Now that we have a plan of attack, let’s build:
Feet
These are built the same as most of the other Zaku’s I own. Nice and simple.
I went all out when it came to detailing the bottoms of the feet. That’s what happens when I have a plan of attack ahead of time:
It’s not much, but we can already see a hint of the amazing color contrast we’re going to get with this model.
Legs
These were also assembled very similarly to other Zakus. The biggest (and by “biggest” I mean “relatively small”) change is the addition of two thrusters on the sides of each leg. I’m guessing this is another minor enhancement to the F2.
Most of the changes between the OG Zaku II and the F2 are about taking something that was once colored green, and switching it to grey. The legs are the one place where we see the reverse. On the OG suit, the knee armor is grey, but on the F2 it’s green (or tan in this case).
It looks a bit weird when the model isn’t fully assembled. When you’re staring at less than half of the body, there are fewer things for you to focus on, so your eyes naturally gravitate to the one thing that doesn’t match up with what you’re used to seeing. That should change once we’re finished.
Here they are all put together.
The colors are really coming through now. This is such a simple, clean, beautiful look, and we’re not even halfway through!
Lower Torso
In the intro post, I implied that the skirt armor wasn’t very different on the F2. That was a mistake. True, the general shape is the same, but there are meaningful differences to both its appearance and its assembly.
Case in point, here are all the pieces needed to make the skirt armor on the Zaku II Revive:
You’ve got the side skirts, front skirts, and rear skirts. Nice and simple.
On the F2, the two front skirts are actually one long piece:
Meanwhile the side and rear skirts are also very long and large (and they attach onto some some equally large frame pieces):
Even odder is that the side skirts plug into a rectangular polycap:
And to top it all off, you have to insert these little clips into the side skirts to hold the cabling in place:
As you can tell from these photos, each piece of the skirting armor is much longer and wider than the corresponding parts on the OG Zaku II. This isn’t obvious in the comparison photo I had in the intro, but it becomes quite obvious in real life. I have to say that I quite like this variation. It looks and feels more like skirt armor, rather than just a skirt.
Upper Torso
The double ball joint for the neck plugs so far down into the chest that I initially thought something was wrong with it. But no, that’s how it is supposed to be:
I stupidly added one of the cool Torrington Base decals to the inner chest, where nobody will see it:
Thankfully I had a second decal that will serve as a substitute:
The backpack has a slight bit of extra part separation - there is a plate on the bottom that the thrusters plug into. It’s not much, but it gives us annother opportunity to do some detailing:
I briefly regretted keeping the two navy blue pieces. I feel like they pop a little too much, and dominate the look. But I also think they’ll work better once the arms are on.
Head
I am reminded once again of the HG GM Custom. That was a kit that, for some reason, had seven sets of holding hands, even though it didn’t need that many. In a similar way, this Zaku comes with three different types of heads, even though they could have gotten away with just one. First, you’ve got your standard one:
Then you have your Commander fin:
And this third one that has some extra bits of armored plating:
In my experience, Zaku heads fit very tightly, so while it’s nice to have these three options, you (or at least I) need to make a choice, because once one of these is secured, it’s probably not coming off again.
I ended up choosing the third option, since I don’t have any others like it.
Part of my plan of attack for this model was to paint in the monoeye rather than use the included decal. I did exactly that, and it was the right choice. I mixed a neutral red with a healthy amount of pink, and the end result is pretty much exactly what I was aiming for.
Just like with other Zakus, there is a tab on the underside of the head that you can push to move around the monoeye. Also like other Zakus, this is easier said than done. I was able to move it a bit to the side, but it felt like I might break something if I tried pushing it any further.
Now is it just me, or does this Zaku head look a little … squished? Something about it doesn’t look normal. Let’s compare:
The Zaku II Revive was specifically engineered to resemble its original TV show look, so I’m not surprised to see that these two look different. No other Zaku looks quite like the Revive. Still, the difference between the two is stark.
Now let’s try a more fair comparison. The Gundam: The Origin depiction of the Zaku II is the definitive modern interpretation of the mobile suit. It’s a much better barometer for what the head is “supposed” to look like by modern standards:
This is a much tougher call, but I still think they are not quite the same. If you look at the helmet “window” that the eye sees through, it looks a hair taller (but more narrow) on the Origin model, and a bit shorter (but wider) on the F2. My guess is that this is another one of those subtle changes made to the F2; if so, I can’t say I like it better. It makes the Zaku look a little less cute and a little more “Nazi Stormtrooper”.
Conclusion
Let’s take a break here. Normally I don’t go over so many parts in a single build post, but this is how much I got done over the last few days. I’m having a lot of fun so far, and I’m happy with all the results. All that’s left are the arms and the accessories, so I guess we know what Part 3 is going to cover. See you then.