RE100Universal Century

MS-06FZ Zaku II FZ

The one-eyed grunt that fights above its 1/100 weight class.

MechaGrade Score

4.2/5

Zaku II · 1/100 · 2019

GradeRE100

Scale1/100

Released2019

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the RE/100 line doing exactly what it was built to do, and doing it better than kits twice its part count.

I went in expecting a stiff mid-tier 1/100 and came out with something that poses like a small Master Grade. The color separation alone justifies the shelf space, and the fact that Bandai skipped PC joints entirely and it still holds a pose tells you the engineering is sound.

Best for: Zeon fans and 0080 diehards who want an MG-level Zaku without paying MG money or MG build time

The full review

What it is

The RE/100 Zaku II FZ is Bandai's take on the beat-up, battle-worn Zaku II Kai that Bernard Monsha rides in the closing stretch of War in the Pocket, and the box art commits fully to that final-stand moment. Out of the runners it reads as a straightforward 1/100, but the KPS plastic construction (no PC joints anywhere) means the parts snap together with real confidence and the color coding is baked into the molding rather than left to stickers. I built the torso first and the way the chest armor pulls forward and the cockpit block recesses to clear the waist genuinely surprised me. That single hinge does more for the pose range than most kits this size manage with three.

The catch

The seam lines are mostly a non-issue since Bandai designed most panel splits to look intentional, but the upper leg armor has one obvious front/back seam and the left shoulder pauldron has another, both worth a swipe of glue and sandpaper if you care. The head sculpt options (regular, Commander, Fritz helm) are a nice touch but they're small parts with correspondingly small nubs, so take your time there. It's also a kit that rewards patience in a way its box doesn't advertise. Skip the unboxing photos and just build it, because the first impression undersells what the finished pose actually delivers.

Who it's for

If you already own a shelf of HG Zakus and want to see what the design looks like with actual engineering behind it, this is the upgrade path. It's also a legitimate answer for someone who wants MG-adjacent detail and articulation but doesn't want to commit to an MG price tag or an MG afternoon. I'd steer away builders chasing the absolute biggest, most gadget-loaded kit in their collection, this one is compact and workmanlike rather than flashy. But as a display piece that captures a specific, grim moment in Gundam history, it earns its spot.

The build story

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

The runners look unremarkable at a glance, standard 1/100 sprues with fine parts breakdown, but the assembly feel is where the kit earns its reputation. Everything clips together with confidence, there's no PC plastic anywhere in the joints, and the parts fit is tight enough that you rarely feel like you're forcing anything into place. The two problem seams (upper leg armor, left shoulder pauldron) are the only spots that need real attention, and neither is hard to handle with basic seam-cleanup tools.

The engineering standout is the torso: the chest armor pulls forward on an articulated mount and the cockpit block recesses to clear the waist when you bend the suit forward, which is the kind of detail you expect from a Master Grade, not a mid-tier 1/100. Combined with hip and knee joints that hold deep poses without PC assistance, this kit poses well above its price and part count. Weapon loadout (MMP-80 machine gun, heat hawk, hand grenades) plus three head options gives you enough variety to build a genuinely dynamic final display.

Lore & trivia

01The MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai depicted here is the unit Bernard Monsha pilots in the climactic final stand of Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, and the RE/100 box art was illustrated to capture that exact scene.
02RE/100 (Reborn-100) is Bandai's line of 1/100 kits built without PC (polycap) joints, using KPS plastic instead to hit MG-adjacent detail and articulation at a lower part count and price point.
03By the timeline of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, over fifteen years after the One Year War, surviving Zaku II units like this one are treated as historical relics, museum pieces referenced as early examples of mass-produced mobile suits.