The official gunpla tournament "Gunpla Builders World Cup 2018" (GBWC2018) determined the world's best at the "World Championship Awards Ceremony" held December 9, 2018 (Sun) in Odaiba at the gunpla facility "Gundam Base Tokyo".

At the location, the open course and junior course champions of each country and region have gathered. Meister Kawaguchi presided, and animation director Masami Obari was welcomed as a special judge, and first through third place for each course was announced for the "Gundam Base Award", "Men's Bigen Award", and "Special Judges Award" were given.

Let's introduce each winning work and the judges comments.

【Title】

Origin of Char

【Builder】

＜Hong Kong Representative＞

Manson Ng

【Judges Comment】

"The image of Char incorporated into the old red zaku, the arrangement was incredible and the fun of the idea were both taken into account." (BANDAI SPIRITS Hobby Division Katsumi Kawaguchi)

【Title】

Kshatriya Besserung 2.0 ”Preemptive Strike”

【Builder】

＜Canada Representative＞

Lau Ryan

【Selection Reason】

"The composition of the entire work is excellent. The love put into it, the amount of effort put into it can be seen, the information in this work is a lot, the profound feeling made a good impression. It feels like this work incorporates Hoyu Corporation's idea of "Beauty beyond appearance", so I have chosen it." (Hoyu Corporation)

【Title

WE ARE GUNDAM

【Builder】

＜Thai Representative＞

Vichayuth Eiam-Ong

【Judges Comment】

"The outline is excellent, the embodiment of dynamic and delicateness. I liked everything about it." (Animation Director Masami Obari)

＜3rd Place＞

【Title】

The White Golem

【Builder】

＜Vietnam Representative＞

Nguyen Hoang Long

【Judges Comment】

"The small details, I evaluated the surface treatments. If you work harder on the backpack and metal parts adhesions, I believe you can achieve even greater results." (BANDAI SPIRITS Hobby Division Akihiko Yasunaga)

＜2nd Place＞

【Title】

Once again

【Builder】

＜Taiwan Representative＞

WU CHIH EN

"I'm very happy. I thank my teacher and parents who taught me about this."

【Judges Comment】

"It may look simple, but the handicraft and paint are done at a high level, there is thoughtfulness in the smallest details. As a diorama, perhaps a different composition would make it even better?" (Hobby Japan Editorial Department Editor in Chief Kimura)

＜1st Place＞（World Champion）

【Title】

Build Divers Fantasy

【Builder】

＜Indonesia Representative＞

Mark Alexander Ierwanto

"I'm very happy. But I don't think it's perfect yet."

【Judges Comment】

"The high strength of spacial organization, the way it's constructed, the coloring, the beauty of the plating, it was a unanimous decision. It's genius." (Model Graphix Editorial Department Gunpla Supervisor Iwao Sekiguchi)

＜3rd Place＞

【Title】

WE ARE GUNDAM

【Builder】

＜Thai Representative＞

Vichayuth Eiam-Ong

"With this color trophy, I have completed my collection. Thank you."

【Judges Comment】

"The use of space is incredible. The fine details of the feet are fantastic, it was fun to look at this work." (BANDAI SPIRITS Hobby Division Akihiko Yasunaga)

＜2nd Place＞

【Title】

EVERY THING STARTS WITH A PROTO TYPE

【Builder】

＜Philippines Representative＞

JAMES MARC R. QUINSAAT

"I'm happy. I'm here participating on behalf of my country, but I believe everyone here is a winner."

【Judges Comment】

"I salute his idea of taking a 1/60 Gundam and creating it into a heavy construction machine. It was created using a variety of techniques, the paint skill level is very high, and there are a lot of interesting sights here. It's the type of work you want to look at forever." (Model Graphix Editorial Department Gunpla Supervisor Iwao Sekiguchi)

＜1st Place＞（World Champion）

【Title】

GUNDAM EXIA RⅡ-fetal movement-

【Builder】

＜Japan Representative＞

YUSUKE SATO

"To receive an award like this, my feelings are immeasurable. Thank you so much."

【Judges Comment】

"It's said to be a box-type of diorama, but you can enjoy it not just from one direction but many, as you can look in through the window. The detailed molding, the surface of the wall is also built very well. There's a lot of fun feelings, and no complaints about the construction nor paint. This is truly the work of a champion." (Hobby Japan Editorial Department Editor in Chief Kimura)

Reflecting upon the results, Special Judge Obari said "I am deeply moved by the infinite possibilities of gunpla. I would like to take this inspiration home with me, and create a fun anime with it." It appeared he was invigorated by the splendid works of the builders.

As a general comment from Meister Kawaguchi, who is also chairman of the GBWC executive committee, "We could have chosen any work and it wouldn't have been strange. The things which you wanted to show people were pushed to the front, I want to see lots of interesting things. If you keep buliding gunpla you will keep getting better. People who are good at construction, work on paint, when you're good at painting work on expanding your ideas, please think about these things as you work on your creations." And the event ended.

The World Championship Entries of each country's and region's champion works will be displayed at Gundam Base Tokyo until January 28, 2019 (Mon), so let's go visit Odaiba and check them out.

※ Some titles omitted in text.