He's smokin' entry plug, he's on that LCL.
He's got 4 knives
Stupid sexy Eva
*sort of, not a gundam but it's a kit by bandai so... 
As someone coming at this from 40k, honestly pretty impressed with the kit. All snap-fit, with full articulation? Multi-colored sprues? Hell yeah, let's go. Really need some finer grade sandpaper; I had to make do with just a glass file which is a bit too block for some parts (and doesn't work at all for the metallic parts because it makes them way too shiny).
Only a couple things went wrong during building. The right metallic pectoral cover is loose for some unknown reason (I may have filed down a ball-joint too much?), and the left purple bicep cover doesn't rotate which means the rest of the arm likes to pop off if I'm not careful. There's a noticeable gap on the fingers in the left hand on the first image, and I don't know why since there were no sprue connections ono the surfaces that connect to each other.
Might put on some more of the stickers but the one on the entry plug is already peeling so idk it might be wasted effort. Also the kit came with two spare knuckle covers that I don't see a use for in the instructions.
Full kit name is "RG ARTIFICIAL HUMAN EVANGELION UNIT-01"
Nice ~~robot~~ ~~mother~~ robot!
Bandai RG and MG plamo stuff is something else! Part of me wants to get into model planes/normal people hobby modeling, but I feel so spoiled by fancy Bandai kits that it seems like a big jump. Working on some miniature modeling to see if I even like the painting part, first.
I usually skip sanding on the ball joints from Bandai kits (just nipper cut and clean it up with a hobby knife). Shit, I slack on most of the parts that I can't see lol
Haha yeah some of the scale model kits I've seen look pretty good but a lot aren't great, and most borderline require painting. I guess you just have to do research into what manufacturers and kits have good reputations.
I may not be able to see it but I'll know it was there! (Also it wasn't turning before I sanded it lol) The good news is that apparently that part of the kit is just bad because I've seen a lot of people complaining, so it wasn't actually a mistake at all!
From your OP:
Maybe try decal adhesive/softener for the waterslide (I assume) stickers?
Most of the stuff I'd want is old Soviet piston aircraft, so I think most of those are only available in dodgy/older models. Might be fun/cheap, but I definitely want to develop some painting skills first lol. Maybe I could freehand a VVS livery on a Hawker Hurricane or a P-40
They're actually just plain old adhesive stickers which are... not great. Apparently waterslides are only made by third party companies and tbh I can't be asked to do the research into that (plus I've already spent enough money this year lol).
Oof, well, good luck! At least the camo schemes don't look too bad, could probably do the ol' silly putty masking trick.