HGUniversal Century

MS-06GD Zaku High Mobility (Surface Type) (Danan Rashica Custom)

The arrogant ace's Zaku, built from the same brown-camo mold as the rest of the Southern Cross squad, dressed up with a heat hawk and a chip on its shoulder.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Zaku II · 1/144 · 2023

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2023

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I like this kit for what it is, a character-focused P-Bandai release that leans entirely on presentation rather than new engineering.

The frame underneath is the same High Mobility Surface Type skeleton Bandai used across the whole Southern Cross Corps lineup from Cucuruz Doan's Island, so nothing here reinvents how a Zaku goes together. What sells it is the molded brown plastic and the water slide camo decals, which look genuinely sharp once applied, plus a Zaku machine gun and heat hawk loadout that fits Danan's reckless fighting style.

Best for: Cucuruz Doan's Island fans building out the full Southern Cross squad who don't mind decal work for a better paint job

The full review

What it is

This is one of five near-identical HG Surface Type Zakus Bandai put out for the Southern Cross Corps in the Cucuruz Doan's Island film, and Danan Rashica's is the one with the heat hawk and machine gun instead of the anti-ship rifles the other pilots carry. The brown molded plastic already reads as desert camo before you touch it, and the included water slide decals add the mottled pattern that gives the whole thing its Southern Cross identity. Snapping it together feels familiar fast if you have built any HG Zaku, the mono-eye slides on a switch, the head sits on a ball joint, and the double-jointed elbows and knees give it more bend than the vintage Zaku kits ever had.

The catch

Water slide decals instead of simple stickers is the biggest adjustment this kit asks of you, they look better once set but they take patience, water, and a steady hand, and skipping them leaves the surface plain. This is a P-Bandai exclusive, so it comes at a premium over a regular retail HG and you are paying largely for the color scheme and accessories since the frame is a rerun. Panel lines and some surface detail are faint out of the box and the kit visibly wants a panel liner or wash to read well on a shelf, it is not a kit that pops without a little extra work.

Who it's for

Buy this one if you are already invested in the Cucuruz Doan's Island cast and want Danan sitting next to Wald, Egba, Sangho, and Selma on the shelf, or if you just want an unusual brown-camo Zaku with a heat hawk for a diorama. Skip it if you want a first Zaku kit or the best value per dollar, a standard HGUC Zaku II gives you the same frame for less money and without the decal work. It is a collector's pickup built on a proven frame, not a showcase of new engineering, and it rewards people who plan to actually apply the decals and add some panel lining rather than build it bone stock.

The build story

What the build is actually like, and the engineering worth knowing about.

Assembly moves fast because this is a familiar HG Zaku skeleton, gates are placed reasonably and cleanup is light, the main time sink is the water slide decal sheet rather than the plastic itself. The mono-eye switch under the head and the ball-jointed neck are simple but effective, and the double-jointed knee that pulls up gives you a deeper crouch than most HG-era Zakus manage.

Color separation comes almost entirely from the molded brown plastic and the decals rather than a complex parts breakdown, so what you get out of the box depends heavily on how carefully you apply the camo pattern. The Zaku machine gun and heat hawk are the only unique accessories versus the squad's other releases, and the shield can hold a spare magazine, a nice small touch for a kit that is otherwise light on extras.

Lore & trivia

01Danan Rashica is a Southern Cross Corps pilot in the 2022 film Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island who volunteers specifically for the chance to fight Cucuruz Doan.
02The kit shares its core frame and mono-eye/knee articulation with four sibling HG releases (Wald, Egba, Sangho, and Selma) covering the rest of the Southern Cross Corps.
03The molded brown plastic and camouflage water slide decals reference the squad's unofficial 'Brown Southern Cross' look used for surface combat in the film.
04Despite piloting the more advanced High Mobility Surface Type against Doan's worn-down standard Zaku, Danan is defeated in their duel.