Gunpla Build - High Grade Zeta Plus

Sometimes I get a bug up my ass about a particular model. I’ll be convinced that it’s the coolest thing, and I absolutely need to have it.

In most cases what happens is:

1. I get the kit
2. My interest cools rapidly
3. It takes its place among the Pile of Shame.

Lately I’ve been trying to counteract this behavior by forcing myself to sleep on potential kits for several weeks, or even months. If after that time I still want the kit - and assuming it’s still in stock - then I can go for it. Otherwise, it was simply not meant to be.

This has already saved me from making a few regrettable purchases, but there’s also at least one that I’ve been sleeping on for almost the entire calendar year. In all that time I haven’t lost interest in it, so I finally decided it was time to grab and it go:

So let’s get this done before it lands on the backlog. Let’s build the Zeta Plus as seen from Gundam Unicorn.

History of the Mobile Suit

First off, it’s important to understand that “Zeta Plus” is technically a whole line of mobile suits. This particular Gunpla is modeled off of the Zeta Plus A1, which just so happens to be the first of the line.

Second, it’s worth nothing that (as far as I can tell) the whole Zeta Plus line originated in the Gundam Sentinel photonovel, which features so many variants that they wouldn’t all fit on the page when I tried to take a screenshot of them all:

Many years after the publishing of Gundam Sentinel, they gave the Zeta Plus A1 a (very brief) cameo in Gundam Unicorn, like they did with so many other old and obscure mobile suits. And now here we are.

About the Mobile Suit

Here’s what the Gundam Wiki has to say:

The transformable mobile suit MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam developed by the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG) was originally considered far too complex and expensive for mass production.

But Karaba, the AEUG's terrestrial ally, takes note of the Zeta Gundam's effectiveness and redesigns it to create the mass production type MSK-006 Zeta Plus (later redesignated as the MSZ-006A1). Because this machine is intended exclusively for use in the atmosphere on Earth, its space flight systems and atmospheric entry features are eliminated. However, its cost-performance ratio and flight capabilities are superior to those of the Zeta Gundam.

Instead of the flying armor used by the Zeta Gundam, the Zeta Plus is equipped with variable geometry wing binders similar to those of the MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki. These wing binders improve the flight characteristics of the waverider form, giving it a cruising range of hundreds of kilometers, and in mobile suit form, they can be used for AMBAC maneuvering rather than simply becoming dead weight. The Zeta Plus is also equipped with two beam cannons in the side armor, which are connected directly to its movable frame so that energy supply and fire control can be performed without using the mobile suit's hands.

The “TL:DR” is that the Zeta Plus A1 is a version of the Zeta Gundam that only works on Earth (and in fact was designed to excel at atmospheric combat)

About the Visual Design

While I (unfortunately) have yet to encounter any primary sources to substantiate this claim, I’ve seen a number of people online assert that the look and feel of the entire Zeta Plus line is inspired by real life fighter jets.

But even without a primary source, it’s pretty obvious that there is some merit to the claim, just by looking at some of the artwork:

Now, was this aesthetic a good idea? We’ll talk more about that after the build is complete, but for now I’ll at least say that it has potential.

Color Variant

There is at least one variant of the Zeta Plus that's a lot more colorful than what you see up above. It was originally called the "Demonstration Colors" version or the "Test Colors" version, but it looks like it was later retconned to be a custom color scheme used by Amuro (it is no coincidence that it is the same custom color scheme used on his Rick Dijeh):

Other Zeta Plus Gunpla

The kit I’m about to build is probably the most widely known (and widely printed) Gunpla of the Zeta Plus, but it is not the only one.

One of the earliest - if not the earliest - Zeta Plus models is the Master Grade version of the space-use Zeta Plus C1:

I actually didn’t know this existed until I started doing research for this blog post. And there may be a good reason for that, as from the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like it’s gotten much in the way of reprints over the years¹.

There is also a Master Grade of the A1 in the Amuro Color scheme:

As well as (Premium Bandai exclusive) High Grades of these same two:

There might be even more Zeta Plus kits out there, but these are the ones I know of.

Appearances in Media

In Gundam Unicorn, the Zeta Plus is the companion to the Gustav Karl. I mean that quite literally - two of them show up in the same scene as the Gustav Karl, defending the Earth Federation’s Cheyenne Base before being immediately squashed by Londo Bell Jestas:

In one case, I mean that quite literally:

It doesn’t even get to take off for crying out loud!

Also, according to the Gundam Wiki, it gets another brief cameo in the final episode Build Divers Re:Rise. I’ll take their word for it, because I’m too lazy to scan through my disc to find it.

About the Model Kit

I mentioned this back when I built Moon Gundam, but I find the HG Zeta Plus to be weirdly expensive, costing $32-$35.

For the sake of comparison, that’s a few dollars shy of the Moon Gundam itself, which is a fairly big kit that also includes a full Action Base 5.

It’s also a few dollars more than the High Grade ZII (MSRP approx $30), which is another transformable Zeta variant. If anything you’d expect those to to be the same price - so why instead is the Zeta Plus an extra $3?

The only explanation I can think of is that maybe there’s something extra complex about its transformation gimmick. We’ll find out soon enough.