After a week delay, the Zeta’s build log is back.
While my power was only out for about 39 hours, I still got pretty damn bored. So, I figured, hey, I’ll do some work on the Zeta Gundam! I picked up the parts for the arms and build and sanded them, which took me over two hours. Two hours just for the arms! It probably would’ve been half that had I not done any sanding. It just goes to show you that if you want your kits to look as nice as possible, you need to have almost inhuman levels of patience…
The construction of the arms is fairly straightforward for a transforming kit. A lot of it uses the repeated parts I mentioned before are seen in the arms, so during constructing, things feel insanely repetitive, since you are LITERALLY building the same thing over and over again. But, I suppose building it in the order it was intended makes sure you don’t get lazy and skip over parts.
The joint in the elbow is a very efficient double joint, with a peg going into bottom of the forearm. I really like this idea because it made disassembly INCREDIBLY easy, so painting was much easier! There are a lot of joints in the wrists, too, which will probably make the gun much easier for it to hold.
One thing you might have noticed about the arms here is that I used the stickers for the tiny yellow bits. Frankly, I HATE painting yellow, especially in tiny details like these, so I opted for the stickers. I actually did this on my HGUC Zeta, too. I just don’t find the frustration of painting something that small to be all that rewarding. Stickers are fine, so long as you use them in moderation!
A pair of grenades deploys behind each wrist, but they’re difficult to use right now, since I haven’t built the ammo boxes yet. I’ll cover these in greater detail once the weapons are all completed.
The waist is actually pretty complex, due to the transformation mechanics. There are a lot of moving parts here that, amazingly, all fit together. There’s no floppiness here whatsoever. I’ll be able to better discuss these parts when I move onto the transformation mechanics.
Unlike the last log, I can actually talk about the custom decals now! So far, three are present on the kit. On the waist, we have the Nahel Argama assignment patch. I absolutely LOVE the design my friend made for this. This kit will only have the one on the waist, but I had several others made that might get put on some Unicorn suits.
On the shoulders, we have a “signature” decal based on the ones from the Destiny Gundam set I purchased over the summer. It just reads “Roux Louka, Zeta Gundam: Anti Earth Union Group, 006”, with the 006 representing the Zeta’s model number. On the other shoulder is the emblem from Roux’s pilot suit, which I figured she’d have on her MS proper SOMEWHERE.
I’d put the Zeta at about 40% completion right now. Next, I’ll be hammering out the legs before Thanksgiving, if all goes as planned, then it’ll be onto the wings. Don’t worry, it’ll be done by Christmas! And speaking of, you should pick up some kits for your friends from FPNYC for Christmas… just saying!
