Thursday, February 14, 2008

PLAMO Review 28: MG Char's Zaku II Ver. 2.0 Part 1

I started working on MG Char's Zaku II Ver. 2.0 almost immediately after finishing on my Strike Freedom. Most of the work on panel-lining was done during the first few days of Chinese New Year, since it was during the holidays, and I could work late until the wee hours of the morning ^^

I bought this MG almost immediately after it was released last year, which happened to be just a month after the first Zaku II Ver. 2.0 as well. Although the content between the two are around 80 percent identical, this is the my first big scale Char's Zaku II, and I love models in red (like Sazabi and Alteisen) as well. So I really don't mind building another Zaku II Ver. 2.0.

Then again, unless Bandai releases Johnny Raiden's High Mobility Type Zaku II Ver. 2.0 , another Zaku II Ver. 2.0 variation is not in my wish list at the moment.

MG_Char_ZakuII_Box01_s MG_Char_ZakuII_Box02_s
The mono-eye camera on the box cover isn't exactly loyal to the model, since the head features combinational movement function, where the eye moves together with the turning of the head. The eye in that position would mean that the head must be turned to the left first.

MG_Char_ZakuII_Pipes_s
The set of conductive pipes for the head, body and legs. It's 'Ouch!' time for your fingers again, to pull out all the rings ^^;

Anyway, as compared to Strike Freedom, MG Char's Zaku II is an easy one for me. Not only were the details easier to panel-line, the experience of building the first Zaku Ver. 2.0 also helped me to be a lot more swifter in all the work.

The different components of this model are explained below:

Arm

MG_Char_ZakuII_Arms_01_s
Parts painted: gold and silver for the hydraulic pipes of the elbow and upper arm (static) and gray for the knuckle (original molded in red together with the armor on the back of the hand).

MG_Char_ZakuII_Arms_02_s MG_Char_ZakuII_Arms_03_s
The painted elbow and upper arm can only be seen in some serious action poses of the model, but it's great to have the details there nonetheless.

MG_Char_ZakuII_Arms_04_s
The arm unit is completely identical to the first Zaku II Ver. 2.0, except for the colors of course.

Leg

MG_Char_ZakuII_Legs_01_s MG_Char_ZakuII_Legs_02_s
Bits and pieces of hydraulic pipes for the feet, all painted in silver. The huge thrusters on the bottom of the feet (new parts for this MG) are painted in red.
The new parts for the Char's Zaku II also include three small thrusters on the back on the legs, and two smaller ones in front. I painted the interior of all of them in red.

MG_Char_ZakuII_Legs_03_s MG_Char_ZakuII_Legs_05_s
New bigger leg armors to accommodate the thrusters and extra fuel tanks (?) of the inner frame. Everything else is the same as MG MS-06J Ver. 2.0.

MG_Char_ZakuII_Legs_04_s MG_Char_ZakuII_Legs_06_s
No worry, the extra parts do not deter the articulation of the legs one bit ^^

Body

MG_Char_ZakuII_Body_01_s MG_Char_ZakuII_Body_03_s
Gold and silver for the static hydraulic pipes of the abdomen. The body unit is also completely identical to that of MG MS-06J Ver. 2.0.

MG_Char_ZakuII_Body_02_s MG_Char_ZakuII_Body_04_s
The backpack is completely new, which is twice the size of that on MG MS-06J Ver. 2.0. Like the thrusters on the bottom of its legs, I painted the interior of the rocket thrusters in red as well.

Pilot figures

MG_Char_ZakuII_Pilot_01_s MG_Char_ZakuII_Pilot_02_s
The pilot figures of Char is probably my best painted 1/100 figures so far ^o^
I had to slice off the white paint initially painted on the bottom of Char's boots so that he can stand properly ^^;

Crane

MG_Char_ZakuII_Crane_01_s
The crane is purely for decorative purpose only ^^; Plenty of parts to paint as well, which are all optional of course.

MG_Char_ZakuII_Crane_02_s
There are a total of four static hydraulic pipes within the handles of the crane not to be missed.

MG_Char_ZakuII_Crane_03_s MG_Char_ZakuII_Crane_04_s
MG_Char_ZakuII_Crane_05_s
As mentioned, the crane is just for decoration. And if you're thinking of using the crane to hold the weapons, you can forget the idea ^^; I tried that before, the handle of the crane is strong enough to lift up the Heat Hawk only -_-|||

Head

MG_Char_ZakuII_Head_01_s MG_Char_ZakuII_Head_02_s
The head is also completely identical to that of MG MS-06J Ver. 2.0. I painted silver on the interior of the eye, so that when it's fitted with the red clear part of the camera, there will be a bit of limited shining effect ^_^

MG_Char_ZakuII_Head_03_s
The 'bold' helmet is included actually, which will allow you to assemble Char's Zaku II without his commander antenna XD

Weapons

MG_Char_ZakuII_Weapon_s
The 3-tube Missile Launcher is pawned for the crane, so there are only three weapons in Char's Zaku II's armament list XD

Completed

MG_Char_ZakuII_Completed_01_s MG_Char_ZakuII_Completed_02_s
My completed MG Char's Zaku II Ver. 2.0 ^_^

Watch out for Part 2: Action poses and Part 3: Comparison with MG MS-06J Ver. 2.0 coming soon ^^