Big thanks to Zarwiain my Reddit Secret Santa Gift exchange match. My goal this year is to finish all three of his gifts before the end of the first quarter of 2015!





Suit Lore





MIP one of civilian companies responsible for creating mobile suits and fighter craft for the Principality of Zeon created the Zogok as a distant offshoot of the Z'gok and shares some similarities in design and capability. Like the Z'gok The Zogok is capable of amphibious operation and was designed primarily as a close combat unit. To fullfill it's role as a close combat weapon Zogok features several pieces of integrated weaponry such as the rocket punch and head mounted boomerang cutters.





This particular Zogok features a borrowed heat sword from the MS-07 Gouf and two Sturm Faust single shot rockets.





Mini Review





I have wanted this HG kit since it was initially released in 2013. It has such a odd and eccentric design and I felt drawn to it. Right out of the box the Zogok looks fantastic, and there are very few seam lines that need to be addressed.





The articulation of the kit is just okay, I found that the design of the arms somewhat limits the poseability of the arms. I personally found it difficult to convincingly aim the Sturm Faust or post the sword in a mid-swing position. One the positive side the Zogok's design kind of lends itself to comical posing like the Acguy or Juaggu.





Despite the very minor issues with the arm poseability I strongly recommend this kit to builders interested in building something a little bit different from the run of the mill Zaku or Gundam. It's a well designed kit with a very cool and different look.





If you're interested in picking up this or other kits consider purchasing through the Amazon links on my site. Every purchase you make helps me out tremendously and doesn't cost you a dime!













Kit Talk





I went with a Z'gok inspired color scheme using blue and greens with a few pops of contrasting orange along the thruster rims and significantly less subtly as the sword blade and tips of the Strum Fausts. I used the white both as a reference to the Z'gok's claws but also because I needed a bright neutral surface for one decal.





I also used masking and freeform painting to keep the grey recessed details between the arm and leg joints. When you bend the knee far enough for example the grey pops up.









The heat sword for this kit comes in two varieties solid and clear; I opted to paint the clear solid with a gradient going from white to red and then topped with a clear orange. The clear plastic is great, because when properly lit some light is still transmitted through the plastic and paint lending a gentle glowing effect.





I added 1 after market part to this kit. It's a translucent pink dome that I inserted into the mono eye. The area behind the dome was painted with silver and clear red giving it slightly more depth.





I decided early on in the project to use the Green Siren unit decal off of the DX-03 decal set. I wasn't sure if the unit canonically used the Zogok but I considered it was a possibility because they used other amphibious mobile suits. I really love the detail that's packed into this tiny decal, bear in mind this decal is somewhere between 1 and 1.5 cm!









Photos













Armed Photos









Detail Photos





The design of this kit makes me want to hunch the kit forward like a gorilla .Go, go gadget arm!It's Goufy time!