MS-06S Zaku II

The granddaddy of all grunt units in the Gundam universe, this guy is part of the very first gundam show that aired way back in 1979.

Fear not, this gunpla is a 2.0 and was released in 2007.. Meaning it has the bells and whistles of the current generation of gunplas.

- Out of the box build

- Very minor mod (split the fingers)

- Painted (torso and skirt has only topcoat)

- Battle damage (used an x-acto knife.)

- Weathering

- Matte topcoat

This is an S-Type Zaku II, specifically assigned for squad leaders.. Aside from the antenna, this is visually identical to the F-Type Zaku II. It also features a much more powerful Minovsky Reactor, greater thrust and acceleration.

The mobile suit that helped Char Aznable earn his title “The Red Comet”.. It was due to the speed at which he destroyed five of the Earth Federation’s Magellan class battleships at the Battle of Loum during the One-Year War.

Head

Despite the simple appearance the Zaku’s head does feature quite a gimmick, there’s 2 gears inside that let’s the mono eye move when you turn the head of the Zaku. There’s also the antenna that distinguishes this commander type Zaku from the regular ones.

Torso

It has the typical MG gimmick of the hatch opening and you can see a pilot inside (I apologize for the lack of picture but I can’t seem to open the hatch, topcoat made it stiff xD).

The shoulder socket is movable, that itself provides much more articulation for the arms.

Because the commander type has greater thrust and acceleration, this guy has a bigger backpack than the F-type Zaku.. The verniers are also movable.

I must say Bandai went an extra mile here with the details, you can actually see the Minovsky ultra compact fusion reactor. Too bad it gets covered off by the pilot cockpit.

Arms/Hands

Nothing much to say on the arms, they are pretty simple. Also like the rest of the Zaku they are really articulated.

The shield is mounted on the shoulder of the Zaku and there’s the spiked shoulder pads for a much menacing look. Lol

The shield and spiked shoulder pad can be mounted off.. You can also move it around, put it at the back or front of the arm.

Though I wonder why would anyone would like to move the shoulder pad. ^^,

Didn’t put the other decal on the shield and misplaced the Zeon logo on the pad.

Was surprised to see that the fingers has 2 joints which gives it.. *surprise* *surprise* more articulation. Did the simple split finger mod on this one.

P.S. For those guys out there that loves to pose their gunpla with the finger flipping/flicking or doing the middle salute.. Seriously, it doesn’t make you (or the gunpla) look badass or cool, more like stoopid and lame =P

Skirt

The skirt is pretty simple, has those holes that lets you mount the machine gun ammo and/or the heat hawk at either sides or at the back. It also has the rack at the rear that is used for the bazooka.

The skirts are movable and let’s you move the Zaku’s legs with minor hindrance.

Legs/Feet

The legs are really articulated as well, let’s you pose the Zaku in a variety of ways.

Has 5 verniers on each leg and those tubes. Unlike the one on the torso and head, the tubes here has a spring in it and is really flexible.

The feet is separated into two moveable parts, the toes and ankle.. It also has a piston and it ain’t just for show, it actually adds some articulation for the gunpla.

Wish the verniers aren’t made of polycaps which are buried inside, you had to disassemble a bunch of stuff to get it. Wish they made it an external part. Makes life easier for the modelers who add details to the verniers.

Weapons

The Zaku’s weapons are composed of ZMP-50D/120mm machine gun, H&L-SB25K/280mmA-P bazooka and a heat hawk type 5..

There are no gimmicks here that will leave you in awe, though I must say the weapons have no visible seams.. =D

The bazooka’s scope has a movable cover, the ammo drum of the machine gun is removable and even has bullets inside when you open it.

My only complaint is the heat hawk, it’s puny and is constructed as a single piece.. Bandai could have at least made a separate piece for the blade.

Action Poses

Extras

Also included is a 1/100 Char Aznable and a lift.

There’s a regular (no antenna) Zaku head and an alternate antenna.

Verdict

The kit isn’t that hard to assemble.. if you had assembled any 1/100 gunpla before, I’m pretty sure you’ll have no problem with this MG. It’s really well articulated, the details are really nice especially the ones in the inner frames. Only major complaint I have for this gunpla is that the weapons are hard to mount on the pegs in the hands, other than that all the complaints I’ve said in the review were pretty minor and are only about aesthetics.

If you’re into gunpla I’ll definitely recommend this one, well unless you hate ‘non gundam’ mobile suits. The Zaku II 2.0 has a lot of flavors if you dislike this one.. There’s Shin Matsunaga’s, Johnny Ridden’s, F-type, Minelayer, Black Tri Star and J-type.

P.S. Besides from the paintjob this is virtually identical to an ‘out of the box’ Char’s Zaku II 2.0

Zaku II 2.0 WIP 4

Spent the last three days painting the armor (forgot to attach the shield).. Still waiting for the spiky things on the shoulder and the verniers to dry.

Will not be painting the backpack, torso and skirt. Like the colors enough to leave it alone and just apply topcoat.

Also made dents and some chipped armor here and there with an x-acto knife..

Zaku II 2.0 WIP 3

Finished building the whole thing, looks nice but a bit plain.. Will try to put some dents and damage on it next.

And here’s a 1/100 scale Char Aznable..

Not really digging the light red color on this one, almost looks like pink depending on the lighting conditions.. Shown below is the hue which I’ll be painting on it.

The lift that’s included on this kit, I always like it when a gunpla has an extra or two in it.. :3

The weapons looks pretty dull without the decals.. Sucks that the heathawk (axe) is only molded in one piece, might as well paint the blade and the tubes.

Zaku II 2.0 WIP 2

Here’s what I’ve built so far.. All that’s left are the hands, leg armor (left leg) and the weapons. Also doing some very minor battle damage on this one, weathering too and matte topcoat..

The lighting in the pictures turned out to be a bit dark, this actually looks more pinkish than the light red you’re seeing. Edited the lighting..

The Zaku wondering why the hell would someone build the whole upper body without the hands.. Lol

A view of the unfinished leg.. This kit actually looks good even without armor, gives you a  mechanical look of sorts.

The shoulder pad and the shield movement feels kind of flimsy, the skirts also.. Though it could be easily fixed with a coating or two of some topcoat (on the joints). And finally some interaction with my previous gunpla, the Mk-II

Zaku II 2.0 WIP 1

I promised myself to keep a work log for every gunpla kit I made (starting with the Zaku II).

First non gundam kit I’ve built, it does feel refreshing.. I’m amazed at how well the inner frame is designed, so much details and everything is like clockwork (will do a post about the inner frame after I finish building everything).

I had a hard time on the tubes, it’s so freaking hard to remove them from the frames (my thumb and index finger is kind of sore right now XD).

Glad that bandai included a two head (tops) and two antennas, you could choose whether you want a commander type or a regular one..

I’m pretty amazed that the mono eye moves when you turn the head of the Zaku.

They did a very good job on eliminating the seam lines from the torso’s armor, there’s none at all.. And the little/subtle details really brings out the depth of the model.

Gotta love the Minovsky ultra compact fusion reactor (though it’s gonna get covered).. :3

And that’s about it.. Btw this is just an OOB build still planning if I should do some minor battle damage (will surely do weathering on this), the tubes on the waist already has a matte topcoat.

P.S. Will updated the pictures tomorrow..