You know, in all my years doing this hobby, I don’t think I’ve ever built a mobile suit from ZZ Gundam. Let’s change that!
I can’t not quote Gundam Youtuber Kakarot197 here - it’s time to build the Always Bulky Zaku III.
Oh, and a disclaimer:
Spoiler Preface!!!
This post contains some mild spoilers for the final episodes of ZZ Gundam. You may want to skip it if you haven’t watched the show.
About the Zaku III
As the name implies, the Zaku III Custom is a customized version of the standard Zaku III. So let’s talk about that one first.
Here is what the Gundam Wiki has to say:
A descendant of the Zaku series of mobile suits, the Zaku III was designed to be highly versatile, being able to perform just about any mission role and many option parts were developed for it. The Zaku III is a big step up from the venerable MS-06 Zaku II, possessing better armor, over twice the power output, three times the sensor range, and four times the thruster acceleration, not to mention the various new beam weapons it wielded. Its backpack is equipped with integrated propellant tanks and flexible vernier thrusters, improving its cruising range and mobility.
...
As the First Neo Zeon War raged on, the Neo Zeon military continued its development of new and more powerful mobile suits. Two competing designs were produced as potential new mass-production front-line units: the AMX-011 Zaku III and the AMX-014 Döven Wolf. The intention of the Zaku III's design was that it would be a new descendant of the old Principality of Zeon's venerable (and highly versatile) MS-06 Zaku II lines. The Zaku III featured a modular construction design, enabling armor, the backpack, and other components to be changed out and customized depending on the mission. Despite its high performance and versatility, however, the Zaku III design lost out to the more powerful Döven Wolf. As a result, the Zaku III saw only limited production.
It’s kind of tragic to think that a new Zaku would somehow not become the standard bearer for Zeon forces, but the thing you have to keep in mind is that the various Neo Zeon movements - and there are many - are all bastardized versions of the original, run by leaders who have their own agendas and ideologies.
And then when you further consider the fact that the exterior design of most mobile suits is largely cosmetic (meaning there was nothing stopping them from making the Doven Wolf look more Zaku-like if they wanted to), one can safely assume that the visual identity of Old Zeon doesn’t mean all that much to these new demagogues.
Now let’s look at what the wiki has to say about the Zaku III Custom:
The Zaku III Custom is essentially the basic, modular AMX-011 Zaku III fitted with various optional parts to enhance its performance.
Mashymre's Zaku III Custom has a new head unit which mounts a pair of vulcan guns instead of the head beam cannon, a different left shoulder armor with hide bomb dispenser, a new backpack with larger propellant tanks and high output verniers, a long rear skirt armor with thrusters that also functions as stabilizer, and finally different knee armor.
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Although the AMX-011 Zaku III design lost out to the AMX-014 Döven Wolf as Neo Zeon's new mass-production mobile suit, a limited number of units were produced. These Zaku IIIs proved quite popular with many Neo Zeon officers and ace pilots fighting in the First Neo Zeon War. One Zaku III unit ended up in the hands of Haman Karn loyalist Mashymre Cello, who would employ his customized Zaku III in one of the last battles of the war. Although Mashymre's Zaku III was referred to as the AMX-011S Zaku III Custom, it was actually the basic Zaku III with various optional equipment for performance enhancement.
Weapons and Stuff
Unlike its predecessors, the Zaku III actually has beam sabers and other beam weaponry. Perhaps the suit’s most notable gimmick is the fact that it’s beam sabers are stored in its front skirt armor, and when docked there, they can be used as a pair of beam cannons:
Granted, it looks a bit awkward when in use.
Also notable is the fact that the standard model has yet another beam cannon built into its face snout of all places. That might seem weird at first glance, but it kind of makes sense. It would be weird if a Neo Zeon mobile suit didn’t try and cram secret beam cannons into every possible nook and cranny!
(As for why the Zaku III Custom replaces the snout cannon with a pair of head vulcans, I have no clue. That seems like a downgrade, though perhaps the vulcans work better in close combat)
A few more observations:
- The standard Zaku III reuses the Beam Rifle from the R-Jarja. The implication seems to be that Neo Zeon was desperate for new models, and couldn’t wait to finish development of the Zaku’s custom tailored firearm before deploying the MS to the field. However, it appears that the rifle was ready to go by the time the Zaku III Custom rolled out late in the First Neo Zeon War.
- The fact that the Zaku III Custom has all sorts of extra thrusters - as well as a much different rear skirt armor - is a testament to its modular design. Apparently this stuff was all plug-and-play.
Visual Differences
There are a surprising number of visual differences between the two models, beyond the fact that they have different color schemes. Though not exhaustive, here is a list of things I’ve noticed:
- As stated in the Wiki, he Custom has a different left shoulder armor, with that long bomb dispenser coming off it.
- They have different antenna fins on the front of the head.
- The standard model has two additional antennas on each side of the head, while the Custom swaps this out for a single extra antenna in the back.
- They have entirely different backpacks.
- The rear skirt armor on the Custom is much larger and more ornate.
- There are yellow markings on the foot of the Custom which are replaced by slightly different (and non-colored) markings on the standard model.
- The custom has entirely different knee armor.
There’s a part of me that prefers the overall look of the standard Zaku III. It’s a lot less fancy, and I appreciate the sense of practicality that that brings to it. And while the color scheme is non-traditional, it looks clean (and again, it makes sense that Neo Zeon would eschew tradition).
On the other hand, that classic green color scheme of the Custom just feels right. And while that huge rear skirt looks kind of ugly and ostentatious, that actually feels more in line with the sensibilities of the Neo Zeon movements, all of which tend to make their mobile suits look more ornate than they need to.
So I guess I’m split on which one I prefer, which means I’ll probably end up having both of them in the collection sooner or later (this just happened to be the one I found first).
Appearances in Media
The Zaku III Custom doesn’t appear until near the very end of ZZ Gundam. It first shows up inside one of the Neo Zeon colonies, where it tries (and completely fails) to stop the Gundam Team from escaping after a daring stupid infiltration mission:
The next time we see it is during the final battle. Goofball-turned-tragic-victim Mashymre - now turned into a psychotic Cyber Newtype - sortie in the Custom in order to defend Haman Karn from the traitors who were trying to launch a rebellion from within Neo Zeon.
With his Cyber Newtype powers dialed up 11, Mashymre starts off on a tear, going so far as to bum rush the Queen Mansa and slash it with its Beam Saber:
It takes chase to finish the job, but soon four Doven Wolfs gang up on it, tying it up in hopes of finishing it off:
Mashymre manages to go on one last berserker rage, crushing one Doven Wolf with his Zaku’s bare hands:
And then ultimately self destructing before in a flurry of Newtype energy:
I’ll say this - there are lots of other mobile suits that make less use of their limited screen time than this one. And technically speaking, the fact that managed to put up any sort of fight in a four-on-one gang up is impressive. But I still think the Zaku III Custom could have, and should have, been given more moments to shine. If not in this final battle, then perhaps in some earlier ones.
Not to go on too far of a tangent, but this is arguably one of the problems with ZZ Gundam. Prior to their civil war, Neo Zeon almost exclusively fights the Argama and its complement of Gundam-type mobile suits. And since those suits can’t and won’t go down easily, the Neo Zeon MS never have any mooks (or non-Gundam aces) to take out in order to make them look strong. A lot of them look cool, but never get to do anything cool to do.
And this is coming from someone who regularly complains about how Zeon forces are meant to look overly strong against their enemies! You know it’s bad when I of all people start to complain.
About the Model Kit
I’ve built some pretty old kits from the HGUC line, but this is now the new record holder. The High Grade Zaku III Custom is HGUC #3. 3!. It’s so old it’s technically from last century, having been released in 1999.
As such, it’s got all the foibles one would expect from an old kit - poor articulation, poor color accuracy, and a seemingly endless amount of seamlines. But I also know from past experience that with enough elbow grease, these old kits can still look pretty great, and I’m hoping that’s the case with this one.
Other Thoughts
At times I find it hard to remember that the Zaku III was originally meant to be a mass production mobile suit. Partly because not that many of them were built, partly because it is always pitted against powerful opponents, and partly because both versions of the mecha are so large and bulky and imposing that they look more like a “final boss”-type of MS than a grunt.
But we have to remember that this is just the way mobile suits were being designed at this point in the Universal Century. Most of them were getting bigger, and they were all getting more heavily armed. Even the Earth Federation decided that its new grunt model needed extra grenade racks built into its skirt armor, and misisles built into its shield:
