another in the lineup of "i don't know much about this series but i do know it's got a sickass dragon for me to build", and (imo) definitely the cooler of the two, the real grade epyon from gundam wing! i built this guy in november of last year and WOW was it a fun build. bandai has really been pulling no punches with its real grades lately. the tail/heat whip being one contiguous pre-articulated piece on its own dedicated runner? fucking phenomenal. absolutely amazing plastic engineering on this beast, HIGHLY recommended, worth every penny i paid for it.
i preordered my rg epyon from USAGS, which meant they also sent me a free waterslide decal sheet for it, which was very nice. i used to be very scared of waterslide decals but now they are my best friends. they look SO good compared to the default clear stickers. i actually have an easier time now with the super-thin spaghetti decals when they're waterslides than when they're regular stickers, which definitely helped on the wings here. i do own a bottle of Mr. Mark Setter for the exact purpose of applying waterslide decals, but i don't think i actually used it for this kit? if it works it works i guess
the claws and horns were repainted in tamiya coral blue (as well as some parts on the chest that aren't visible in this mode) as part of my undying crusade against the tyranny of yellow plastic. i was hoping for something a bit more saturated and/or brighter out of the can, but what i got still worked out just fine.
finally, that cool stream of fire coming out of the jaws was actually borrowed from a dragon figurine i've had in my house since i was, like, 13, and then painted with a topcoat of sparkly clear nail polish at the end to make it nice and glittery. fire should always be nice and glittery. this is my official stance on the matter