MGUniversal Century

MS-06R-2 Zaku II (J. Ridden Custom)

A 1996 ace-custom Zaku that still poses like it means it, thruster bulk and all.

MechaGrade Score

3.5/5

Zaku II · 1/100 · 1996

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released1996

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a genuinely fun kit to build, but it is a 1996 MG and it feels like one.

The arms and hands are a real treat, with knuckle articulation that was ahead of its time, and the red and black Ridden color scheme reads beautifully off the runners with almost no painting required. The catch is the legs. Those oversized rear thrusters look fantastic standing still and fight you the moment you try to bend a knee past parade rest.

Best for: One Year War Zaku collectors and MSV fans who want Johnny Ridden's ace machine without waiting on the Ver 2.0 remake

The full review

What it is

This is the original 1996 MG take on Johnny Ridden's high mobility Zaku, the ace-painted red and black variant of the R-2 prototype that lost the mobile suit competition to the Rick Dom but got handed to Zeon's best pilots anyway. Out of the box it captures that history well. The molded colors are close to book-accurate for a Ridden custom, the proportions read as a proper bulked-up Zaku rather than a reskinned MS-06F, and it comes loaded, machine gun, heat hawk, a standard bazooka and the oversized bazooka, plus two Johnny Ridden pilot figures. Snapping the arms together and feeling the shoulder and elbow joints move through their full range is the moment this kit sells itself.

The catch

The legs are the honest weak point. The high mobility thrusters bolted to the calves and rear skirt look the part but physically block the knees from bending much past 90 degrees, so most dynamic running or kneeling poses are off the table without cutting or modding. The waist rotation is limited too, boxed in by the movement pipe detail parts. This being a mid-90s MG, some panel lines and cockpit hatch detail rely on dry transfer decals rather than molded color separation, and a straight build without any panel lining or light weathering can look a bit flat and toy-like compared to a modern MG.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already love the Zaku II silhouette and want a specific, storied ace variant rather than a generic green grunt, and if you are fine doing a little panel lining or a light wash to bring the surface detail up to modern expectations. Skip it if dynamic leg poses and kneeling stances matter to you, or if you want the most current engineering, the Ver 2.0 re-release addresses the thruster and articulation issues directly and is the better pick for a display piece meant to be posed hard. As a first taste of a 90s-era MG with real MSV pedigree, though, this one still earns its shelf spot.

The build story

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

Assembly is straightforward snap-fit typical of mid-90s Bandai engineering, gates are chunkier than a modern MG so cleanup takes more care to avoid stress marks on the visible red armor panels, and the polycap joints in the arms and hips still hold poses firmly after all these years.

The standout engineering is in the upper body, the shoulders swing wide and the elbows carry a double joint that lets the machine gun or bazooka come up to a proper aiming stance. The backpack thruster block and giant bazooka give the kit real shelf presence and bulk, even though that same bulk is what limits the legs. Part count is generous for the era once you count both pilot figures and the full weapon loadout.

Lore & trivia

01The MS-06R-2 was one of only four high mobility Zaku II prototypes built by Zeonic Company, developed as a space combat contender that ultimately lost out to the MS-09R Rick Dom.
02This unit was assigned to Major Johnny Ridden, Zeon's Crimson Lightning ace, whose personal red and black paint scheme became one of the most recognizable custom liveries in the Universal Century timeline.
03The other three R-2 prototypes went to Gabby Hazard, Robert Gilliam, and test pilot Elliot Rem, whose unit's design lineage fed into the later R-3S high mobility Zaku.