Review 017: MG 1/100 Zaku II 2.0 [White Ogre] (TT Hongli)

Jeshiro’s Apology – SKIP IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ
There are a lot of things I would like to say and these are my apologies. First is that I am sorry if some of the images are blurry or out of focus. I am using a half-broken camera and it was just given to me. I don't have the luxury to buy a new camera because my aim is just to show the kit or model can do. I received a lot of tips from friends and colleagues how to improve my shots a little bit even with a broken camera. The results were not so bad, but I am still looking for other options to improve the lighting conditions in my room. So yeah, I apologize for my bad pictures.

My second apology would be the very late update here in my blog. I was crammed with new kits, extra work, and a lot of personal problems I have to solve. The kit I am working now (Oct 2016) is a Perfect Grade which I will post after a few more articles (I've already finished the watermarks). I am glad a lot of you are still taking a peek on my blog even though there are lots of other cool reviewers than me. If I have the funds to take the kit, I will review them. And now that I have finished my work, I have time to update my blog and post all of my other reviews. The bad news however is that I don't have any funds now to get new kits to review. I am still hoping for my friend which happens to be my client, to continue hiring me as his builder.

And my last apology would be the often changes in my blog. If you have noticed, it's not that fixed yet and the domain shows a lot of redundant stuff. Some of the tabs are not finished and will just redirect you to the main page again. But I have fixed it again by using a default template and just tweaked the fonts, color, etc.

(2016-10-29) UPDATE: You can click the images to show the original size and to give you a better look. I have been doing this since my first post. A lot of people probably thought the images are small. ALL IMAGES ARE LINKED TO THEIR ORIGINAL SIZE.


NOTE: PLEASE READ
I have forgotten that I have overwritten my notes for the White Ogre with the notes of the Zaku II Ground Type. I have been very busy lately and I only remembered after noticing the similar sentences on my 2 word docs. I don't want to re-write the notes again because I have lots of other things to do. Besides, most of my comments that I have written for the Zaku II Ground Type are pretty much the same with White Ogre's. I just removed some of the sentences and words to fit it for the article. I apologize for this error.

Introduction:

This is my third Zaku and my client has been looking for a lot of other Zaku II kits lately. He even mentioned looking for the Shin Matsunaga and Johnny Ridden versions. Anyways, I would like to thank my client for giving me the chance to continue building his kits. Yes, this kit isn’t mine.

I would like to remind you guys that I am not a professional builder. All information and comments that I have written below are just based from my personal experience and from what I currently know. If there are any typos, wrong usage of terminologies, please do mention it. :)


Unboxing:

Compare to the box of the Zaku Black Tristar, this one shares the some box size like that of Char’s Zaku II, the Gundam Wing series, etc.

There are only 3 plastic bags so the runners are divided into that short number. And that means they are very sardine-packed that can lead to stress marks, scratches, and possible broken pegs. Fortunately, TT Hongli’s plastic is a bit tough even though they are not as glossy as Daban.

The manual shares the same box art on the front and the completed model at the back. There’s also a few info about the Zaku II’s history on the middle part of the construction manual.

There are 14 runners and they share the same number that of the other Zaku II kits (except for the High Mobility type). The only thing noticeable is that the color is different. :P

The next images will be the runners and the other contents of the kit.


Runners:

Runner A

Runner B

Runner C

Runner D

Runner E

Runner F

Runner G

Runner H

Runner I

Runner J

Runner K

Runner L

Runner P + PC-200

You also get the 2 “canula” springs (it’s supposed to be called cannula I think), a sheet of dry transfers, and a sheet of clear stickers.

Wow! Extra Dry Transfers + Clear Stickers! *isolated case*

Body Unit:

This is your usual parts separation. Nothing much fancy here but I think I’m getting to like the Zaku because of the simplicity of their design.

As always, there’s still a problem with the PC part (K3 and K6) connected to the waist. This is where you insert the tubes. They pop off like the rest of the Zaku II models I’ve built. I even tried trimming the end part so that it might fit it properly, but it just not tight enough. I don’t want to risk it, so I added some super glue.

I wanted to add more color so I applied some metallic red here using my uniball signo pen.
Anyways, that’s the only issue here on the body unit. The rest fits just fine with a few tight pegs, but they are not much of an issue.


Head Unit:

There was a bad molding on that clear part for the eye sensor (A8). I’m not sure if this was an isolated case but it was a real eyesore. I don’t know any solutions for this kind of problem. :/
Also, the image below is one of the many problems here in the Zaku II 2.0.

There are no snap fitting issues on most parts here, but I had to apply some super glue on the PC part (K2/K7). It has a tendency to pop off from the snout-like peg.


I also received a lot of suggestions to remove one piece of those tubes so make the head slimmer. Unfortunately, I already glued that section and I can no longer give it a try.


Arm Unit:

Nothing odd here - they are still the same Zaku II parts I encountered before. :v
Still, nice parts separation.

Well most of the parts here fit just fine. There were just several issues along the way. I don't like using the clear sticker that you will apply here (check image above), so I used my metallic red instead.

The socket type PC part on the shoulder armor (PC3) was still very tight. I had a lot of problems pushing the ball-joint part of the arm (G34).

The hand guard (G24) is also loose. You can either add some super glue or let the hand/manipulator lock it in place instead.


When it comes to the articulation, the range of its movement is nice and can still bend that much. The shoulder armor can be pulled outward. Compared to the right shoulder armor, the spiky one on the left has a limited range.


Waist Unit:

It has few parts here but there are no issues on the molding so it’s fine for me.


Take note that after attaching the legs, the side skirts might pop off when you try to stretch them outward.

The articulation is nice but there are still some sections that it is limited. Also, the body will surely reduce the range of articulation here on the front and side skirts.


Leg Unit:

So here are the parts for the 2 legs. Very good parts separation as always while maintaining simplicity on the inner frame.


There were several tight parts here in the inner frame but fits just fine.

The articulation on the leg is nice and can still bend this much (check image). Yes, it’s the same as the other Zaku II 2.0 kits (except for the High Mobility type).

So I can finally make him stand. All I need to finish now are the weapons and add some of the markings.


Weapons:

As for the weapons, you still get the usual Zaku machine gun and the bazooka.

The problem here is still that scope part on the bazooka. It’s shakes a lot unless you add some tac or glue to fix it up.

Like some of the other versions of the Zaku II, you also get the missile pods as an extra weapon here.
There are no major snap fitting issues for the missile pods. The reason why there’s a very visible seam is that I will attach it on the legs later. I’m afraid it will take some damage when I try to fit them so tight before I actually place them on the legs.


Decals:

The dry transfer decals are not that good but are still manageable if you’re patient.

I only placed a few markings to add some extra detail. There's a yellowish stain around the markings (not sure if visible in the image above). I removed it by using cotton buds with some lighter fluid.

Completed Model:


As for the articulation, it’s good and features the same movement like the Char’s Zaku II 2.0.


Of course, the legs can’t remove that issue on the range of movement because of the side skirts hindering it.

And here are the rest of the pictures I took.




And now for my rating..

I edited this image and it was based from the back design of the cards of GDC (Gundam Duel Company)

Plastic Quality: 7/10
As expected of TTH and its other kits, the quality remains the same; dull color, not so glossy finish, uneven panel lines, and lots of tight parts.

But even with these issues, one can still fix them. Only that it will take a lot of time and cleaning on those flashes on the edges of each part. It seems all of the parts have flashes and it’s irritating if you will sand the parts clean.


Assembly: 6/10
There were a lot of tight parts indeed and I even got an injury during assembly on the legs section. It was my fault anyway for not trimming the female pegs. But I hesitated in doing that action because I don’t want them popping off during posing. There’s the glue to aid me but I don’t want to resolve on that as much as possible. The loose parts were the polycaps used on those tubes and that’s where used the super glue to hold them together.


Detailing: 6/10
Sorry for the low rating, especially to the Zaku or mono-eye fans. The low rating I gave to Char’s Zaku, and Black Tristar however, were also based from my research to Bandai’s kits. I could have given them at least a 7 if the panel lining and other details were as sharp as Daban Model. Some of the details were not so visible so panel lines would be a pain unless you fix them up.

Aside from that, I also based the rating from the Zaku 1.0. Seeing the changes of the new 2.0 kits being released, the difference or gaps from the older 2.0 kits are really noticeable. It would have been great as well if Bandai improved the 2.0 back in the old days. But this can also sum up that the 3.0 treatment for the Zaku can be promising in the future, just like what they did to the RX-78-2.

I would like to mention too that seeing how less detailed the Zaku II kits now, it opens up the option or challenge of scribing them. So yeah, these kits can be a good start to practice scribing because Zaku offers both flat and curvy parts.

So yeah, that’s my reason. I am not against mono-eyes, mind you guys.


Articulation: 7/10
They feature same movement range and the articulation is so-so. Good thing that I love here is that the Zaku II 2.0 can kneel compared to the High Mobility Zaku II.

Like I mentioned a lot, the legs are hindered by the front and side skirts. But the legs itself features good bending so kneeling is still possible. As for the arms, it doesn’t have any problems but I did however have to give a 6 because I want the legs to have better movement capability compared to the arms.


Gimmicks: 5/10
Because the kit is the same as the other Zaku II 2.0, the gimmicks are not that as good as the other kits. Like I said in the Detailing Section, Bandai didn’t design it to have add

What I’m aiming here in the Gimmicks section are the articulated or movable parts the MS doesn’t really have. Take example for the “Ver Ka” kits.

Yes, I would like to point out that I didn’t take note or added the factors that these kits are far better than their 1.0 version. I am just keen when it comes to detailing or simply love seeing kits with that “Wow!” factor.


Weapons: 6/10
I apologize if my rating here isn't that high. I love the missile pods and the axe holster was a nice addition as well. It was lacking for my side and I wanted a bit more out of this kit. Well it can't be helped since these weapons are the ones that probably showed up or describe from its history.

Extras : 5/10
I'm not sure whether i should add the missile pods and the holster as extras here. But those were just about it in this kit. :/


Patience: 7/10
Yes I am still giving the same rating because of the amount of flashes to clean. The tubes were also a problem to deal with if you want to sand them clean.


Overall Rating: 7/10
I love the color of the White Ogre because a lot of ideas for custom decals comes right at me. I think the overall rating was just fair considering it can still do some decent poses. I've mentioned this on the 2 previous Zaku II kits, but it could have been better if Bandai didn't remove some of the gimmicks from the 1.0 version. Of course, the detailing and new proportion adjustment here in the 2.0 was better.

I would still recommend to go for Bandai. Knowing TT H, they don't have decent plastic quality and you will see a lot of flashes. There are also these misaligned panel lines giving that broken paths. I don't think you should need to buy this kind of Zaku II just to try out your new ideas in painting unless you want the missile pods. I mean, there are other Zaku II that you can use as a model for paint jobs. So this leads to the straight building path, and I will repeat it again that you should really go for Bandai for better quality and less hassle in cleaning.

I may have forgotten a few factors here because I was really busy during the past few weeks and my notes for this kit was still unfinished. Please do mention them if you found any. Thanks for reading my mini review and I hope you continue your support by taking a look at my blog.

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