Seig Zeon!

Hello and a very Good day to all our readers here! I’m back with another review on the kit that I Unboxed a few weeks back, the MS-06S Zaku II Char Aznable (MG) Ver.2.0! It has been a tough week trying to review this while being sick and while still not to fall in love with this kit too much, haha.

Yes, one can fall in love with a piece of plastic, but with this, I really do have a damn good reason to do so!

As you all can already tell, I seriously have fallen in love with this kit. But before we get to the important bits…..

Let’s us first start with the history lessons first!

History and development of the MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type

3 times faster than your standard Mobile Suit

This was the famous tagline that was associated with this awesome mobile suit. A suit that really has earned its fame through one Pilot. It was a suit that really managed to strike fear into the enemy and its sight in the battlefield along gives hope and increases the morale of the friendlies during the battle of Loum. This was the suit that helped this pilot to earn the title ‘the red comet’.

Who is this awesome pilot you may ask? Well, it’s no other than the Legendary pilot Char Aznable and this is the story of the Zaku II that he piloted during the first stages of the One Year War.

The MS-06S Zaku II was introduced at the start of the One Year War at the same time as the MS-06F Zaku II.The S version of this unit was for all intents and purposes was to be the commander version of the workhorse Zaku II units, this version of the Zaku II was produced as a slightly improved version over the F versions (the main grunt units) but in the end the chaps in the Zeonic Company ended up building the most powerful Mobile suit and one that the Federation had no answer for.

The improvements that were made in making this happen is by upgrading the standard powerplant that the Zaku II has, in which the S version was given a much more powerful powerplant, in turn, gave the S version a much more powerful thrust and acceleration. With that modification given to the S version, in the tests conducted it was shown that the S version was 3 times faster than the standard F version and as well a much more maneuverable mobile suit as compared to the standard units. Though it was given a more powerful powerplant, that is the only modifications that were made on this units. Fortunately, it still shares the same components and parts as the F version of this mobile suit so, in terms of maintenance in most parts, it wasn’t an issue.

Unfortunately, however, with all that power, the one thing that it wasn’t given is a bigger fuel tanks (it still shares the same fuel tanks as the F version) to compensate with the power that it was given, in turn that resulted in it having a shorter operation time as compared to the F versions, but as proven in combat even with the shorter operating time, it was shown to be a very formidable units and at some points in the right hands, it manages to perform a lot better than expected.

This is proven in some accounts through some of Zeons ace pilots. In their hands, these ace pilots are where these suits were most effective, one of the most famous ones is piloted by the legendary Char Aznable. During the battle of Loum he manages to sink 5 Magellan class Battleships using his custom red colored S version of the Zaku II, due to this he earns the title the red comet and it was both feared and respected by both friends and foes alike. He as well is one of the pilots that can really manage to increase the operating time of the S version due to his piloting skills, and the only pilot in the principality of Zeon as well that really make use of the terrain and debris to further increase the speed and acceleration of the S version to even greater heights.

Though the F and the S models were enjoying impressive successes during the first half of the One Year War, their superiority would end with the introduction of the Federation RX series mobile suit, namely by the hands of the Gundam. The Gundam would help reveal the many shortcomings of the Zaku II that managed to render even the most powerful S variant to be obsolete. Due to this up until the end of the war, The Zeons would try to replicate and to build more powerful suits, but it was proven to be far far too late as The federation, with the power of mass production on their side. Manages to outproduce the Zeons in a very short period of time.

Only 100 of the S variants were produced from the start and until the end of the One Year War.

The Review

With the history lessons out of the way, let’s finally talk about this awesome kit. Also before I start I do want to apologize for the lateness of this review, I was taking some time to formulate my thoughts and making sure that I cover everything that I wanted to talk about. So I am taking it really slow with this review. I do hope you guys understand and without further ado, let’s get into it!

Honestly, I really can’t remember when is the last time I had so much fun with a kit, a kit that made me think of it when every time I went out, the kit that made me dream of it when I sleep, a kit that made me want to keep working on it. The only times that this has happened to me is when I pick up the nippers for the first time, when I made my first MG kit and when I picked both the MS-06S Zaku II 2.0 and the RX-78-02 Gundam 2.0 for the first time.

Now, the MS-06S Zaku II made me remember this feeling, it made me think of those good times and in a way it made me feel so much younger. It made me feel like a kid again.

Let me first talk about the kit. This is by far the most detailed MG kit that I have made this year, that is more detailed than, I dare say the (MG) Nu-Gundam Ver.K.A (one of the best kits I’ve built earlier this year). The details on this 10-year-old kit are amazing, you have fine details on the cockpit area (which is the only MG kit where you can flip the sides that you fancy, I shit you not), the head, the arm unit was so much fun to make but really the best part of all the leg unit, it is so good that Bandai puts this as the last part for you to make, because Bandai knows we all have foot fetishes. All I can say that all of the parts are so detailed that you can rip the armor up and just display the kit with the inner frame only and it would still look glorious.

With all that details given it does make the kit a very hard kit to build, it really is one of those kits where you must just take your time with it and not rush it through. I admit, during the process of building this, I kept finding myself fucking up and going back to retrace what I did wrong due to me getting too far ahead of myself and making some fucking dumb mistakes. Thankfully it is not bad enough to ruin the kit. Thankfully so.

Though in some sense, seeing how I fucked things up here it is in a way works as a testament to this MG kits greatness, this is one of the kits that I worked on this year (besides the Nu-Gundam Ver.K.A) that really made me feel excited and fall head over heels over. It was really a feeling that I missed with the newer kits.

I really had trouble finding issues finding faults with this kit and the only niggle that I could find with this is there is some extra plastic on one of the parts that I was building before, but it wasn’t something that I find annoying or it’s not so bad that it affected the overall feel. It was more of an annoyance than an issue if I have to be honest.

Oh yeah, building the Weapons. Though building them was fun, there were a few things that I was annoyed with. Especially for where the nubs are placed, though I do admit you can get rid of them annoying things, with some sanding and some paint skills. So again, not a big issue still.

Though you may remember towards the end of my Unboxing and first impression post I did mention on how I expected this to be more less the same as the MS-06F Zaku II (MG) Ver.2.0. When I reflected back on that, I would say that; YES, it’s almost the same with some minor changes. Nothing that is different here as compared to what you get on the F or J kits (with the different leg sets and for the J having the leg missles thing) but honestly it has been 10 years since I’ve built the Zaku II (MG) Ver.2.0. Back then I was still new to this MG game, now since I’ve more used to building the MG kit. I’ve learned to appreciate the awesomeness of this kit more. Actually, I was more impressed that even 10 years after this it is still as good as I remembered it to be.

In fact, because I’ve learned to appreciate this kit better, it has helped me to fall in love with the Zaku II (MG) Ver.2.0 a lot more now.

Before I conclude this review, I do have to say this; the Zaku II 2.0 is unlike the Rx-78-02 Gundam that needed so many revision, due to the fans complaining about the looks of the Gundam and it not looking as comparable as the Zaku II. The Zaku II (MG) Ver.2.0 is a kit that doesn’t need to be revised. It is already perfect as it is, the looks and the overall build of it. Why do we need a Ver.3.0 for this awesome kit? I think Bandai understood this well when they made the Zaku II 2.0, and that’s why they never revised it.

It’s a shame really that I can’t keep this one due to the nature of it being a commissioned work. But honestly? I don’t mind getting another one and yeah that is so going to be the plan.

That is how good this kit is to build. Would I recommend it? Hell, yes I would, everybody should get one and build the Zaku II (MG) Ver.2.0. Doesn’t matter what version you get, any versions of this kit would do as long it’s the Ver.2.0 series. It is really a kit that is worth building indeed.

Now it makes me want to get the RG version of this kit and the Origins HG kit.

Now we have come to the end of my the review of the MS-06S Zaku II Char Aznable Custom (MG) 2.0, what do you guys think of this kit and the review in that manner? I do want to hear your opinions on this kit. As well share your own experiences here we would love to read it! Anyways that’s all for today, we shall be back with another post this coming Wednesday. We do look forward to seeing you again then! May you guys have an awesome time building kits and have an awesome weekend ahead as well!

Ciao!