#rx-78-2

MARKINGS - There is no "one true design" for the Gundam, and the various designs for decals on model kits or paintings of the RX-78-2 show this well.

NOSE - While the original design of the head is variable in its design (especially around the faceplate, which could either have a flat top or a jagged top), a good amount of the illustrations show that the red section under the eyes was intended to be in the shape of a nose and upper cheeks. This is similar to other giant robots of the era, like Mazinger Z or Zambot 3.

VENTS - Some depictions of the RX-78-2 have extruded yellow frames around the chest vents instead of vents directly inset in the chest. While this is a design trait that the later RX-178 Gundam Mk-II has featured since its first appearance, the RX-78-2 wouldn't be depicted with them until its first Master Grade model kit in 1995. Now, this look is part of the variable design "canon", and appears on some iterations of the RX-78-2 like the Ver. Ka or the Gundam: The Origin design.

YELLOW V-FIN/ANTENNA - The RX-78-2 is occasionally depicted with the crest on its head in yellow instead of white, especially in early merchandise of the show. This may have been because early giant robot toys used softer, rubbery material for pointy design elements, and that material only came in a yellow color. On the RX-78-2, this yellow coloration is also used in the Gundam: The Origin manga, alongside a green camera at the top of the head and eyes that often glow pink.

JOINTS - In 1979, mechanical design wasn't as rigorous as it would eventually become. An early robot anime to consider a properly articulated inner frame was Heavy Metal L-Gaim, with Mamoru Nagano as the mechanical designer. He and other artists began bringing a more realized sense of design to robot anime. Nagano did some of the mobile suit designs for Zeta Gundam and Gundam ZZ. The evolution of manufacturing for plastic models and toys likely also had an impact on the design of the RX-78-2's joints.

HANDS - In the original Mobile Suit Gundam, all hands on mobile suits had a rounder, smooth look to them. Nowadays, E.F.S.F. mobile suits are depicted with more rectangular fingers and palms, with Zeon mobile suits having more round elements on their hand designs.

SKIRT - Modern depictions of Gundams nearly all have sectioned skirts meant for free articulation of the legs. However, the original design had the pelvis as one solid piece. Some modern iterations of the design use a solid pelvis in explicit reference to the original look, like the G40 or the Gundam from the other side in GQuuuuuuX.