This thing here is part of what broke me:
I basically found myself trying to make the Ultimate Build and Breakdown (and Photoshoot) of the High Grade Revive Zeta. It was becoming a whole thing, with multiple posts and over 200 photos. And all of this - all of it - for the stupidest reason imaginable; I saw a bunch of folks on Reddit slagging the Revive Zeta as being a bad kit, and I wanted to prove them wrong.
Just … no. What the hell was I thinking? I’ll grant the usual caveat, that places like r/Gundam and r/Gunpla have some decent folks who are bright and friendly and knowledgeable, just like most subreddits. But it’s also true that the majority of the users are rude, angry, shouty and ignorant. They are only interested in surface level analyses (that they try to pass off as deep), mocking people who disagree with them, and patting each other on the back for being so smart and clever (at least in their own eyes).
There’s no need to prove these kinds of people wrong, because you can almost guarantee that they’re wrong without having to verify it. But even if that weren’t the case, they’re still not the kind of people worth arguing with.
I’m ashamed and embarrassed. It’s this kind of stuff - trying to prove dumbasses wrong, or trying to build the equivalent of a legal case about a hobby - is what takes the fun out of it. I absolutely, 100% have to stop myself from falling into these kinds of traps, or the situation is only going to get worse.
That’s why, instead of making this into a big multi-post project, this is going to be my first post-bankruptcy effort to keep it simple. It still may end up being more than one post, but I guarantee it’s going to be less than what I was originally planning.
The Premise
The Revive Zeta was the first(?) entry in the Gunpla Evolution Project. I’ve covered the GEP before during previous builds, so I won’t reiterate it again. All I’ll remind you is that the point of the Project was that each entry was meant to highlight some new feat of engineering prowess.
In the case of the Revive Zeta, the gist seems to be that older transformable models (particularly at 1⁄144 scale) often had to make a tradeoff between articulation/poseability and transformability. You could have one or the other, but not both, and the Revive Zeta sought to fix that and give us the best of both worlds.
Having now built it, I can tell you that it does a pretty great job, though I’m not sure it’s as groundbreaking as Bandai wanted it to be. It’s definitely better than some older models (I have proof I’ll show you later), but it’s also not miles better than some that came only a few years prior.
The “Problem”
The problem with the kit, as far as Redditors were concerned, is that it is visually less anime accurate than the much older High Grade Zeta from 2003, and in their eyes this makes it decidedly worse.
Their other problem with the kit is the fact that it uses way too many color correcting stickers, including for the red sections of the flying armor.
I can say that the sticker thing is 100% accurate, and I agree that it is unfortuante. This model is very likely the one that any new builder is going to pick up when they want to build a Zeta, so for that reason alone I think it would have been fantastic if they had managed to use red plastic.
But as for the whole “it’s anime inaccurate” part, while it’s technically true, it’s also not the full story. I agree the old High Grade looks more accurate, but what those Redditors forgot to mention is that the model has awful articulation, and has difficulty holding up some of its own weapons. It’s fine as a shelf piece, but if you actually want to pose the thing it’s not a great option.
As for the Revive, while it technically may be less accurate, I think the concern about that is overblown (yes, I know I sounded like a purist about this stuff when I built the Ver. Ka, but my opinion has changed since then).
The Zeta is kind of a weird design, not only in how it differs from most Gundams, but also because it features a transformation mode that’s extremely complicated (and maybe not as well thought out as other transforming mecha of its time). It’s just very hard to make it look right and have it be able to do all the things it needs to do, so sometimes a given depiction has to make some changes.
My point is that the Zeta works better like an ideal to strive for rather than a target to hit. In the case of the Revive, I think it’s less accurate because they wanted it to have what many call “modern hero Gundam” proportions, because those proportions work really well in action poses. And since this is a model all about having good articulation, action poses are kind of an important thing to get right.
The Build
Here are the runners:
It’s a pretty damn good spread for a High Grade. Notice too how it has both yellow and orange plastic. That may seem strange, but if you look closely at the lineart you’ll see that this is actually highly anime accurate (yes, the irony is killing me!)
Here are the stickers:
It’s a lot, no doubt about it. I even tried using the red stickers just to see how they’d come out, and while I usually have pretty good luck with stuff like this, even I couldn’t get them to look good (I did use some of the other stickers though)
I also want to point out that I scrounged together a variety of waterslide decals to put on this thing, as it doesn’t have a ton of surface detail otherwise.
Now, on to the highlights of the build …
Rifle
This thing has a ton of detail. If you put in the work you can make this look Real Grade-worthy.
Shield
This is the bit that you’re supposed to use the red sticker on (I painted it instead):
Also, I removed the seamline running down the two red parts that make up the tip of the shield. I’ve never done that before, either on the Real Grade or the Ver. Ka, but it turns out it makes a big difference.
Upper Torso
We’re going to get into this more in a later post, but for now let’s just say that the shoulder joints are extremely intricate, not for the purpose of the transformation, but for the articulation. That’s great and all, except for the fact that it’s also potentially extremely fragile.
Oh, also, the Zeta’s 360 degree cockpit is molded into the plastic as detailing. I painted it up for funzies:
You absolutely will not see it once it’s closed up, but I know it’s there (and now you do too)
Lower Torso
There’s some sick detail on the inside of the rear skirt:
And some tiny little thrusters:
Shoulders
There are little orange/black stickers for the vents here, and they kinda suck. I’d paint them if they weren’t so small.
Legs
This kit doesn’t have a traditional inner frame, or either a partial inner frame, but nevertheless the mechanisms inside of them are quite intricate. This is to allow it to shift and slide into position during the transformation, while at the same time not compromising the range of the knee or ankle.
Arms
You’ll have to paint the grenades in the wrist red, but the main thing I find striking here is just how dense the construction is.
Head
The way the head vulcans are placed make assembly a bit tricky, since you kinda have to work around them to thread the outer armor on:
At least it makes painting the area around the vulcans easier, since you can do it before assembling.
Hyper Mega Launcher
I forgot to take WIP photos of this:
The main thing to know is that out of the box it’s almost entirely blue, but it’s got some good bones for putting in some extra color and detail:
Flying Armor
I forgot to take any WIP photos of the flying armor. Not a single one. That’s probably because it was the hardest part of the build, and I was laser focused.
Let’s put it this way; even if it’s not fully color accurate, it’s still quite intricate, with multiple layers nested inside of each other. So not only am I painting all the edges red, but I have to make sure it all lines up nicely once each part is sandwiched together and/or tucked away. It was a … a lot.
Done
This is now the third Zeta model I’ve built, and in retrospect I wouldn’t call any of them beginner friendly. I’ve come to the conclusion that, short of making it into an action figure with limited functionality, there’s no way to engineer this thing that isn’t equal parts complex and fragile.
Perhaps I should take back any shade thrown at Bandai for not making this a “perfect beginner Zeta”. I’m not convinced that’s even possible, even if it would highly desirable.
Next Up
I’m thinking there will two more posts from here; one with poses of the Zeta on its own, and one more to compare it to some of its transformable High Grade buddies.