HGAfter Colony

OZ-06MS Leo (Flight Unit Type)

Bandai took the cannon fodder mobile suit of the AC timeline and gave it a build quality that punches way above its rank.

MechaGrade Score

3.9/5

Leo (Flight Unit Type) · 1/144 · 2019

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2019

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I did not expect a mass produced grunt suit to be one of the better building HG kits I have put together this year, but that is exactly what happened.

The Flight Unit Type takes the standard HGAC Leo mold and bolts on a folding wing pack and thigh boosters, and the extra hardware only adds to a kit that was already surprisingly clever underneath. This is not a flashy hero unit and it does not pretend to be, but as an engineering exercise in a small footprint it delivers.

Best for: Gundam Wing fans and HG builders who want an MG-style building feel in a 1/144 grunt suit

The full review

What it is

The Leo is the OZ mass production suit from Gundam Wing, and this Flight Unit Type variant bolts a foldable wing module onto its back plus booster units onto the thighs for atmospheric flight, matching the equipment the suit wears in a handful of key episodes. It was a Bandai Hobby Online Shop release in early 2019, built on the same HGAC Leo mold that Bandai reworked under its Gunpla Evolution Project. Every color you see is molded plastic, there is not a single sticker in the box, and the parts snap into a surprisingly sturdy silhouette once assembled. Builders consistently describe the process as feeling closer to an MG than a typical HG, which is a strange and welcome sensation for a suit this cheap and this size.

The catch

The trade off for that clever engineering is structural confidence. Several builders who have put this kit together note it feels flimsier and looser in the joints than other HGs from the same era, especially once you start posing it with the flight pack attached, since the extra wing and booster mass puts more load on the same small joints. It is also a Premium Bandai style release, so it is not something you will find sitting on a regular hobby shop shelf, you are hunting a secondary market or an online shop restock. And because the whole kit leans on molded color instead of stickers or paint apps, a few small panel details are left for you to hit with a marker if you want them to read cleanly.

Who it's for

If you are into Gundam Wing and want the Leo the way it appears in its flight configuration, this is the version to chase, and it rewards anyone who enjoys a build that makes you stop and appreciate the part engineering rather than just clipping and moving on. It is also a good pick for HG builders who want a taste of MG style assembly without the MG price or time investment. Skip it if you want a rock solid, tank like feel in hand, since the flimsiness some builders report is real, and skip it if you are not willing to hunt down a Premium Bandai release since it will not turn up in a standard model kit aisle.

The build story

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

Builders who have gone through this kit report the parts are gated cleanly enough that nub cleanup is close to a non issue, and the fit between pieces is tight without fighting you, which is not something you can say about every HG in this price range. The building process itself has been compared favorably to an MG in feel, not in complexity, but in how deliberately the parts come together and how little you rely on stickers or paint to get a finished look.

Articulation is the other high point. The ball jointed waist, double jointed knees, and ball and socket ankles give this Leo a real pose range for a 1/144 grunt suit, and the side skirt armor is cut to get out of the way of hip movement instead of blocking it. The Flight Unit adds new wing moldings that fold for storage and deploy for flight poses, plus leg boosters that swing through roughly 90 degrees on their thigh connectors, so you get a genuinely different silhouette from the base Leo rather than just a backpack accessory.

Lore & trivia

01The Leo was designed by Hajime Katoki, the same designer behind the more elaborate Ver.Ka Master Grade line and the 0083 Stardust Memory mobile suits.
02In Mobile Suit Gundam Wing the Leo is treated as disposable cannon fodder for the OZ and Romefeller forces, a deliberate contrast to its unusually thoughtful kit engineering.
03The HGAC Leo mold was part of Bandai's Gunpla Evolution Project, an internal effort to redesign runner layouts and joint systems to make HG kits easier and cheaper to produce.
04The Flight Unit Type equipment lets the Leo operate at high speed within a planet's atmosphere, using back mounted turbofan engines in the wing module and thigh boosters for stability.