By Loran
Yes, yes, I’ve been sort of slacking with the Gunpla reviews. But don’t worry, I’ve got a good one this time! Yep, it’s the Geara Zulu, one of the kits I won at Otakon this year. Normally I don’t build kits like this. I much prefer to paint and stuff as I go, but I felt like doing a “rough build” this time around for the purpose of the review. I figured this makes it easier to tell what needs to be painted, especially when you consider that with a design like this… you’re going to need a LOT of paint.
The Geara Zulu is the primary grunt of Gundam Unicorn. This variant is called the “Guards Type”, which I believe is used by Neo Zeon officers. The kit itself is mostly made up of parts from both the standard Geara Zulu and Angelo Sauper’s custom unit. As a result, it has a bunch of spare parts, namely the sleeves, collar, and even the legs. I’m thinking of using some of them to construct a custom suit, maybe perhaps some blue and silver.
Also, I’m not one to complain about Katoki’s designs, but is it just me or do the legs seem REALLY long here?
There’s nothing too impressive as far as poseability is concerned. Bandai kinda peaked with their standard-issue HGUC poseability a few years ago. I do have some complaints, though. The skirt armor is a fused piece, which I’ve come to expect but it’s especially annoying here… it has to be cut down the whole seam. This could get messy.
Like all of the other Zeonic suits in Unicorn, the Geara Zulu has all sorts of little lines on it. Obviously this can’t be represented in plastic without any sort of paint applications, so this kit comes with TONS of stickers. I’m not going to bother with them of course, so I’m going to get myself a really, really thick paintbrush. I’m thinking of doing these details in silver instead of white, to better align the suit with the Sinanju. I might do those ugly yellowish details in gold, too.
Unlike the standard version of the suit, the Guards Type has a backpack similar to the Geara Doga from Char’s Counterattack. I’m not too fond of this design, really. It just looks so blocky and ugly and contrasts with the look of the rest of the suit. I’d much rather see the backpack from Angelo’s unit, with its crazy propellant tanks.
The head has that weird gas mask look to it, making it look like some German stormtrooper from WWII. It even has a German helmet, complete with optional command antenna. The monoeye is also movable in the same fashion as other kits.
The kit is LOADED with weapons, but unfortunately, none of them are new. The shield came from Angelo’s unit, while all the other weapons came from the mass-production version. They’re all very nice, however, but almost too realistic to look like they came out of Gundam. I do quite like the WWII “potato masher” grenades, but I wish it came with hands that could hold them better. It just looks like he wants to smash stuff with them, not throw them. It also needs a better wrist for the RPG. It has a hard time holding it…
The kit is capable of holding all its weapons, thanks to a mount on its butt. What a wonderful thing. Sadly, no panzerfausts for the shield. A strange omission indeed.
The kit is not without its flaws, but it was a fun build nonetheless. I think Angelo has the best-looking Geara Zulu, but that pink is just way too silly. I think if I did some partswapping between the three kits I could get some pretty cool variants, but for now I’ll just stick the one I have. Come into FPNYC and get some nifty Zeek grunts of your own!
