for an ace pilot

– Build quality: Age kits are quite reminiscent of 00 kits, particularly the 00 with how simple yet high quality it is. The build process is straightforward and requires minimal effort for nub-cleaning, as the main color pallete is white and gray, so you can use metal file on the parts without worrying about white nubs. The design and accessories being very minimalistic also reduce the build time significantly, as well as the small as hell sticker sheet. Overall, the G-Exes is a very enjoyable build.

– Articulation: With the construction being very basic, the G-Exes doesn’t have any advanced articulation, but in return, there are a lot of range due to the minimalistic design. Most of AGE kits come with the double-jointed package for both the arms and legs. The hips and feet are 00 Gundam style with universal joint and very pivot that allow for very high kicks as well as super balanced feet pose. Both the front skirt and side-skirt are small in design, which is similar to FMP’s M9, which clear up a lot of range for movement.

Its only limited part is the torso articulation, while being ball-joint, is quite limited due to the chest armor design. Even so, you can still get the kit into many dynamic poses that Woolf was able to utilize during the first generation war against the Vagan with Flit.

– Accessories:
x1 Beam Rifle

x1 Shield

x2 Beam Saber

x2 Missile Pod (side skirt)

A very minimalist config, which is basically everything the G-Exes ever used anyway. This allow for full accessory storage on the kit itself. The long shield can be a bit finnicky to attach and can obstruct articulation of the arm a bit, but it’s not a big problem. The beam saber stored on the backpack is a pretty elegant solution and reminiscent of the first Gundam.

Overall: AGE kits follow a set of rules that seems to work really well: simple and basic yet cool designs, which in turn allow for effective articulation with minimal engineering. Everything about the G-Exes scream text-book Ebikawa and Gunpla, yet its playability is by no means subpar. If you’re a fan of one of the best pilots of AGE, then the first generation “White Wolf” is heavily recommended for you!

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