RGUniversal Century

MS-06R-1A Eric Manthfield's Zaku II

The same great RG Zaku II High Mobility Type engineering, dressed in a Royal Guard's black and white.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

Zaku II · 1/144 · 2019

GradeRG

Scale1/144

Released2019

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a repaint job done right, not a lazy palette swap.

Bandai reused the proven RG Zaku II High Mobility Type frame and tooled a new head part for the blade antenna, and the result is one of the sharper P-Bandai exclusives in the RG line. I like it a lot, but I will not pretend the RG Zaku engineering is flawless, because the waist and legs still show their age next to newer RG releases.

Best for: Zeon collectors and RG completionists who want Johnny Ridden's rival ace in molded plastic instead of paint

The full review

What it is

This kit is Eric Manthfield's personal MS-06R-1A, the black and white Royal Guard colors worn by the Zeon officer credited as the One Year War's fourth highest scoring ace. Bandai built it on the same RG Zaku II High Mobility Type frame used for the Char and Johnny Ridden releases, so the inner structure, upper arm plate, backpack thrusters and shoulder spikes are all familiar if you have built one before. What is new is the head, molded with the swept blade antenna Manthfield's suit is known for, plus the griffon emblem decals for the Zeon Home Defense Corps. Snapping the frame together and watching the panel lines catch the two-tone scheme is genuinely satisfying, it reads as a completely different suit despite sharing tooling with two other releases.

The catch

The frame underneath is not new, and it shows. Builders on the base RG Zaku II High Mobility Type consistently flag a wobbly waist joint that needs deliberate posing rather than snapping into place, and the leg cable springs run short, which lets the piping pop loose when you bend the knee too far. At 1/144 the parts are small and the runners are dense, so cleanup takes patience and a sharp side cutter. This is also a P-Bandai exclusive that shipped at a premium over a standard retail RG, and since it never got a general retail run, secondhand prices run well above the original 3,240 yen tag.

Who it's for

Buy this one if you already know the RG Zaku II High Mobility Type frame and want the Manthfield colorway without hand painting a black and white scheme over molded green, or if you are chasing a complete set of the RG Zeon aces. Skip it if the wobbly waist and fiddly leg cables on the base mold already frustrated you on a Char or Ridden build, this kit will not fix those. New builders who just want an easy first RG should look at a plainer RG Zaku release or step up to an MG version of this same suit for sturdier joints.

The build story

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

The runners are dense and the parts are small even by RG standards, so gate cleanup wants a sharp cutter and a little patience, especially around the shoulder spikes and the backpack thruster vents. The torso comes together in a fairly straightforward sequence, though threading the neck tube through the beaded collar piece is the one step that trips people up, it wants a steady hand and a bit of flexing to seat properly.

Once assembled, the articulation is the payoff, bicep swivels, 180 degree elbow bends and ball jointed wrists give the arms real range, and the ankles hold weight-shifted poses better than most 1/144 kits manage. Color separation is excellent for the scheme, with the black and white split molded in rather than relying on stickers, and the included beam rifle, heat hawk and shield give you the full Zeon loadout without extra purchases.

Lore & trivia

01Eric Manthfield is credited with 156 enemy mobile suits shot down and 3 ships destroyed in the One Year War, ranking him fourth among Zeon aces behind Johnny Ridden, Nordit Bauer and Breniss Ox.
02As commander of the Royal Guards, Manthfield was stationed at Gihren Zabi's Side 3 headquarters before being transferred to A Baoa Qu for its defense.
03This RG shares its base tooling with the RG Zaku II High Mobility Type kits released for Char Aznable and Johnny Ridden, with a newly molded head to capture Manthfield's blade antenna.
04The kit released in May 2019 as a Premium Bandai exclusive at 3,240 yen and was never given a general retail run.