HGUniversal Century

MS-06S Char's Zaku II

The old red menace, rebuilt from the ground up and finally able to move like the anime promised.

MechaGrade Score

4.1/5

Zaku II · 1/144 · 2020

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the Zaku II I wish I'd had as my first kit, because it makes a fifty year old mobile suit feel current.

The 2020 Revive engineering replaces the old peg-and-polycap skeleton with real ball joints at the hips, shoulders, and torso, so the classic hunched Zaku silhouette can actually crouch and lean without looking like it's fighting its own frame. For an HG at this price, the mono-eye switch alone is worth the shelf space.

Best for: builders who want the definitive small-scale Char's Zaku II, whether that's a first Zeon kit or a display upgrade over the old 2002 mold

The full review

What it is

This is Bandai's Revive-line rework of the Char's Zaku II, and it's the kit that finally lets that iconic red silhouette do more than stand at attention. I built mine straight from the runners and the first thing that struck me was how much the hip and torso geometry has changed from the original 2002 HGUC. The waist spins a full 360 degrees, the shoulder shields pivot out of the way instead of blocking the arm, and there's a little switch under the head that swings the mono-eye left and right, which is such a small thing but it makes the finished kit feel alive on the shelf. The bazooka, heat hawk, and machine gun all peg cleanly onto the skirt armor for storage, which I always appreciate on kits that want you to actually display the accessories.

The catch

The wrists are the one place this kit shows its age. There are no polycaps in the hand joints, so the grip is stiffer than I'd like and the peg that holds the hand to the forearm is thin enough that a few builders have snapped it clean off while swapping between the open hand and gun grip. I'd go slow there and avoid repeated hand changes once you've found a pose you like. The front skirt armor also has a habit of popping loose in deep kneeling poses, so don't force the hip past what feels comfortable. Seamlines show up on the forearms and on the heat hawk if you're painting for a contest-level finish, though at arm's length in the standard molded colors none of this reads as a problem.

Who it's for

If you want a Zeon kit that actually earns its reputation as one of the best HG remolds Bandai has done, this is it. It's a great pickup for anyone starting a Universal Century shelf next to an RX-78-2, and it's an easy recommendation if you already own the older 2002 HGUC and want to see how far the engineering has come. Skip it only if posable wrists that survive constant hand-swapping are a dealbreaker for you, or if you specifically want the taller, bulkier proportions of the old mold for nostalgia's sake. For nearly everyone else building a Zeon lineup, this is the one to buy.

The build story

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

Assembly is straightforward HG territory, snap-fit with reasonable gate placement everywhere except the forearms and the heat hawk head, where you'll want to clean nub marks before painting. The frame underneath the armor is more developed than older Zaku kits, which is why the posing range jumped so much, but it also means a few more small parts to track during the build.

The standout engineering is the torso and hip work, ball joints replace what used to be simple pegs, so the kit can hold a genuine lunging or crouching pose instead of just standing straight. Color separation is solid for molded plastic (the classic Zeon green, the darker green skirt, and Char's red accents are mostly pre-colored), though a couple of small trim details still rely on stickers or a paint pen if you want them crisp.

Lore & trivia

01The MS-06S is the customized command variant of the mass-produced MS-06 Zaku II, distinguished by its extra thrusters and Char Aznable's signature red paint scheme, a color choice that in-universe was rumored to boost speed by 3x.
02This 2020 release is part of Bandai's 'Revive' project, which reworks classic Universal Century designs from the ground up with modern HG engineering rather than simply re-releasing the old mold.
03The Zaku II first appeared in the original Mobile Suit Gundam TV series in 1979 and remains one of the most recognizable antagonist mobile suit designs in the entire franchise.