Alright, let’s see what kind of spread we get for this $33 kit:
In terms of sheer runner count, this is actually one fewer than the ZII which, as I mentioned before, is an extremely comparable build.
However, one of the ZII’s runners is dedicated almost entirely to its massive rifle, and some of the Zeta Plus’ runners are quite big, so let’s just call it (close to) even.
Detailing and Coloring
As you can clearly see in the photo, the Zeta Plus is oppressively grey. This is intentional, as it is (allegedly) intended to invoke the look and feel of a real life fighter jet, but that doesn’t mean you have to like it.
Indeed, I’ve seen a number of builds that opted for custom paint jobs (all of which looked quite good I might add), but that’s not what I’m interested in. Rather, I want to see if my usual approach of “plussing up” - adding panel lines, extra color correction, a bit of weathering, and in the case of this particular build, some custom decals - will do enough to really enhance the look and make it stand out.
Usually this approach works great, but I rarely work on builds that are this oppressively monochrome. We’ll see how it goes.
Beam Sabers
The beam saber handles are typical “late Universal Century” style, a rectangular looking stick rather than a round tube. I think they look slick (not to mention they look much less obviously like a lightsaber).
Even better, however, are the beam effect parts. Look at that gorgeous light blue. Why can’t more mobile suits use colors like this?
Beam Rifle
This isn’t 100% exactly the same beam rifle used by the original Zeta Gundam, but it’s basically the same. And despite being a High Grade, it’s got a lot of nice detail.
Of course, being a High Grade, it also means that out of the box the entire thing is monochrome. All the color you see here - the white, the dark grey, the red, and all the metallic highlights - had to be painted on.
The silver lining to all this is that, due to the gun’s flat shape, it’s actually pretty easy to paint.
Shield
The shield is made out of two large sections that fasten together; initially I assumed that this was because they had to be taken apart for the transformation gimmick, but no, that’s just the way it assembles.
In terms of color accuracy, the shield doesn’t require any painting, though it does use three red stickers (which is a good chunk of the overall sticker sheet).
In terms of cleanup, there’s a minor seamline running down the side of the nose, though it’s not super noticeable.
Feet
Due to the transformation gimmick, the feet have a nice little toe bend:
Also, this is one of the only bits of color on the body of the Zeta Plus, so soak it in and enjoy it.
Looking at the underside, I tried to paint some of the surface details in a different blue hue, but it didn’t come out looking all that great. You can barely notice it.
Legs
As you can tell from this cross section, there’s quite a lot going on here:
The joints are designed to allow the leg to swing back for the transformation, as all good Zeta designs should:
Now let’s talk about cleanup and painting. You might think there are some nasty looking seamlines on the legs, but they’re not. They’re panel lines. Don’t try sanding them down, or you’re only going to make things worse.
For example, you might end up like me, who tries using some cement to close the seam, only for the cement to seep through the gap in the plastic and into the inner frame, fusing the knee joint to the leg armor. I had to force it apart, and while it thankfully didn’t break, it did cause some cosmetic damage that I had to touch up with paint:
Well, I guess there technically are some seams, two tiny ones on the inside of the leg:
I tried cleaning them up, but it was simply too small a space to work in.
Now let’s talk color correction. There are a bunch of thrusters and related vents running on each side of the leg. The good news is that they’re pretty easy to work on. On the inside of the leg, you’ve got three of them that are all nice (relatively) big rectangles, so it’s pretty simple to fill them in without worrying about paint bleeding out or overflowing.
On the outside of the leg, you’ve got the classic Zeta-style trapezoidal thrusters. This is where we get a bit of clever assembly - there’s enough parts separation here that you can just paint this whole inner section:
And then slap on the white outer cap, and you’re done:
That’s as perfect a thruster as you’re going to get.
Now let’s talk decals. The kit comes with a super unique, hyper specific marking, consisting of the classic Zeta logo alongside the word “Plus”:
The instructions give no clue as to where you’re supposed to use these stickers, which is the second time that’s happened to me recently. Thankfully I found the answer in, of all places, the lineart, which shows that they go on the ankle guard of all places.
In addition I added some additional decals from an sheet of waterslides I have lying around:
I set them vertically so that they would look horizontal when it’s in flight mode. I had to double and triple check to make sure I got the alignment correct so that it wouldn’t instead look upside down.
Anyway, here’s what we wind up with in the end:
Lower Torso
The Zeta Plus’ side skirts are literally guns, and while you may not be able to tell from the photo above, they’re not color accurate out of the box. They’re supposed to be a little more dark grey. Like this:
Other than that, there’s not much else to say about the lower torso. It’s a pretty simple assembly.
Upper Torso
I noted when building the Zeta Ver. Ka that its chest is supposed to have a sharp, near-vertical downward slope. The Zeta Plus doesn’t quite go that far, but I think it gets the general idea:
You may notice that it has those little fin things popping out of the top of the chest, which I tried to paint metallic just like they are on the Ver. Ka.
In terms of markings, the kit includes just one sticker for the upper torso. I used a waterslide replacement, but honestly the stickers on this thing look pretty good. You can’t really see the outline against the grey plastic, especially after topcoating.
For color correction, you really only have to worry about the insides of the chest vents. And for seamlines, there are two tiny ones running along the side of the chest (I thought I took a photo of this, but I can’t find it)
Backpack
The Zeta Plus doesn’t so much as have a backpack as it has three separate aircraft wings that strap to its upper torso.
First, the center wing (which really looks more like an airplane’s tail, but whatever):
We get a pleasant shock of yellow here. The kit comes with a sticker for it, but I thought it was a bit too bright compared to how it looks in artwork, so I ended up painting it instead:
We also get some big EFF stickers. Originally I thought I had waterslide replacements for these, but that turned out not to be the case, so the stickers had to go on.
Next we have the two sets of proper wings:
Just like on the leg, I added some extra decals for funsies - and just like on the leg I had to double check to make sure they were going to face the right way when the model was transformed.
One more thing - as you can see, all three of these components are on hinge joints that can at times partially conceal the other areas of the wing. If you topcoat after assembly, those concealed areas aren’t going to be sprayed, and will end up looking like bare plastic. Best to spray down each part individually, and then do assembly.
Arms
The legs are, of course, the most intricate part of the build, but the arms are no slouch. Just look at how many different components they’re made of:
The shoulders in particular are interesting. They’re designed to easily pop off, since only the arm itself is needed for the transformation.
They’re also interesting because the outer wall of each shoulder is on a hinge, like this:
That should allow for some nice range for the shoulder lift.
In terms of color correction, there’s nothing you strictly need to do, though I added a bit of color on the shoulders for good measure.
I also added some more of my own additional decals:
Holding Hands
We get two regular gripping hands and a right trigger finger hand. That’s pretty much par for the course, but as usual I would have liked at least one open palm hand.
Head
This is actually simpler than usual. It doesn’t use a clear part for the eyes, or separate parts for the chin or the face mask. I guess that’s because it’s all one solid color (well, except for the two blue stickers that go on the side of the face)
Still, it looks pretty good and Zeta-y. And the red eyes are just killer.
Partsformation
Similar to other transforming High Grades, we have some parts that are used just for the transformation gimmick.
First up are a rigid version of the shoulders with the flaps extended out:
And then of course we have the big, partsformed version of the torso, upon which we’ll attach a bunch of the other body parts to complete the transformation:
Finished
There are some High Grades where there’s a lot of work to be done, and some where there’s not. There are some where the work is a slog, and others where it is pleasant and breezy.
The Zeta Plus is a case where there was a lot of work, and it was breezy. My only minor complaint is that it between decals, color correction, and panel lines, there were times where it was difficult to keep track of what was done and what was left to do, but if that’s the worst of my problems I’ll gladly take it.
Now, I’d love to put this model in the lightbox and see if all that hard work paid off, but before I do that, I want to introduce you to few accessories that I plan on using with the model. That will be the next post, and then we’ll look at the finished Zeta Plus.