Evangelion Unit 01 (Suntoys)

Hi guys :) It's my birthday and I spent a good deal of it playing with this SD Evangelion Unit 01 (shall be referred as EVA-01 from here on) from Suntoys.

For this, I would like to thank Suntoys and my friend Station Wensin II for sending me this kit a day before my birthday.

Manufacturer: Suntoys
Scale/Grade: Advanced SD
Series: Neo Genesis Evangelion
Price: TBA

Section 1: Runners

The plastic is pretty nice on the first glance. Comparing to other manufacturer, the plastic is a little harder especially the grey colored. The coloring is very nice and I love them so much.

Parts separation is awesome; not much panel-lining to be done, and less masking for the painters too :) Detailing are very nice too. This kit looks awesome even in an OOB straight-build :)

Snapfitting experience is pretty good overall with a few exceptions... some parts are pretty tights and need more brute force (hands especially), and some they expect us to grew an extra pair of hands while assembling (tight armors, forearms) which I'll explain in each section later :P

Section 2: Accessories and Decals

The kit comes with a clear stand, AT field effect, LED, and a piece of water decals in pretty good quality :)

Unfortunately, it does not come with anything to hold up the AT field effect :P

Section 3: Legs

This advanced SD is not so simple to build, as you can see the number of parts for the left leg itself :P I must say though, the parts separation is awesome.

Remember I'd mentioned about an extra pair of hands? This is where you might need them, as you need to position the top and bottom (left and right as in the picture) in place while fixing the cover piece in the middle :P

Though assembling it is a nuisance, this mechanism is one of the reason the kit looks nice :)

Assembling the legs from ground-up :) As you can see further down, the legs articulations are fantastic!

Section 4: Waist and Torso

The waist and torso is formed by 3 sections with articulations. Although the movement is very limited, it does add to the awesomeness of this kit ;)

Connecting the waist and torso with legs.

Section 5: Chest

Excellent parts separation! It even comes with the pod and the ejecting mechanism!

Just a little extra force when fixing the chest plates ;)

Connecting the chest unit to lower body :)

Section 6: Head

This is the main selling point of any SD :P It does not comes with a lot of parts but the separation is done fantastically :)

The assembly of the LED unit is pretty straight forward... just pay attention on the front and back position of the bay ;)

You might need some extra force to push the LED unit into the intended slot as it is pretty tight... take note that the on/off switch should sit right at the ledge at the back of the head ;)

You would need a sharp object to push the on/off switch, and the dagger from its armament arsenal is the excellent choice.

I missed out the horn/antenna as I was planning for transit and do not want to accidentally break it ;)

Be extra careful cutting out the semi-transparent eyes... there is a peg that is part of the eye so don't cut it away while trimming :P

The peg would help to hold the eyes in place within the skull, but is very tricky to assemble... while you are at it, just remember to put the eye into socket with the peg on top (smooth surface outside), then push diagonally up (to the forehead direction) to lock it in place.

If you have accidentally cut away the peg, or broke it, or get frustrated with not able to lock it in place, you could use some superglue, just be extra careful not to stain the semi-transparent surface :)

The neck (quite crucial in EVA as compare to Gunpla), it also nicely done. This plays a crucial role in resembling some signature poses ;)

Connecting the head... and here I have put in the horn/antenna ;)

Section 7: Shoulders and Arms

There are a lot of parts for the shoulder! Although we are not putting the over-sized daggers into the shoulder piece, the mechanism is fully resembled and can be opened for posing purpose.

The shoulder piece, is connected with a ball-joint behind the shoulder joint. There is actually a locking mechanism by pressing the shoulder piece downward but I find it not useful for dynamic posing thus I stuff some blu-tack into the slot for stickiness and posing potential, and it turns out to be the right call ;)

Due to the interference of the arms and forearms, the elbow can only bend to 90 degrees but there are good enough for all the poses you are about to see ;)

There are 7 pairs of hands... 1x closed fists, 3x open palms, 1x dagger hands, 1x rifle hands, 1x lance hands... Awesome!

Section 8: Weapons and Accessories

This kit comes with weaponry in 2 rifles, 2 Gattling guns, 4 daggers, and 2 Spear of Longinus.

It also comes with the battery connector (which I do not use) and an action stand (which I only uses it base).

Section 9: Introducing, EVA-01

Lets sit back and enjoy some pictures ;)

Section 10: EVA-01 with Daggers

The basic melee weapon ;)

Section 11: There is No Escape (Gattling Gun)

There are two of this gun but I can only hold one :P

Section 12: Returning from the Battlefield (Rifle)

Returning soldier ;)

Section 13: You Can't Stop Me! (AT field effect)

Reaping it open!

Section 14: Losing Control!!!

I used blu-tack to stick both feet to the base :P

Section 15: Ready to Exterminate (Spear of Longinus)

Section 16: Shoot the Star (Spear of Longinus)

My Personal Experience 

I never planned to build this kit, but fortunately my friend Station Wensin II decided to bring this to me a day before my birthday :) I have no regret spending some 20 hours on this including all the photo shoots and this review.

This is no ordinary SD kit... the complexity is quadruple-fold just by looking at the amount of parts :P

Having learn from the previous RX-78, Suntoys improved a lot and this kit is close to excellent to my taste... parts separation is fantastically done, and color finishing is very nice too, except the gray-colored pieces could be better.

My snap-fitting experience is a pretty pleasant one although some parts required extra force, and one or two required extra pair of hands :P I also apply my own fixes to the shoulder piece to improve posing potential of this EVA-01.

The action stand is too limited for EVA-01 so I uses blu-tack to help in posing by sticking its feet to the stand ;) The LED unit is an excellent addition to this kit and is nicely done... to turn on/off, you just need to poke the switch with the dagger :P

This kit is awesome even with an OOB straight-build!

Overall Rating (Not point system, just what I felt)

Assembly Experience: Very Good :)

Plastic Quality: Good

Parts Separation: Excellent :)

Color: Very good :)

Detailing: Very good :)
Posing Possibility: Very Good ;)

Recommendation: Highly recommended, and a must-get for EVA fans ;)

Articulations

Head/Neck: Excellent!
Shoulders: Very Good :)
Arms/Elbow: Good
Waist: Good
Skirt Armor: None
Hip/Tight: Excellent!
Knee: Excellent!
Ankle: Excellent!
Feet: Excellent!

See you guys around :)