Provided that Katoki doesn't mess around with it like he did with Deathscythe's proportions.

Awesome shitz.

Zaku 2.0, no doubt. But which 2.0 depends on what accessories you want.

Johnny Ridden's R2A looks most badass but the massive leg boosters severely restrict knee movements. Comes with the largest calibre bazooka.

Black Tristar/Shin's R1A gives you big leg boosters and a larger backpack+bazooka, but for the same price you are better off with Johnny.

J type gets leg missile pods.

Char's S type gives you Char's badassery and a funky (but useless) lift.

F type gets a door knob. And two choices between a regular 280mm bazooka or a larger 320mm; although you only have 1 trigger hence you can't use both.

Minelayer is a waste of money. The only thing extra is a larger backpack, which really doesn't justify the higher price.

Zaku Cannon has an awesome backpack but looks radically different.

Alternatively you could also go for the Zeon Zaku F2 which is older, but comes with missiles, rockets, clips, rifle, bazooka... the whole lot. But in typical shitty Bandai fashion, you only get one rifle choice (Zeon Zaku = 90mm machine gun, EFSF Zaku = Zaku machine gun). Both versions in HGUC gives you two rifles but you don't get a bazooka.

Stay away from the ancient ver1.0 Zaku IIs. Not worth it when there are better choices as described above.
As for Zaku I, you're better off getting the HGUC version. Smaller yes, but cheaper and has better articulation.

Now go and buy some monoeyes.

Zaku Cannon comes in desert colours.

There's also Kawaguchi's special edition which has an African map on the shield, this one also comes in sandy brown. Comes equipped with Kampfer's weapons too.


Alternatively you might want a conversion kit for the Desert Zaku.

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.

This post has been edited by StarGhazzer: Jul 15 2011, 12:28 AM

Cheers. Nah not getting the sniper, snipers aren't my thing.

Still waiting for my next package from HLJ

Not from where I am.

Yeah the eyes is just a pink sticker slapped on top of a black one. Easily modifiable but lazy to do so. The monoeye part can move left or right using the same switch beneath the helmet, just like the F2/Gouf custom/Geara Doga.

The Zaku I can't kneel on one knee properly as the calves are too long in proportion to the thighs. Note that the Zaku Sniper cheats by having an extension on the right knee for kneeling poses.

Now we're talking.

RG Freedom. Meh.

This post has been edited by StarGhazzer: Jul 15 2011, 09:53 PM

The downside of getting the Titans is due to its dark armour, most of the warning signs which are clear stickers rather than dry transfers will be hardly seen once applied. Even the yellow dry transfer Titans logo will lose most of its vibrancy due to the overwhelming deep blue.

RX78 ver2.0 is the most awesome RX78 version ever. Build one and you will understand it.
The OYW, apart from a more contemporary design, doesn't even come close.

My only complaints about it are the tiny backpack thrusters and the weird white pieces within the knee joint which makes it look splitting into half.

Hard to compare since they are different designs, but generally speaking the Zaku has things that the MKII can only dream about, i.e. full squating pose, more intricate internal frame design, much better articulated fingers. Nevertheless, the Zaku's waist has less rotation and the shoulders can't abduct although these don't affect its articulation too much.

The MKII has the tendency to lose friction in its joints while the Zaku doesn't (although the latter is still not as solid as the RX78 ver2.0). My MKII's upper limbs have gone all floppy.

As for Deathscythe Hell... Many of its flaws have been mentioned (by Parody I think), which include poor proportions, crap hands, and fragile wing joints.

This post has been edited by StarGhazzer: Jul 17 2011, 01:20 AM

I used to get annoyed with spam posts too, but looking from another perspective, at least this hobby is gaining more popularity instead of us few old farts talking about the same thing over and over again.

As long as more people get poisoned become interested in gunpla, I can close one eye to the spamming; although hopefully it doesn't become another /k/ thread.

Objection.

The SD thread attracts different types of fans. There are people who have no interest in normal gunpla, and vice versa. And the SD line is vast and different enough from typical gunpla to warrant its own discussion.

I personally wouldn't mind the occasional non-gundam kit discussions such as Fafner, Armoured Core, Votoms, Code Geass etc since they often do not have enough popularity to sustain its own thread. And sometimes they really do have awesome, realistic designs that deserve some limelight.

You haven't been here for a long time.
What's the new mod?

This post has been edited by StarGhazzer: Jul 17 2011, 07:30 AM