The Best First Gunpla Kit

What the grades actually mean

Grade is a combination of scale, part count and engineering complexity. For a first build, read it as “how many chances there are to make a mistake.”

• Entry Grade (EG). Roughly 50–80 parts, designed so gates separate by hand, multi-color molding so it looks right unpainted. Genuinely a one-evening build.
• High Grade (HG), 1/144. Around 100–200 parts. The hobby’s default. Good articulation, sensible color separation, a couple of evenings. This is the right answer for most first builds.
• Real Grade (RG), 1/144. Similar size to HG with 2–3x the parts, a pre-assembled inner frame and very small components. Stunning out of the box and frustrating as a first kit.
• Master Grade (MG), 1/100. Large, 300–700 parts, full inner frame. A project, not a first build — though the bigger parts are physically easier to handle than RG’s.
• Perfect Grade (PG), 1/60. Enormous, expensive and emphatically not a first kit.
• SD (Super Deformed). Chibi proportions, low part count, cheap. A fine, low-stakes way to practice cutting and lining.

How we picked

• Tolerance for mistakes. Can a slightly rough gate cut be hidden, or is every part a visible outer panel?
• Looks finished unpainted. Multi-color molding and decent color separation means a satisfying result on day one, which is what makes people build a second kit.
• Part size. Tiny parts are harder to cut cleanly and much easier to lose.
• Instructions. Bandai’s diagrams are language-independent and excellent across the range, which is one reason these kits are a good entry point at all.
• Price. A first kit should be cheap enough that a mistake is a lesson, not a loss.

Grade definitions and kit specifications come from Bandai’s published information; the ranking is our editorial read, per our review policy.

Why the RX-78-2 keeps being the recommendation

It is the original Gundam, so it is in print constantly, cheap, and available everywhere. More usefully for a beginner: the color blocking is simple and bold, which means molded colors do most of the work and panel lining does the rest. You get a model that looks like the thing on the box without owning a single paint.

The Revive version is a modern retooling with far better articulation than the older mold, so you are not learning on 1980s engineering.

What to avoid as a first kit

Real Grade, as much as you will want to. The inner frame is pre-assembled and delicate, the parts are very small, and the gates are often on visible surfaces. It is a superb second or third kit.

Very old molds. Some long-running HG kits date from the 1990s with polycap joints that flop. Look for “Revive” or recent releases.

Non-Bandai knock-offs. Noticeably softer plastic, worse fit and gates in awkward places. The engineering quality is most of what makes Gunpla pleasant.

A kit you love too much. Your first build will have a rough gate somewhere. Make the stakes low.

What to buy with it

A single-blade nipper, a hobby knife, sanding sticks, and a bottle of panel liner. That is the whole starting kit — the full reasoning is in the tool rundown.

No paint, no airbrush, no cement. A snap-fit kit with cleanly cut gates, panel lining and a matte topcoat looks excellent, and that is a complete first project.