MGUniversal Century

MS-06R-2 Robert Gilliam's Zaku II

The Ver. 2.0 Zaku frame in a jelly bean paint job, and it still knows how to pose.

MechaGrade Score

4.1/5

Zaku II · 1/100 · 2016

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2016

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the MG Zaku II Ver.

2.0 engineering everyone already loves, just handed a blue and yellow custom scheme and a Zeon ace's name plate. I built one expecting a reskin and got a kit that still moves like the benchmark it is. The shoulders swing forward further than they have any business doing, the skirts float out of the way on their own, and the color separation means I barely touched a paint pot to get Gilliam's look right. If you already know the 2.0 frame, this is that frame with a fun paint scheme worth owning twice.

Best for: Zaku fans who already love the MG Ver. 2.0 engineering and want a striking blue and yellow MSV variant to sit next to their standard green Zaku

The full review

What it is

This kit is built on the same MS-06 Ver. 2.0 frame that reset expectations for what a Master Grade Zaku could do, just recolored into Robert Gilliam's personal blue and yellow scheme (the story goes his favorite food was jelly beans, and it shows). The molded plastic carries most of that color split, so the finished model reads as a proper two-tone custom straight off the runners. I went in thinking this would just be a green kit with new stickers and came out impressed at how much of the visual identity is baked into the parts themselves. It wears the color scheme with real confidence, and it does not feel like an afterthought reissue.

The catch

This was a P-Bandai exclusive, so pricing runs well above a standard retail MG and you are hunting secondary market or resale listings rather than a shelf at your local shop. Some panel lines and smaller markings still want a Gundam marker or panel liner pass to really pop, and Bandai recommends topcoating over the stickers and decals if you want them to survive handling. It is also, at its core, the same 2016-era Ver. 2.0 frame, so if you already built the standard MG Zaku II Ver. 2.0 or Char's Zaku, you are paying a premium mostly for the alternate colorway and the name on the box, not a new engineering pass.

Who it's for

Grab this one if you already rate the MG Zaku II Ver. 2.0 line and want a second Zaku on the shelf that stands out in a case full of green ones, or if the MSV ace-pilot angle appeals to you specifically. Skip it if you have not built a Ver. 2.0 Zaku yet and would rather start with the standard retail version at a normal price point, since the engineering here is identical and you will save money going that route first. For anyone chasing a distinctive one-year-war Zaku with real pose range, this earns its spot.

The build story

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

The build follows the familiar Ver. 2.0 pattern: assemble the inner frame section by section, then close the armor over it. Gate placement is clean enough that cleanup stays quick, and the parts snap together with the confident fit that made the 2.0 frame the standard other Zaku kits get measured against.

What stands out is how much personality survives the recolor. The mono-eye still shifts when you turn the head, the shoulder joints still swing forward past what feels natural for a suit this size, and the loadout covers a Giant Bazooka, a standard Zaku bazooka, a machine gun, and a heat hawk, so you are not short on ways to pose it once it is built.

Lore & trivia

01Robert Gilliam was a Principality of Zeon ace credited with 115 enemy mobile suit and six ship kills, ranking him among Zeon's top scoring pilots of the One Year War.
02His signature blue and yellow paint scheme was reportedly inspired by his favorite food, jelly beans.
03Gilliam's MS-06R-2 High Mobility Type comes from the Mobile Suit Variations (MSV) side story material, one of four such units assigned to him alongside the experimental MA-05R Big Ruf mobile armor.
04This kit reuses the frame and engineering of the acclaimed MG MS-06 Zaku II Ver. 2.0 line, first introduced in 2010, in a Bandai Hobby Online Shop exclusive release.