IceKnight's Gundam Garage: MG Exia - Trans AM mode

"Marina... Ismail...
By the time you read this...
I'll already be gone.
Armed Interventions to put an end to war...
I'm unable to do anything but fight for Celestial Being...
You taught me what it means to fight.
Back then, just like Gundam.
I wanted to know..
Why our world is so terminally distorted?
Where did the distortion come from?
Why there are people who are unconsciously evil?
Why people don't know that their evil hurts others?
Why is humanity an existence that only conflicts with itself?
Why are there people to rule, and those who are ruled?
Why do we wound each other?
In spite of all this, why do people go on living like they do?
I wanted to ask you.
Please think of an answer, if we may meet again.
That being the case, I will seek out the same thing on a different path than yours.
Down the path towards mutual human understanding for the answer.
I'll keep looking for it, together with my Gundam.
Together with... My Gundam..."
- quoted by Setsuna F Seiei , pilot of Exia

This work is my most painful Gundam making experience, literally. Just as I started building this one, my back shoulder is hurting like hell the morning I woke up.
Seek TCM for help but . . . Nah, let's not talk about it .

Here I gave you , the inner frame.

From WIP - MG Exia - Trans AM

This inner frame assembly does make me feel full of possibilities of the poses that the finish model can have .
Although the instructions seem complicated, the parts still comes together quite easily. Anyway like I mentioned in the previous post, the major challenge is not with the assembly. It is the nip marks which I still don't quite find a good solution for it . Probably has to make do and see how it goes.

From WIP - MG Exia - Trans AM

The hand of Exia is at first glance, quite standard MG design: ball joint for the thumb and index finger while the other 3 fingers are formed as a piece. Below is a comparison of hands from my Strike Gundam IWSP.

From making of MG Strike Gundam IWSP

Both Gundam's hands design are 1 thumb , 1 index finger and a 3 finger piece.

Exia hand is bigger, there is an additional joint at the end of the palm to allow it to bend perpendicularly from the arm, but most notably,

the 3 joined fingers, there are ball joint for each of them ! That makes a simple mode here !

From WIP - MG Exia - Trans AM

With a "simple" 2 cuts, I seperated the 3 fingers piece into 3 seperate fingers !! Just wondering why Bandai don't just seperate them in the first place but I'm really happy with this design as I finally have a Gundam with 5 seperate fingers ! WOOT !

From WIP - MG Exia - Trans AM

There is a rectangular extension in the palm which I can attach the weapons to . This is good because it will not be having the grip problem of holding the weapons like Strike Gundam and the rest ! Brilliant !