Review 048: Wing Zero Custom (Model Heart)

Introduction:

I am glad that I am finally back to review several kits again and keep my blog alive. If everything goes well, I might be able to review more kits until November. The job I got now helped my financial problems (family related) and also my hobby. The funds I invest to continue my hobby isn’t big but it’s enough to get at least 1 model every two to three months. I would like to use this part of the article to give my thanks to all my friends in the Gunpla community. They urged me to continue this blog even if it’s just 1 article every few months. Again, to those who have supported me in this second hobby of mine, “Thank you.” :)

Okay, so I am very thankful that I’ve decided to get this kit as quickly as possible. The features and gimmicks were amazing. I got this kit from a friend because he decided to change something in his Gunpla plans, tempted already to start the “Wing Boys” collection from Super Nova, I gave him a message. Not so long ago, Super Nova finally released the Deathscythe Hell model that will complete all five Gundams from G-Wing Endless Waltz OVA. I was excited and a little worried. The first reason is that I might be able to get them all, but it would roughly take me 4 months. Yes, this is the part I might be able to review kits until November if I can also get the “00 XN Raiser”. The second reason is that we are not sure if Bandai will be quiet about this. So I want to get them as soon as possible before the price spikes up again. But these are just mainly results of me being optimistic. I am not sure if my job will be as good as before. Not all people can handle stress even if the salary is good and I am experiencing that right now.

So far, I am thinking of cancelling my Wing Boys Plan if “the going gets tough”. I will just try to complete the Gundam 00 lineup I have in mind. At least, I just need to cover two kits for this and I can pick another lineup again from my wishlist (thinking of FA-78 TB or the Astrays).

As for the Deathscythe Hell update, I’m supposed to post that news here in my blog but we don’t have an access to the internet in our place last month. My favorite internet café is also under renovation that time so my article about the model’s appearance, runners, etc. were late. :/

Anyways, back to the topic, I will try to share all the issues I have encountered in this model. Do not mind the typos because that is already a part of me that I can’t fix quickly (LOL). But as for the terminologies or other information about the model and you noticed that I am wrong, I don’t mind if you will give me some corrections.

Unboxing:

The first three models from Super Nova have a really catchy appearance – Altron, Sandrock and Heavy Arms. But a lot were surprised that Super Nova suddenly changed the box to a simple white with Chinese characters on the sides. There are no images of the finished model. A lot of fellow builders said that this is to lay low for awhile and avoid the wrath of Bandai getting shut down like Daban Model and Dragon Momoko (Nooooo! I still want to review a lot of kits from their brand! \(TwT)/). And this statement seems true because the box of Deathscythe is also plain. It’s black with white Chinese characters on the side.

It also features 2 boxes but the contents were a little mixed up. Most of the runners for the main unit’s outer armor are in Box A and the runners to build the wings and a few inner frame parts were placed in Box B. I am not sure if this is the same with the other boxes. I don’t mind if they get mixed up. There are no issues with this matter. I am also glad that they placed in a minimum of 1 runner per plastic bag and a maximum of two. That is really comforting on my side because I don’t want the parts to scratch each others’ surfaces.

 The size of the box features the same proportions that of a Master Grade kit from Bandai. I used the Freedom 2.0 as an example.

My apologies if some of the pictures were really blurry. I was in a hurry to build the model because I only have the weekends to do the things I want. Now for the contents of Box A, I got 11 plastic bags. The construction manual in inside Box B but I checked the runners or sprue frames if they were complete and ended up putting it inside Box A.

For Box B, I got 7 plastic bags and that will give us a total of 18 plastic bags. The decal and foil sticker sheet were here as well.

I will discuss more about the runners and the contents in the next section. :)

Runners (Sprue Frames):

LOL. I tried putting all the runners on my bed. XD
I think I need a new table to be able to do this thing as a normal part of my reviews.

Again, my apologies if my images for the runners were bad. I forgot to change the settings of my cellphone camera and I thought it was already good. :/

Okay, so you have 30 runners here (excluding the pedestal) and I noticed that even though they have duplicate runners, they still marked them with a separated letter (like 2 runners for F but you get F and G). The only duplicated runners here with the same letter are W. The other runners with same parts but with a different letter are D & E, F & G, and H & I. Good news is that most of parts on the runners are undergated. But I am having some thoughts if this is also a good idea on some of the parts. Even with a rusty side-cutter, the plastic was good for me and the gates were easy to cut.

I know this is very old news, but I just want to let the other builders who are NOT familiar with this kit that the model is from Supernova. Some may have some doubts because of the sudden change in their box appearance. As you can see in the image above, the runners are marked with Supernova. Some of the runners were also marked as “MG04”. After all, this is their fourth model and Deathscythe will be the fifth to complete the Gundam Wing set.

Okay back to the topic, you will have these thin cards for the pedestal with two designs. They look bland so I will replace it with a better one. ;)

You also have this clear plastic to protect the card. Mind you guys that you need to remove the protective cover before placing it. :)

The kit also includes a clear rod and small round pedestal. I checked the construction manual and this is the support for your twin buster rifle. The clear rod was soft and I think I little long so I will change it with an improvised stick from one of my leftover runners.

We also have two packs of screws. The black ones will be used for the action base and the shiny steel ones will be used for the wings.

What I like in most of the new bootleg or knock-off kits are the free waterslide decals. The kit also includes the foil stickers. Same with the other model kits I have already built, I always avoid using foil stickers, but I will only use a few of them for the weapons.

The construction manual was really dull. The first page just shows the markings A + B and the last page doesn't have a plain blank sheet. It stops directly at the Markings/Decal guide.

It doesn’t have the nice images back then like Altron or Heavy Arms. Well, it can’t be helped because they are trying to lay low from Bandai’s radar. No issues here aside from the colorless look.

There’s also a separate 2-page construction manual for the action base.

Body Unit:

Alright, let’s move now the Body Unit. Parts separation looks good. You have two tones of blue here and if you don’t like the color or the texture, you can repaint them again.

Detailing looks awesome as well and I like it slim look compared to MJH.

This might look really cool but prepare for the usual issues. Starting with the blue parts, the pegs to connect them were a little tight. X5 and X6 parts are prone to breakage when placed on the pegs of the torso Inner Frame due to its tight fitting. The PC parts (for the abdomen) were also hard to connect to their corresponding ball joint parts. It took me a while to connect them and I am glad there were no damages.

As for the articulation, it was normal for my side. The range of movement when you tilt the body sideways is good but not too extreme.

The pegs for the arms can be pulled outward without any problems. But you might notice a little stiffness when doing this. In my case, this is helpful for extreme action poses.

The machine cannons or the 4-barrel Gatling guns can be popped out as well which is pretty neat for action poses. It would be nice if you can paint this to a different color though.

Head Unit:

Not bad for the parts separation especially for the ear-like parts. They are separated into three pieces with two tones of blue.

You still get the usual tight fittings but no big problems that will slow your building time.

However, you might want to take are of the N5 and N4 parts. These are pieces that are part for WZC’s ears. They are using a rectangular slot peg. Putting them in is a real pain especially if you have a big thumb. Once you tuck them in, be careful not to bump them onto anything or they might pop out.

I also avoided the foil stickers and I continued my usual Uniball Signo pen routine for the eyes.

Shoulder Unit:

Parts separation for the shoulder armor is just average in my opinion. But it packs a lot of articulation that will show later.

The issues here are the yellow parts V2 and V4. They are really hard to connect. The pegs don’t fit well and they might produce stress marks if you force them in. I scrapped the inner rims lightly just enough for them to budge through the female pegs.

The shoulder armor looks really plain simple with no other designs or etched surfaces on the curvy areas.

But don’t get your hopes down. Wing Zero Gundam Custom is known for its simplicity in design while retaining that elegant look. What’s nice is that the model features a really awesome articulation here for the shoulder armor.

It is divided into 4 sections including the yellow part, but only 3 of these are movable. I checked some pictures of Bandai GFFMC and the only difference from the two are the proportions. To me, the GFFMC looks more bulky or muscular-looking compared to Model Heart. The picture above also shows the maximum range you can do if you try to spread them out.

Arm Unit:

Even though the arms of Wing Zero Custom looks plain simple, the parts separation featured here is very good.

I applied some metallic blue on the sides to add some extra detailing using the etched surfaces.

Now let’s talk about the issues. You have a lot of tight pegs as usual and that is expected from a bootleg brand. You might want to check W31 parts because they kind of hard to fit in W2’s slot. Thinking of other ways will solve this issue. Not only that, there’s a visible seam line in K13 and K5 (forearm) just near the joint for the manipulators. I am not sure if the reason is the polycap inside. You might want to check that out as well.

As I said in the Runners Section, not all parts are undergated. So as you can see in that dark gray part on the arm, the nubmarks are visible.

The articulation isn’t bad and I could say it is fairly decent. You can bend the arms like so in the image above.

The manipulators have a limited range of movement and you can only swivel them to a few degrees.If you also noticed, I pulled the forearm armor out for a little bit.

These parts on the forearm are slightly articulated and you can separate the two parts to a certain angle.

Time for some coffee break before. :3

Leg Unit:

I already finished the other leg so I will have an idea about the issues and what areas with nubmarks don’t need cleaning.

Also, I am so rushing the review for this kit that I forgot to add several parts in the exploded view. I forgot to place the K6 and K9 parts here. -_-

Anyways, the legs do feature a really nice factor when it comes to parts separation. The legs don’t just feature white parts and you will mix it in with some light gray parts as well. This is good especially for builders who have plans to paint the model.

After building the both of the legs, I can’t help staring at them. The detailing is just amazing. The combination of the white and light gray parts did help a lot to show the raised and etched surfaces. I added some metallic blue here using my Uniball Signo pen to add some extra color.

Now for the issues – there’s a lot! Majority will be the usual tight fittings. There are also some cases where the parts fit just fine but still have the tendency to fall off or get removed easily if you move the legs too often.

The parts J17 + L6 (6-6 in the construction manual) and L10 + J1 have the tendency to pop off during movement. I suggest putting some glue for these parts if you don’t have plans to paint it. Another issue here is the W1 parts which are placed on the back of the legs. They are so thin that can break in half if you are not careful in cutting them off the runners. Yes! The issue is not about putting them in place on the leg but removing them carefully from the sprue frame. I am thankful to Baffu Man for sharing this issue to the other builders. ;)

But once you are finally on the clear with these problems, you can now enjoy the good articulation featured here in the leg units. You can bend them like so as you can see in the image above.

The Inner Frame for these knee armors don’t have a piston of sort that is connected to the shin. That means you have the freedom to move it to any angle you like which is nice when doing some action poses. However, it’s kind of hard to return them to the correct position when standing up. :/

The feet also feature a nice range of movement. You can fold the feet and move it forward without problems (left). Moving it backwards doesn’t pose any problems as well (right). These flap-like armors on top of the feet also share a good angle if you want to move it upward. And they are connected via a male-female peg design so you can also move them sideways.

The feet can be bent sideways. The angle is not that bad but it’s not the best one the model can offer. Besides, the model is supposed to be an aerial unit so I don’t think you will need this kind of posing for the ground scenarios too often. xD

And let’s not forget these parts. These 2 flaps can be spread out to this degree.

Waist Unit:

The parts separation featured here is above average. The side skirts are supposed to be built separately if you check the manual. It’s not part of the Waist Unit section but it’s supposed to be in that section so I included their parts as well. xD

Detailing and overall proportion in my opinion looks great. It was nice that you get to see two tones of blue here to add some extra color even without the need to paint it.

Aside from the common tight fittings, I have three issues here in the waist unit. The first one is not a big problem actually, but I kind of liked it more if there’s an Inner Frame in the side skirt (LOL). The second issue is related to tight fittings. Please do check X14 and X20 parts because they are quite hard to attach together. And lastly is the peg of N14 part. I think it's prone to breakage when you attach the clamp connector (U2). These problems are manageable and they are not much of a threat once you find a way through them.

As for the articulation, you can lift the side skirts up this point (check image above). Of course, this is not possible anymore once you connect the Body Unit.

The side skirts looks really cool because it has a separate flap that can be opened to a wide angle. If I were to mod this section, I would put some thrusters here.

The back skirts offer a good range of movement so you can have a good pose for the legs.

Same goes for the front skirts that you can lift up like so. But if you noticed, I had to change the position of the side skirts. Range of movement will be different once you attach the legs.

Backpack Unit:

Parts separation is good but design is simple. The detailing however looks really nice.

Some of the gates were connected on the middle of the part and that means the nubmarks will be visible unless you them paint them.

Before I head to the gimmicks and articulation, I just want to point out that all the pegs of these gray parts are really tight. You might want to do something about them because stress marks will appear for sure. O_O

Anyways, you can remove this piece so you will have the option of putting it on an action base. And I don’t think you will put them back again because it’s always a good choice for WZC to be displayed in an action base. >__>

These connectors (tip) for the wings can be swiveled to a nice 180 degree. Give or take a few millimeters.

Range of movement for these connectors are really nice. Just a reminder that the gray part of top (W10) has a tendency to pop off during movement.

Wing Unit:

We are finally moving now to the wings. :D

Primary/Main Wing Unit:

The parts separation for the main wing is nice with the combination of gray parts. I didn’t add the screws in the Exploded View because I don’t want to have problems if any of them went missing.

First part so far is good.

Done with the main body. Now I just need to add the parts that act like feathers.

After several hours of cutting, chipping, scraping, sanding, and cleaning, I’m finally finished with the primary wings. Yes, they look so freakishly elegant. >__<

The detailing is really nice thanks to the gray parts that added some color instead of its usual white design. Most of the gray parts are on the back of the wings with a feather like design. I checked the images of GFFMC and they kind of looked the same but the proportions are noticeably different.

I would like to mention the issues now before I feature the articulation. There are no tight fittings here which are good news to us builders. But there are several gray parts that always get removed during my time posing the completed model. Another issue I would like to point out are the screws. After moving the wings’ articulated parts, these screws will slowly twist out of the pegs. I added some glue, dry them out, and screw them back in which helped a bit in my side. But don’t try this method if you know other ways to fix this problem. :/

Okay, now back to the wings. The articulation is really great. I placed the exploded one beside the closed main wing for comparison.

 Well, it’s almost the same with the original Master Grade, but not all sections of the wings from the MG version are articulated. I can’t find a really good source of images for the GFFMC version because I want to see the difference of the wings when they are exploded out.

Anyways, it still an awesome wing design for me so need to bother that much which wing design is more cool-looking. And those are the only problems I have encountered with the main wing unit.

Secondary/Sub Wing Unit:

The parts separation is also good, but most of these parts will be hidden because they are just meant for the wings’ gimmicks.

There were no big issues with the wings; just a few tight pegs. The connectors (tip) however are tight, so you might want to use some extra caution.

Both sides have the same design with no visible gray parts on the outside. It kind of looks bland at first, but looks can be deceiving. The gray parts will appear once you try to spread them out. ;)

The articulation here for the sub-wings features a nice gimmick. Once you move the wing’s connector outward, you can now pull this part (1) down and pull the gray feather-like parts out (2).  The top part of the wing (3) can be pulled upward to a small degree and this gray part (4) will appear.

Armaments:

Twin Buster Rifle:

The rifle features average amount of parts.

The iconic weapon of the WZC is not that extravagant when it comes to color separation. But the detailing (panel lines, raised surfaces, etc) makes up for it. This also gives other builders the option to paint them. Although, it will still take some time if masking is needed.

There are several movable parts in the Twin Buster Rifle but they are not that very extraordinary. The first one would be the handle that can be pushed inward when you combine it with the other half.

Next one is these locks that will connect the two buster rifles together. There is an issue here though and I will discuss that later.

This part can be removed as well from the slot-type pegs. Of course, you will only remove this once you combine the other rifle.

Tada! And here you have the combined Buster Rifles. And yes, you can now see the issue at the rear section of the weapon.

There’s a huge seam line and I was a little frustrated about it so I checked the locking connectors again.

If you noticed the picture earlier, these locks have an “L” shape or bench-like tip. I trimmed the excess plastic and made it look like this (see image above).

It worked out pretty fine and the seam is now gone. If you are worried if it’s still tight, the procedure I did has no effect. It is still firmly locked together and I am glad about the result. I hope this will help you guys out as well.

Messer Zwerg:

Now let’s take a look at the extra weapons included in the kit. Model Heart also included the Messer Zwergs and it features below average amount of parts.

It was really bland in my opinion so I added some metallic blue on some of the sections.

After some cleaning, the Messer Zwerg is now done.

But you need to do this six times so prepare for a lot of cleaning. Fortunately, they were undergated and that helped me a lot to finish them quickly. There were no issues here with the fittings and that’s good news.

And here are the parts for the ….. uh..
I don’t know what it’s called! D:

It looks like a chubby pistol but you need this part to build the Drei Zwerg. (LOL)

It’s a smooth build with no issues. I had to add the green foil sticker though.

Okay, I was also confused why the construction manual says Messer and not Drei. I did some light research about this and it says that Drei Zwerg is the combination of three Messer Zwerg rifles. Now that is easier to understand. Model Heart gives you not just the option to use six Messer Zwerg rifles but also build two(2) Drei Zwerg rifles.

Building the Drei Zwerg actually looks easy, but the issues come late after you try the Drei Zwerg Buster Rifle. Okay, so you have this connector where you just simply slide it in.

Do this three times and you will now have the Drei Zwerg. The issue here is that sometimes the peg or connector will slide back out so you need a lot of patience. I used a screwdiver to keep it in position while sliding it in the main body.

It’s quite heavy but it’s nice that Model Heart included some extras (See Extras Section) for this matter.

Weapon Rack:

I also don’t know what it is called so I will just refer this as a weapon rack for the Messer Zwergs.

As usual, the only problem here is the pegs. They don’t fit in quickly and they are very tight.

After finishing, you can now place the…uh.... chubby pistol part for the Drei Zwerg. >__<

And you can also place the Messer Zwergs here.

Using the small square tip at the back of the handle, you can connect the other Messer Zwerg rifles together.

They can also act as extra wings for WZC that can be spread out.

Beam Sabers:

Nothing fancy here with the beam sabers. You don’t need to build them so it’s just plain as it is. I applied some metallic blue though, just to add some extra detailing.

Extras:

Okay, so we will now take a look at the extra items added in the kit starting it off with these dark gray parts. You will need to use them to build the Drei Zwerg Buster.

If you are planning to remove them often and go back to the original Twin Buster Rifle option, I suggest trimming the inner rims of the female pegs lightly.

You may think think that they will be a bit loose. That is correct, but you have the parts on the side that will serve as locks as well. Just don’t overdo the scraping part; just enough to dismantle them without problems.

Here in this same picture, I would also suggest attaching all the Messer Zwergs FIRST before putting them on the Twin Buster Rifles. Why? Because the sliding connectors have the tendency to swivel back inside the body and that is a bit frustrating. There’s a cavity or canal on these sliding connectors ( I don’t have pictures to explain it better >_> ). Use your fingernails as support and slide them in. Once all MZ rifles are connected, carefully attach them to the Twin Buster Rifles.

Now here’s a quick look at the huge Drei Zwerg Buster. I might change the clear rod because I don’t think it can handle the weight of this thing.

Action Base:

Parts separation for the Action Base is good. It also looks similar with Bandai’s Action Base 3 (I think I need to get 3 of Bandai's Action Base 3 for my 00 lineup O_O )

There are no big problems with the snap fitting but I have some issues with it that I will discuss later.

You have these rounded pegs that you can attach on the bottom of the base. This will raise the base a little higher in a slanted position.

Now for the issue I mentioned earlier. I don’t think this can handle the weight of WZC especially if you also attached the Messer Zwergs on the back. There’s a tendency for this part (check image) to slide little by little. I tried putting some glue but the glue dried off so fast, so it’s not completely attached together (visible seam). I can’t remove it also because the glue is really strong. >_>
Still, it was good enough to handle the weight of WZC and all of its weapons.

Anyways, the stand is articulated and you can rotate some of the sections.

You can also extend the length but I don’t think this is a good idea with a heavy model.

I don’t like the plain design of the card that you will place on top of the pedestal/base. So I looked for an image in the internet, did some editing, and I now have a better one to use.

The action base also has these clear parts with 5 clamps. These clamps have ball-joint connectors where you can attach the feather effects.

And here are the feathers. They are really smooth and my pencil lead just slide off them. :v

The feathers are all different/unique in terms of design and shape which is cool. You can adjust them to your liking and have that classic angelic feel when taking a picture.

As always, you have the other fixed manipulators that you can use for different action poses.

I forgot to mention that you can use this tip if you want the Action Base for your RG Wing Zero Gundam Custom. :)

And here’s the connector that we will use to put WZC on the Action Base.

Beam saber effects are also included in the kit and they will count as extra parts.

Here’s the clear rod with the base I mentioned earlier. This is supposed to be a support item and lift that heavy Drei Zwerg Buster or the Twin Buster Rifle. But the clear rod isn’t strong so I will look for an old runner and use that later for the photoshoot.

Model Heart also included these clear parts. They will act as support if you want WZC to carry any of the weapons with just one hand (except for the Drei Zwerg Buster).

Decals:

Preparing for the tattoos :D

Well, there is no big issue with the decals because they are just using D.L. Brand which is now getting common in the market. The quality is just so-so because the seals/markings changes tone once you place them on the surface. For example, I placed the red marking on top of the gray part, and the red has changed in terms of tone. I also have a friend who said the same thing for this brand.

It is still good because you don’t need to soak them for a very long time. I actually soaked them in water for 3 seconds and I can already remove them off from the backing paper.

There were a few excess markings left on the sheet. I still have a few spaces on the model where I can use them but I just want to use just the right amount. I love applying decals but I don’t want to put a lot of them and turn the model like some kind of vandalized wall. I might use these leftovers in a different model.

Completed Model:

Okay, so here’s WZC without the backpack and wings. Sorry for the bad quality of my pictures. :/

Articulation Test:

Well it’s good, but I can’t make a decent kneeling pose because of the front skirts. I also forget a lot of things for the articulation test like how much range of movement I can do with the arms and if the model is able to perform a split with the side skirts attached. My apologies if I were rushing the review that I forgot a lot of things here. :(

Now here’s the WZC but I added the backpack and wings. It is really back-heavy so I used the Sub-Wings’ tip to support the model.

Close-Up Shots:

Action Pose Shots:

I tried that action pose were the wings are positioned on the front and it was really hard. I can't cover the body completely. I damaged a few markings as well because I had to change its action pose. I also forgot to shorten the clear rod so I can have a better position with its iconic pose. Same goes with the Drei Zwerg Buster. :v

And please don't mind if some pictures look redundant. XD
I just don't remove/delete them if the quality is not that bad.

It’s time for me to give my personal rating for this kit.

Plastic Quality:  8/10

Well the plastic quality is actually between an eight and nine; probably something like 8.4 or 8.5. Anyways, the plastic is really good and I didn’t find a lot of those annoying flashes. Most of the runners are undergated so it’s another plus for me. Of course, just because the parts are undergated doesn’t mean it’s already a good thing. You may still need to clean them up especially if that part will be attached on the outer area of the Inner Frame.

The white parts surfaces’ texture is smooth and not grainy. The blue ones however have that rough look on it. The blue are yellow are not dull for me in my opinion. There were a few “imperfections” like some kind of swirl on the plastic but not that many. The edges, cavities, etched surfaces, raised surfaces, or carved surfaces are all great. They are not as sharp as Bandai but I still manage to put in some ink using my pens and they were deep enough to avoid skin contact.

Assembly: 7/10

The number I gave is still a decent rating because I had fun building it. There were long lists of snap fitting issues from part to part, but I managed to handle them (not like a champ though >_> ). So yeah, they were not much of a big problem where you need to use a lot of hard work or different tools to fix them. Expect that not all bootleg kits are perfect and that will give you a cautious approach when building a new model. Just try to be careful as much as possible by looking at the parts first and testing the pegs. Do not force them in if they don’t fit quickly. Do not rush the building process (like me XD) because that will be the cause of accidental stress marks, bent/broken pegs.

Detailing: 9/10

Not exactly the same like Bandai’s GFFMC model, but the detailing is really great. Parts separation also adds a lot of plus factor when it comes to detailing and the two tones of blue helped a lot to reduce the plain look of WZC. (Plain? Are you effin’ serious Jeck?! ) Well yeah, because the model’s original scheme features 5 colors and three of those colors were yellow, green and red. And they are not that many to be seen on the parts to begin with. Just a few touches here and there. :v

This is really good for straight-builders like me who are not stepping into the “painting” phase yet. I am already good with applying decals at the moment to make the model more awesome than it already is. And I am not just talking about the blue ones. The gray parts also helped adding extra detail to the common white color scheme.

Moving to the other part of the Detailing Section are these panel lines, raised and etched surfaces. Now this is the part where I see a lot of builders like to paint. Masking these areas is still needed though, but the time to add more detail to WZC isn’t that hard anymore. It was a good decision by Model heart to continue adding such ridiculous changes and we see that now after all the 5 models they have released.  

Articulation: 8/10

I am really amazed with the model’s articulation. You can do a lot of extreme poses with the right angle. The armor parts like the shoulders’, side skirts, and the forearms’ also feature nice articulation. If the model is just standing and all of the parts are closed, you will not realize how cool it is once the wings are already spread out. Model Heart copied these engineering from the GFFMC model so the credits goes to Bandai for having this kind of feat for Wing Zero Custom.

I rushed the building process and review for this kit so I haven’t tried the possible maximum range of movement for this model. But I am guessing that WZC can do a perfect split given the correct position of the skirts.

Gimmicks: 8/10

Well, we have a lot of gimmicks and that is thanks to the articulation of some of the parts likes the shoulder and wings. The articulated wings feature that awesome gimmick where you can spread them out even more. For me, having the option to build the Drei Werg and Drei Zwerg Buster are considered gimmicks for the model. Attaching the Messer Zwergs and make them look like Sub-Wings or thrusters also give that menacing look for WZC.

I will also add the option of replacing different pictures or printed cards on the action base as part of the Gimmicks Section. If you have 5 of these action bases, you can now put all the Gundam Wing models with an artwork of their pilots. Having the feather effects as well is a nice touch done by Model Heart especially for action poses, making WZC look classy.

Armaments: 9/10

Yes, I am giving a high rating because the Messer Zwergs boosted the firepower of this model (LOL XD ). If not for these free weapons, you will just have the Twin Buster Rifle and the Beam Sabers. Now you have a lot of options like using a Drei Zwerg on the left arm and Twin Buster Rifle on the right arm. Or you can use just 1 Messer Zwerg on the right and a single Buster Rifle on the left. The gimmicks where you can show the machine cannon is a nice gimmick and addition to WZC’s weaponry as well.

Extras: 7/10

Unlike the other kits I have built, the common extras are the fixed manipulators, a few connectors and/or the excess parts from the runners that you won’t need anymore. But here, you have a lot of items included in the kit. I will count the action base as part of the extras. The feather effects for the action base, the card for the pedestal (but looks bland), the clear rod support for the Twin Buster Rifle, and the clear parts support for the weapons (arm attachments) are cool additions in the kit. The clear rod that will act as support for the Twin Buster Rifle isn't reliable and you may have to replace it with a plastic rod cut out from the runners. Unfortunately, Model Heart or Super Nova, doesn’t have any figurines of the pilots which could have been cool for the collectors.

Patience: 5/10

Having a lot of tight fittings means you need to trim down some pegs to make them fit and that means consuming some extra time in the building process. Even though most of the parts are undergated, you still need to clean them thoroughly to avoid seams or ugly nubmarks that will be bared if not careful. Yes, several parts are not undergated, so you may also need to do some sanding to get the same glossy finish like the rest of the parts.

Overall Rating: 9/10

I’m not going to lie – this is the first bootleg kit I have given with a high rating compared to all the bootleg or knockoff kits I have reviewed and/or built in my life. At first, I am not even thinking of buying this kit because the chance of completing them all is very slim. Some collectors are not satisfied having just one of the models like Deathscythe Hell or Altron or Heavy Arms. So they prefer to get them all. Not all builders are the same though and they like focusing more on a single model. For example, like completing only the Heavy Arms model or the Deathscythe model. But yes, I’m more of a semi-completer so I need to get them all if I have to start with any of the Gundam Wing models. Fortunately, it’s actually a bit okay if I only have the WZC. You could say that it’s kind of similar having RX-78-2 in your collection without any of the other models from its timeline.

If you want that uncommon crazy yet awesome look with a cheaper budget, then Super Nova/ Model Heart will be there for you. Well, we just need to hope that they are still active for more years to come and see if they can release Tallgeese III or Epyon as well. For the original look and “achievement” factor, getting all the models from Bandai will be your path. No need to argue if you have already decided to put every last penny to the three P-Bandai models just to complete the classic Gundam Wing models. I am not putting that previous comment like some kind of provocative gesture. I am just saying that we have decisions and most of us pick whatever that makes us happy. I will do the same thing since a few kits in my wishlist are P-Bandai. xD

Okay, I think this is a nice model if you have plans in adding some modifications. I see a lot of rooms and I always get that brainstorming attitude every time I see something new. Unfortunately, I can’t put all the ideas I have into reality because I haven’t tried “modding” yet. One of the ideas I thought is adding more thrusters to the shoulders if they are exploded out. Or modding the Messer Zwergs to make it less plain. Or probably a hidden beam saber like the Nu Gundam on one of its forearms armor.

Is this kit recommended for a beginner? Absolutely not! If you’re a first-timer and you haven’t started any Master Grade models, I don’t think this is a nice stepping stone unless you are willing to take the risk of breaking a few parts here and there. Even if you say that you have already built several MG’s but they are Bandai, I don’t think this is a good kit for you. Issues or problems are very common in any brand even Bandai. But Bandai has a low percentage of experiencing an issue. You might get frustrated if you suddenly come across an isolated problem I haven’t mentioned in this review. Snap-fitting wise, I don’t think you will love the painful route here. But if you have already been accustomed to bootlegs and already know the possible “worst case scenarios”, then Model Heart WZC is a good challenging kit for you. :P

Thank you for taking a look at this review and I will now take a survey what kit to build next. I would like to apologize if I might have forgotten to include some information about the kit. If there is something I missed, don’t hesitate to give a question or a comment about your own experience here in Model heart’s WZC.