Gunpla Review: 1/144 HGAC Wing Gundam Zero

I swear if I hear TLS 1.2 one more time, I'll stab someone with a butter knife!!! ... Ahem. Now that's out of my system, finally posting a review of the HGAW Wing Zero I bought 2 months ago.

If you're wondering where the Barzam is, he has no money left after buying a lens, paying for car maintenance
and insurance. Fuck adulting amirite?

Every 90s kid who knows Gundam knows this suit. The iconic colony destroying suit that makes people go crazy. I remember as a kid owning the old 1/144 scale one. Good times.

Aesthetics

Compared to the old 90s Okawara look, this rendition is a lot more sleek and streamlined. Especially the torso. The legs a touch longer but we still get the same large shoulder armor.

shoulder pads are so 80s though

Colors are mostly accurate, with the main colors nicely separated through pieces of plastic. That's something to expect at the at the very least for a post 2010 HG. All the sensors/cameras are stickers.

Don't buy the HGUC Tristan please

While it looks good, there are a few details missing and not covered by the stickers. Most of these are the grey vents all over the body. If you want it to look good, it is highly advised to paint these in.

He gives advice as if he did a good job painting the details

Surface details are pretty decent. Thank god for the clear green piece in the middle with a separate yellow piece, unlike the HG God Gundam. Also unlike other Wing Zero kits, the face plate is not connected to the front of the helmet, thus giving it more depth.

No he does not have a HG God Gundam

The build itself is pretty involved, but not difficult and pretty satisfying. Maybe it's just the nostalgia running through me as I build this.

Rhythm Emotion and Just Communication was blaring the entire build on loop. 

I mentioned the panel lines. The only thing I dislike is how shallow they are. Cleaning up the ones one the biceps was a nightmare!

A better look at his "painting" skills. It's the same grey all through out

Overall though, It's a lot better looking than HGAW Double X and has better parts separation and detail vs the HGFC God Gundam. Stickers are mostly used for detail, and the over kit is solid. If you need something more stylized, you have the Robot Damashii version at almost double the price.

Articulation

This came out on at the time Bandai introduced the Common Inner Joint system (no clue what the official name was). This saves Bandai a crap ton of money as they don't have to design a separate joint set for each kit. It 1st got used by the Wing Gundam, and Double X afaik. This results in excellent articulation, although range will vary depending on the design.

The head is in the new standard double polycap ball joint. It can look way up, which is always important for flight capable suits.

The shoulder gatling guns barely impedes head movement due to the shape of Wing Zero's head.

Again. standard in all Gundam type suits these days are the mid torso ball joint and the pull out polycap shoulder joints. Waist is also mounted on a ball joint.

the kit can do a better ab crunch that this blog owner

It has enough clearance to really bend forward for that iconic twin buster rifle pose. Also the waist armor does not hinder rotation at all.

The arms can move up decent. The shoulder flap is a separate piece and can move up as well. Shoulder armor naturally can move up. Plus you get double jointed elbow courtesy of the universal joint system. The only thing is this joint is thicc. It doesn't really look good, this elbow joint.

The transformation gimmick does not hinder articulation that much. It still has double jointed knees. The feet can point down a little and the foot armor can swivel up and down.

The front skirt are combined but can be separated. the side skirts are on polycap clips so it can move up ans swivel on the peg. It has a T bar can can allow the hips to move up and down as seen below. As opposed to the ones than can swivel back and forth.

The ankles on the old HG was a pain due to the transformation gimmick. This one is a lot more mobile, but the calf tends to open up when posed in extreme positions. 

who would pose wing zero on the ground?

There are other articulation points on the Wing Zero of course. The shoulders can open up to reveal a thruster. This thruster can be swivelled up and down. you can even make it poke out between the red and the small shoulder flap. The top white most section can also open upto reveal the sabre holder. More on that in the accessories section.

The wings obviously needs to be poseable. They have an array of joints. I bored you already on the standard joints so just look at the images below on the full range of these. Additional note is there are some details inside the wings, but it's nothing to write home about.

yep he got lazy, as always

Yes it can kneel. A bit of fiddling is needed on the knees, but it can kneel flat and not look awkward, unlike some of the IBO Gundams.

Any kit that can kneel is a win in his book

Overall, the kit boasts excellent articulation. The transformation gimmick does not hinder anything at all. the joints are solid (so far) and have excellent range. A+ here. The only thing missing is the vent flap on the chest, but I'm not missing that at all.

Weapons and Extras

It won't be Wing Zero without the iconic weapons. And it comes with everything is all you need to know.

1st you can pop off the white shoulder armor to reveal the unpainted gatling guns. Mine is painted obviously, but it normally comes molded along with the main torso (in blue).

that poor sentence construction

Then you get all the weapons. None of which can be stored on the suit.

The shield comes with a clip than can swivel. This isn't the most secure connection, especially since it will always bump against the shoulder armor.

yep. he forgot to clean up that panel wash

There's a red sticker that wraps at the bottom of the "cockpit". It also has the pile driver gimmick, which exposes hydraulic detail molded in white. What's nice is that the white bits on the red piece is actually molded plastic. 

it's the small things that impresses him...

The beam sabers are, well.. standard beam sabers. They should store into the shoulder armor (which is stupid IMO), but they don't as they're too big. You can simulate Wing Zero pulling it out though as there are grooves that hold the sabers into place.

ugh... lowest form of comedy right there

Of course you get the Twin Buster Rifle, or TBR for short. The yellow "handles" are separate plastic. There are stickers for the yellow trim, but I never really liked that detail. I'm fine with the tiny yellow bit on top. Also as always, one side has pegs and the other the slits for them to combine. The handles can swivel up to hide when combined.

Mount them all in the kit and voila! The completed Wing Gundam Zero. Looking sharp, except for that elbow joint. One thing I don't like is how you don't get trigger finger hands. It's very nitpicky but some GMs have trigger finger hands.

always complains about the hands

One thing I hate about transforming kits is it makes the review so long. Anway to transform it, you 1st need to take the feet apart, revealing the secret of the ankle articulation. The old 1/144 has no parts swapping. Here you get an alternate transformed feet and you need to transfer the thruster from the bottom of the feet into the transformed feet. I don't understand why they can't just give you another piece of thruster.

Well Bandai gave you 2 beam sabres for MG the O. Why are you baffled at their decisions

Open up the calves and put the feet back in place.

Flip the front foot armor down till flush and bend the knee the opposite way. And no it does not lock into place.

You then rotate the waist 180...

Flip open the wings and position like so

Straighten the arms and flip the shoulder armor down.

Peg the rifles onto the shield, flip up the shield connector and peg the shield onto the slots on the backpack. 

And voila! Neo-Bird mode.

It's the standard flip down the Gundam and now I'm a plane mode. Nothing special here, but at least it's here and it's completed.

remember when the neo bird mode 1st appeared and transformed? It then blew up a colony...

Size Comparison and Other Comparison

It's a Wing series suit, so it's smaller compared to the standard 18 meter suits. Of course I don't have pics comparing it to the Grand daddy gundam. Man I need to keep that kit on my shelf and not buried in a box.

Here it is compared to it's more Angelic counterpart. HGAW Wing Zero Custom please. I hate handling RGs. Thy're so delicate and the stickers are peeling off

Compared to the Robot Damshii Double X. You can clearly see the more stylized approach these Robot Damshii's have.

Summary

Objectively speaking, this is a very good kit. The build is involved, the articulation is excellent and the accessories are completed. You even have the transformation gimmick. Honestly, I will have a hard time not recommending this kit, unless you're not a fan of it's aesthetics. The only gripe is the amount of detailing work you need to do for those vents, and they are difficult to get to unless you have a really small and fine brush. Bandai please release the rest of the Wing kits. Pleeeeeassee!

Good:

- Good articulation

- fun involved build

- good color separation

- complete accessories

Bad:

- you need to detail the vents on the crotch, knees, skirts, shoulders etc.

- some panel lines are shallow

- where are the rest of the Wing Suits?