HGUC Zeong

Who needs legs in space?

I guess that must be the principle behind the creation of MSN-02 Zeong, the legless MS/MA in Gundam UC0079. MS refers to mobile suits, robots with humanoid body parts and mobility. So Gundam, GM, Zakus etc are all considered as MS. On the other hand, anything without humanoid body parts and mobility is considered as MA (really, it’s as simple as that). So, Byg Zam, Ball, and this Zeong are considered as MA.

Well, that’s all for today’s MS/MA differentiation class. The main idea is to introduce you to this nifty model of mine – HGUC 1-144 Scale Zeong. Some background on Zeong first: Zeong, initially can be considered as the ultimate manifestation of Zeon’s ambition in creating a perfect MS. The development of Zeong halted when the Federation turned the tide of the war and marched against the stronghold of Zeon in space. For the sake of defending a losing home ground, Zeong was rolled out before the legs and the arm armor can be finished.

Armed with particle beam cannons in the ten fingers, torso and head, this fella is packed with the firepower of a couple battle cruisers. However, the deadliest weapon of Zeong is the pilot. Assigned to ace pilot Chat Aznable who is a Newtype with excellent reflect and incredible preemptive abilities, there is no match for the Federation’s MS against Zeong, until Char meets his archenemy Amuro Ray, the pilot of Gundam RX-78-2, who is also a Newtype. Both of them have their duel at the very end of the war, which ended in Amuro destroying Zeong but with the Gundam’s head blown away by Zeong head cannon.

Now on the model. If my old man’s memory is correct, I bought this model around a year ago. The design of the model is quite good. The notable part being the skirt armor, which was molded as a single piece. Looks like a small love-shape bowl when holding it. Unfortunately, there is not much mobility in this model. The main action is from the individually-movable fingers. The body can be moved to pose in a looking upward position, and with the display stand given, can make up some pose on your table. The arms are detachable as seen in the anime, but too bad the weight of the arms is too much for the wire to hold. Hey, this is not zero-gravity space anyway.

If you’re interested, check out the Master Grade version, as well as the Perfect Zeong, aka Zeong with legs, a character which appears only in comics.