MG MS-06R-1A Zaku II Black Tristar (Gao Gao)

Let May 2012 be the Month of Zaku! Zeige ZEON! Presenting 017 of Gao Gao, MG Zaku II Black Tristar custom ;)

Manufacturer: Gao Gao/TT Hongli
Scale: 1/100
Grade: MG
Origin: Gundam MSV
Price: RM85 (Those who are interested can contact me)

Please take note that I did minor coloring and panel lining with silver marker so please do not expect that to be pre-colored on your kit ;)




Section 1: Runners

Detailing are very good! I would say it is up to 98% as good compare to the original. The plastics quality is the usual Gao Gao quality which is pretty decent ;)











Section 2: Decals & Accessories

This kit comes with 1 set of dry-sticker (blue background below), 1 set of dry-transfer (white background below), and the usual foil stickers for the mono-eye. The quality of the dry-stickers are very much better compare to the older days, and the dry-transfer is of very good quality :)

As with the rest of Zaku II, there's a pair of springs for the legs' power line :)






Section 3: Skeleton Build

The Legs

Articulations are pretty good for the hips and ankle, but can only be categorised as decent for the knee department due to its design (Bandai's flaw)! This model of Zaku is the high-mobility space-type with massive thruster system on both legs which seriously limits the knee articulation...



The Waist

Pretty straight-forward ;)




Lower Body

Legs + Waist ;)




The Chest

The pull-out mechanism would allow the shoulder joints to be pulled out for more dynamic posing. The abdomen can also be tilted forward at some minor degree for posing ;)




The Head

It is always fun to build the Zaku head with moveable mono-eye ;)




The Arms

Excellent articulations for the arms!



The Left Shoulder

The frame for the spiky shoulder ;)



The Right Shoulder

The mini-shield attached to the right shoulder ;)



The Naked Zaku

Skeleton without the backpack ;) Very good articulations except the knee :P





The Backpack

I love the detailing of this backpack ;) I colored the inner side of the thrusters with metallic red instead :P





Section 4: The Legs

Very solid legs here ;) Detailing is fantastic on the outer armor; it does further hinder the knee articulations when the armor is fully applied but there isn't really a big issue for the space-type.




Section 5: Waist

As with other Zaku II, this waist piece is very nicely done ;) Unfortunately, as a flaw in design (Bandai's fault too), the skirt armors actually hinder the waist and hip movement by a great deal.





Section 6: Chest

Pretty straight forward build ;)





Section 7: Backpack

Pretty straight-forward build too ;)





Section 8: Arms & Shoulders

Fantastic arms! No hindrance of movement when fully armored ;)




Section 9: The Head

Parts separations is very good! The power pipe, by default, is spanning a bit too wide so I trim the front portion for 1 segment each side making the pipe neater ;) Compare with my Char's Zaku head and you'll see the difference :)





Section 10: Weaponry

Well, pretty standard-issued Zaku space-type weaponry ;)



Zaku Machine Gun



Heat Hawk



Giant Bazooka

With exchangeable parts to make it into the normal Bazooka ;)




Section 11: Semi-Completed Mecha

Purposely leaving the left arm and right leg naked :P







Section 12: Photo-Op ;)

After applying some decals ;)










Section 13: Posing with Char's Zaku ;)

Ninja?



Everybody Say "Kung-Fu Fighting" ;)





Section 14: Let's Blow Something Up












Quick Review

Plastic Quality and Detailing

The plastic quality is the usual Gao Gao/TT Hongli quality. The detailing are very nicely done and it comes close to 98% of the original.


Articulations

Articulations are very good!

• Head/Neck: Good!
• Shoulder: Excellent!
• Arm/Elbow: Excellent!
• Wrist: Normal+.
• Hand: Normal+.
• Waist: Normal-.
• Skirt Armour: Normal-.
• Hip/Tight: Excellent (except it is hindered greatly by the skirt).
• Knee: Normal- (due to the massive thrusters).
• Ankle: Normal.
• Feet: Good.

Looks and Feels

The detailing is pretty good and come close to 98% of the original!!! The snap-fit is also very nicely done!

The 2 disappointments are: -

1. The design of the skirt armor which greatly hinders the waist movement and the hip movement for dynamic posing, and
2. The massive leg thruster block greatly hinders the knee articulations

but however, these wasn't issues lay with the bootleg kit but on the original design :P

Overall, this kit is very nice and would be a fantastic replacement for the original if you are tight in budget or wanted to create a massive army of Zaku :P

Still, for those of you who can afford, do buy original ;)


Fin :)