MG Zaku II F2 Zeon Colors

The Zaku II is the original bad guy mobile suit, and is actually the first mobile suit ever shown in a Gundam series. This particular version comes not from the original One Year War timeline, but the 0083: Star Dust Memory OVA. In this series, the Zakus are pretty much obsolete and we see some of them being used as training suits for new federation pilots, which is why we have to stipulate that this is the Zeon version of the suit.

This particular version of the Zaku is designated as the MS-06F-2 Zaku II, a late production model of the backbone of the Zeon forces. It included an upgraded reactor and thicker, yet lighter, armor which allowed for more energy efficiency. This made the suit more maneuverable and allowed it a longer operational window.

When I bought this kit, it was a tough decision for me. I remember talking it over with my roommate and debating which of the many variations of Zaku II model I would get. The particular drawbacks of this model being that it lacked two of the most iconic weapons of the Zaku line of mobile suits: the original Zaku machine gun and the "heat-hawk" axe. Eventually this kit won out because it was one of the more recent releases at the time (2002), and because of its large payout of other weapons. This kit includes a Zaku SMG, a bazooka, a sturmfaust RPG, and two leg mounted missile pods. It also helped ease the pain that I eventually got a zaku machine gun from another kit.

This kit is unspectacular, which is to be expected from a Zaku. It looks beautiful in its way, and every contour of the armor is entirely perfect. It's very stable, but is old enough that it doesn't feature many of the more flexible joints which have since become standard. For example, the shoulder joints pivot up, but can't really pivot forward or backward to help flexibility. He's plenty posable for most ground poses, and really, that's all I want him for.

I guess one of these days I'll pick up a 2.0 Zaku II in Char's colors or perhaps a Johnny Ridden or Shinn Matsunaga, but until then, I am perfectly happy with my F2.