Unlike with a Real Grade kit, I had to build the inner frame of the legs piece by piece. I wondered how exactly that would work in regards to articulation. The pre built frame pieces of a Real Grade kit are fairly complicated, full of pistons and joints that slide in and out to give them their range and flexibility.
With this Master Grade kit, that same flexibility is brought about via the use of the same kind of “inner rail” system that I encountered in the shoulder armor. You start with two pieces, each with a railing along the inside. Another piece, with pegs on each side, is placed between them, such that the pegs slot into the rails. This allows the inner piece to not only slide up and down, but also rotate. And when that inner piece is essentially the unit’s knee, it becomes clear how it achieves the excellent articulation associated with this grade.
The leg armor is remarkably plain, in the sense that there’s once again barely any chance for panel lining. If you want any sort of color separation you’re going to have to rely on the (many) stickers provided for use on the legs. They’re all red, which means they provide some nice color without being too busy.
The leg armor also boasts a few dry rub decals, and I found these to be much harder to apply than on the flat pieces of the Buster Rifle. I think I did an OK job overall.
Like with the lower torso, the legs look and feel larger in scale compared to a 1/144th kit. But why just feel when I can know. I’m not quite finished yet with this kit, but I do have enough finished parts to get the Gundam standing upright, so let’s put them together so we can do some size comparisons.
I started with the Gundam Astaroth, which unexpectedly turned out to be one of my tallest High Grades. It just barely gets up to the Wing Zero’s chest.
Next I brought out the Tryon-3, which is probably my tallest 1/144th scale kit. It fares better, though I’m on the fence as to whether it is at all close.
So we know that the legs give the Wing Zero some serious height, but they also make the unit look a bit funky. The proportions are off to me - the legs are incredibly long compared to the upper torso, and the arms are also a bit too short. I think you could get away with chopping off everything from the ankle down and replacing it with a smaller set of feet (smaller as in “less tall”, not “less wide”). I’m interested in seeing whether I change my mind once all the other accessories are equipped.
Other Thoughts
- This kit comes with two pairs of dry-rub decals that are identical in shape but different in color (one set is red, the other white). I got them mixed up, such that I put the white ones on the legs and the red ones on the arms. Oops?
- RIP sprue cutter. The spring broke, and now it remains mostly useless.