although I disagree with your comment about the shoulders. Fixed shoulder joints won't have as much posing ability as moving ones.

Awesome hangar.
Because back in 1979, all of the Zaku variants look alike in the anime. No leg verniers, no backpack thrusters. The HGUC Zaku II is the one that looks most identical to the original lineart with its awkward proportions.
Royal Guard Zulu.

Review of the HGUC Zaku I. Will be making quite a lot of references to the F2 for comparison purposes.


Pros:
1. Cheap fun ! Only 1000 yen.
2. Better proportions than the HGUC Zaku II although given that it's released much more recently that's expected.
3. Huge head, yet doesn't look out of place. Note that while the F2/Gouf Custom are better proportioned, their heads are tiny.
4. Pretty decent load of kits - rifle, bazooka, axe, they even throw in a Sturm Faust although its molded in a single colour.
5. Loads of stickers - can be used to decorate other Zeon kits. I am reserving that massive Zeon logo for future kits. Or maybe I'll apply it on the F2's shield.
6. Awesome upper body - not many other HGUCs can fold their shoulders in front of their chest, do full elbow bends, wide-arc torso tilts. Even the neck moves much more than the F2 can.
7. The shoulder rack for the bazooka is a nice addition. It makes the right shoulder look less empty.
8. The double jointed ankles offer more articulation although pulling it outwards will expose the joint within and the foot will look detached from the calf.
9. Kudos for Bandai to include a special tilted hand for the bazooka since the weapon's handle is non-movable.

Cons:
1. Crap lower body; what an irony to no.6 above ! It uses similar parts to the ancient HGUC Zaku II, which means (a) very obvious seam lines on the thighs and calves (b) poor hip articulation © hip joint is placed slightly forward, moving it backwards by 1mm will hugely improve the looks.
2. Pathetic-sized rifle. See picture below for comparison of weapons. I ended up using F2's Zaku rifle instead, although it must be said that the slim bazooka does look good on the F2 which is, well, slimmer.
3. Axe holster doesn't fit into the skirt armour tightly although it's easily fixed with some glue. At least it's better than the small semicircular clip of the F2.
4. Without an attachment to the forearm, the shield tends to dangle loosely from the fist, and eventually drops down as the side is much heavier.
5. Single-coloured feet, meaning you'll have to paint a huge area to be accurate. I left it white.
6. The huge emblem stickers won't stick well to the curved surface on the left shoulder armour. Mine has lots of trapped air beneath, will reapply another one some time later.

The zeonic arsenal:


Zaku Sniper !! OK, I didn't replace Sinanju's hand.


F2 looks better with a bazooka.


Conclusion:
Cheap and fun, very easy to build, lots of kit. Get the Black Tristar version over the stock green-blue one. The Sniper is also a good alternative with a hugeass backpack although you lose the shield, the rocket, and is 400 yen dearer.

Just came back from Gamers Arena and I thought I'd spread some poison here...

MG Epyon - RM160
SD Wing EW - RM28
HGUC Psycho Gundam - RM173
HGUC The-O - RM84
HGUC Qubeley - RM52
HGUC GP01Fb - RM52
HGUC GP02A - RM70
HGUC TR-1 - RM45
HGUC Char Zaku II - RM35
HGUC Guncannon - RM28
HGUC Guntank - RM28
HGUC GM-Cannon II - RM49
Kotobukiya SRW Non-scale Dygenguar - RM133
Kotobukiya Saber - RM110
Macross Frontier VF-25F Sheryl Nome - RM52
Chokogin VF-29 Durandal Valkirie - RM698
Model Cover Extra Large - RM85
Model Cover Medium - RM48
Model Cover Long - RM65
Model Cover Small - RM28

There are many more new/replenish stock but these are something I consider interesting

I've got myself 1 unit of HGUC The-O

Check out my facebook album for the pictures @ http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1...22193.626753252