Here are the Gundam’s arms. They’re smaller than I imagined, and are so basic in shape that there isn’t much in the way of panel lining to be done. I did have a lot of trouble getting the gold foil decals onto the joints. There are supposed to be four per arm, but I only ended up using two, and they’re already starting to look awful. I have a gold Sharpie marker lying around, and I’m tempted to test it on one of the decals to see it it would make them look better.
The arms also led to the first time this build in which I’ve put a piece on the wrong way. The the two white pieces positioned at the wrist are not swappable. They have to be placed on a specific side of the arm, or neither piece will stay flush as they curve up toward the elbow. I had to carefully remove both of them before switching them around. Thankfully I didn’t break anything along the way, but one of them is bent outward just a bit. In the grand scheme of things it is essentially unnoticeable.
I found it curious how the shoulder armor is set. You have to thread the upper joint of the arm through the shoulder piece before attaching the arm to the torso, as if placing a screw through a washer before screwing into the wall. In contrast, the Zaku’s shoulder decorations are bolted straight on, and can easily be removed.
Lastly, I want to discuss the model’s hands. Take a close look at this photo:
There are two things to notice. First, check out the small, rectangular hole in the palm of the hand. Next, the small, rectangular piece jutting out from the grip of the gun. As you might guess, they fit together like a lock and key, which keeps the weapon in the Gundam’s hands no matter what pose you put it in. This was a huge revelation for me. I had so many troubles keeping the Zaku’s rifle from falling out of its hands. The pose I have it in now is the only one I could get to work, and it has stayed that way since I put it on the desk. I just checked whether its hands have the same feature, and sure enough, they do. I simply missed it the first time around. Embarassed? Sure. Relieved? Absolutely. I feel like I have so much more freedom to position both models how I see fit.
There’s only one piece of the puzzle left, and it just so happens to be the most important. We’re approaching the penultimate entry in Gunpla Chronicles 2.