Gunpla Grades Explained: EG, HG, RG, MG, PG and SD (and Which to Build First)

You walk into the world of Gunpla wanting one robot. Ten minutes later you're staring at four boxes of the same Gundam, each a different size, each with a different set of letters on the front, and each at a different price. HG, RG, MG, PG, EG, SD. It reads like a secret code, and the robots aren't telling.

Good news: the system is actually simple once someone explains it. This guide walks through every Gunpla grade, what scale it is, how hard it is, what's in the box, and which one to build first. If you'd rather just look at the robots, our Gunpla range is right here.

First, what is Gunpla?

Gunpla is short for Gundam plastic model: Bandai's kits of the giant robots, or mobile suits, from the Gundam anime, which Bandai has been making since 1980. Three things make them different from a traditional scale model:

• Moulded in colour: the parts come in the right colours, so a finished kit looks the part without a drop of paint.
• Snap-fit: parts push together. No glue.
• Posable: they're built with joints, so the finished kit moves like an action figure.

You can stop there, or you can panel-line, decal, paint and weather until it looks like it just walked out of a war. Both are correct.

The grades at a glance

The grade tells you how detailed and complex a kit is. The scale tells you how big it is. Most mobile suits are around 18 metres tall, so the maths goes like this: roughly 12.5cm at 1/144, 18cm at 1/100 and 30cm at 1/60. Bigger suits come out bigger, naturally.

• EG (Entry Grade), 1/144: made for complete beginners. Few parts, simple construction, and designed to be built with minimal fuss. The easiest way to find out whether you like this.
• HG (High Grade), 1/144: the backbone of Gunpla and by far the biggest range. Quick to build, affordable, good articulation, and usually no full inner frame. If a mobile suit has a kit, it almost certainly has an HG.
• RG (Real Grade), 1/144: the same size as an HG, but with an inner frame and Master Grade-style detail squeezed in. Gorgeous, but full of small, fiddly parts. Not the easy 1/144.
• MG (Master Grade), 1/100: the enthusiast's favourite. A full inner frame you build first, then armour over the top, so you get a properly engineered model with great posing.
• PG (Perfect Grade), 1/60: the top of the tree. Huge, with a very high part count and an inner frame to rival a real machine. A project, not an evening. PG Unleashed is a newer take on the grade.
• SD (Super Deformed), no fixed scale: chibi-style Gundams with big heads and short bodies. Quick, cheap, cheerful builds. Lines include SD Gundam Cross Silhouette and SD Gundam EX-Standard.

EG 1/144: RX-78-2 GundamRG 1/144: RX-78-2 Ver. 2.0MG 1/100: RX-78-2 Ver. 3.0

Two more badges you'll spot

• MGSD: SD proportions with Master Grade engineering inside, including a proper frame and articulation. Cute on the outside, serious on the inside.
• Full Mechanics, 1/100: Master Grade size with lots of exterior detail, but without the full inner frame. A good halfway house between HG and MG.

MGSD: Gundam BarbatosMGSD: Freedom GundamSD EX-Standard: Hello Kitty RX-78-2

How hard is each grade, honestly?

Step 1: First-ever kit

• EG or HG. An EG is done in an evening. A typical HG is an evening or two. Both give you a finished, posable robot at the end, which is what keeps you coming back.

EG: Wing GundamHG: Gundam Barbatos

Step 2: Built a few and want more

• MG is the natural next step. Building the frame first and then armouring it up is genuinely satisfying, and the bigger scale is easier on the eyes than RG.
• MGSD scratches the same itch in a smaller, sillier package.

Step 3: Patient, steady-handed, slightly obsessive

• RG for maximum detail at shelf-friendly size, but expect tiny parts and a lot of care.
• PG if you want a showpiece and have the space, the time and a quiet room.

RG: Gundam EpyonPG Unleashed: Nu Gundam

A rule of thumb: buy the grade for the experience you want, not the robot you want. Most popular mobile suits come in more than one grade, so you can usually have your favourite at your skill level.

What's in the box

• Runners: the frames the parts are attached to, each labelled with a letter. The instructions tell you which part number from which runner, so you're never hunting blind.
• Instructions: picture-led manuals. Even where the text is in Japanese, the diagrams carry you through.
• Stickers or decals: for eyes, sensors and markings. What you get varies by grade and kit.
• Extras: weapons, shields, swappable hands and sometimes effect parts, depending on the kit.

Display stands generally aren't included, and Bandai sells Action Bases separately. Check the listing if you want one in the box.

Tools for Gunpla

No glue and no paint is not the same as no tools. You'll want:

• Nippers: sharp, flush side cutters. The single biggest upgrade to how a finished kit looks.
• A hobby knife and sanding sticks: to clean up the nub marks where parts met the runner.
• Optional extras: a panel line marker for the recessed lines, and a matt topcoat to hide sticker shine and plastic sheen.

Nippers: Bandai Build Up NipperHobby knife: Army PainterSanding: Tamiya sponge sheet

Everything above is in our hobby tools range, and when you're ready to paint details, start with acrylic paints.

How ordering works

Kits we hold in our warehouse ship straight away. Lines marked Special Order are ordered in for you from the UK distributor, so allow 2 to 4 weeks. The badge on each product tells you which is which. You'll find Gunpla among the rest of our kits under Gunpla in the model kits range, and the wider Gundam range adds the extras.

Final thought: the letters on the box aren't a ranking of how good the robot is, they're a menu of how much building you fancy. Start with an HG, see how you feel at the end of the evening, and let the grades come to you.

Further reading: our pick of the top tools for model makers, and painting your first miniature if you fancy picking out the details on your first kit.