Gunpla Build: High Grade Zaku II F2 (Part 3)

We’re so close to knocking this one out, but we have a whole bunch of accessories to get through.

Arms

These were both straightforward. I can’t really think of anything obviously different from other Zaku builds:

I like that the shield has no holes in it for attaching missile packs and other accessories. It’s just nice to have one that looks “normal” and smooth.

That’s it for body parts, but we have a ton of weapons to knock out.

Grenades

Simple. One piece. A little bit of weathering compound and we’re good to go:

It clips on to a hole in the right skirt armor:

Missile Pods

I forgot to take a photo of the parts layout, but there are three simple pieces - the ankle brace, the front, and the back.

This required some careful painting to the get the missile tips red (without getting it on the missile pod itself).

Assembly is weird, in that you don’t put it together first. instead, you put the brace around the ankle, and then attach the two halves of the pod.

The only problem is that there was an R2-D2 level of stiffness and resistance between the clamps and the pod. I had to use a screwdriver to push it all the way in, and once I did, well, I wasn’t able to get it back out. Believe me, I tried, and this happened:

The good news is that due to the way it broke (and due to the natural resistance of the clamp), I can still attach the pod, and it stays in place:

I like these missile pods a lot. It makes a Zaku look that much more menacing, and it is such an “elegant” was of adding some extra ordinance without overencumbering it.

Machine Gun (original)

I could put one of these together in my sleep:

But what’s this? This doesn’t quite look the same:

Let’s compare to an original original Zaku gun:

The original looks like a real rifle that’s been given some swoopy curves to make it look more sci-fi. The F2’s version ditches the swoopiness, and flat out looks like a real gun.

In fact, if you ditch the scope and the ammo drum, it almost looks like an M4:

Machine Gun (Zaku II Kai version)

A simple, three piece build, but it looks so great:

It’s feels both big and chunky, as well as sleek and compact at the same time:

Heat Hawk

The instructions show this as being painted (partially) tan. It’s a great look, but it requires a lot of care and patience to get it right. This is the best I could do:

Finished!

And with that, here is the Zaku II F2:

And again with its entire loadout:

Normally, this is when I would wrap things up, and leave the poses and articulation tests for a final post. But sadly that won’t be necessary here. As we will soon see, this is a model kit that sacrificed articulation for visual fidelity. There simply isn’t much we can do with this one, so we’re just going to knock it all out right here, right now.

Visual Assessment

It looks fantastic. There are no glaring mistakes, and the color scheme is as good as I expected it to be.

I’m starting to think that I actually prefer Zakus that have less surface level detail. Both this and the Zaku II Revive look so clean and simple. Add a bit of color separation or shading, and the basic design really just stands out on its own.

Articulation

Now we get to the problem - the articulation on this model is severely restricted.

The root issue lies in the torso. Take a look here:

On the Zaku Revive (as well as most other models), the cabling around the waist only runs along the upper torso. That means it doesn’t get in the way of the torso’s rotation.

But on the F2, the cabling attaches to the lower torso in the front, and the upper torso in the back. It basically ties them to one another, and that means the upper torso can only move so far before one or the other cable tries to pull it back (or breaks, whichever comes first).

But it doesn’t stop there. The cabling also attaches low enough down on the lower torso that it gets in the way of the front skirt armor. It can barely lift up, and that means it in turn gets in the way of the legs:

This is the closest I can get it to a kneeling pose, though I had to hold it in place:

I guess this side leg lift is okay:

The bad news continues elsewhere. This is the best bend you can get from the elbow:

And this is the best arm lift:

The head is so close to the body that, well, you get the picture:

Here’s the thing - I don’t think the flaw is with the model kit perse, but rather the original design of the mobile suit. Look at the illustration again. It’s the same case there. I guess this is a case where the original designer(s) didn’t quite think through the whether their design was functional.

Poses

Even with some bad articulation, the model makes up for it with a hell of a lot of poise:

It even looks surprisingly natural up on an Action Base:

Still, there was only so much I could do before I ran out of interesting poses:

Conclusion

I don’t want to say I am disappointed by this model. It just feels like a bummer that something that looks so cool and so poised is of the “put it on the shelf and leave it be” variety. I love using Zakus as “characters” of sorts in action shots and staged scenes, and I would have loved to have this one in the mix. I would have loved to throw this one into the mix, but alas, it just can’t move enough.

Still, it will look great on that shelf. Not to mention that this was exactly the kind of fun build I needed. It reignited my creative spark, and I’m looking forward to whatever I build next.

So thanks for that Zaku. [Nina Purpleton] was right - you really are a fine machine.

Other Thoughts

My collection of models from Stardust Memory grows:

Okay, so it isn’t much. But I’ve got a lot more where that came from waiting in the backlog.