Gunpla from Gundam's Universal Century setting

This is the page with the UC plamo kits I've made!

MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam [RG]

A photo of the real-grade Zeta Gundam model kit. It is a humanoid mech with white, red, white, and yellow panels. It also has a large 'backpack' and a thin shield on its left arm, both red and black. It has thruster vents everywhere, most notably on the shoulders and ankles, and is holding a large beam rifle in its right hand. It is posed on a raised stand, leaned slightly backwards and head looking towards the camera. The instruction manual for the kit is in the background.
It's a sign of Zeta.
A photo of the Zeta Gundam real-grade model kit in its 'Waverider' mode. The chest has been flipped out and its legs have been brought inwards to form the rear thrusters, while the backpack and shield have been attached underneath to provide an aerodynamic wing surface. The beam rifle is attached in the centre, on top of the flipped-out chest piece. The beam sabers in the side-skirt armor have also been exposed so they can act as side-mounted beam rifles. The photo is taken from a mostly overhead view, and the instruction manual is visible in the background.
Waverider mode...

Why is the Zeta first in this list? Well, the RG Zeta is actually the first Gunpla kit I ever made. Yep. The RG Zeta. Really.

These days I certainly understand why it has the reputation it has: I don't think I've put together a kit that's more prone to falling apart or feeling like it's going to snap besides the RG GP01-Fb. But coming from like, Airfix and Warhammer 40k and stuff, it still felt like a revelation - all this mechanical detail, multi-plastic injection joints, full color seperation... and all for Not That Much, All Things Considered. And hey, the Zeta Gundam's not a bad design.

A photo of the Zeta Gundam model kit in its Waverider form, this time from a front angle. From this angle, the more bird-like appearance of the Waverider can be seen, with the yellow chest vents looking like 'eyes' either side of the red beak-like nosecone.
Waverider, coming at ya.
A photo of the RG Zeta Gundam model kit halfway through its transformation into the Waverider form. The legs have been splayed outwards, the chest piece has been flipped up, and the head has been retracted into the torso. Each arm is currently pointed upwards at a 45-degree angle, making the mech look like it's in a squat power pose.
You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

I did a little overhaul of this kit semi-recently, removing some of the decals (the RG Zeta has Too Many and I originally applied all of them), as well as doing a little bit of reinforcement and re-detailing. Definitely helped with cleaning up the appearance a bit.

RX-78-2 Gundam [HGBG]

A photo of the RX-78-2 Gundam (the original Gundam from the 1979 show) 'Beyond Global' high-grade kit. It is a humanoid mech mostly colored white, with a blue chest and red and yellow accents. It is on a raised stand off to the right of the photo frame, posed as if it is in flight and holding a beam saber in its right hand, which is pointing to the left of the photo frame and takes up the remaining space. The front cover of the instruction manual, with a color illustration and logo celebrating Gundam's 40th anniversary, is visible in the background.
It's The Gundam! From Gundam!
A photo of the RX-78-2 Gundam model kit posed opposed to a Graze Custom II (an angluar, red mobile suit from Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans). The Gundam is dyanmically posed, braced with its shield in front of it and reaching behind its back to grab a beam saber. The Graze is on a raised stand, posed as if it is flying down at the Gundam and holding an axe ready to strike the Gundam.
Look I didn't have Char's Zaku yet, so a different red mobile suit with an axe had to do.

The HG Beyond Global RX-78-2. This is basically the gold standard for HG kits, and for good reason: full color seperation apart from the eye sticker, excellent poseability, and a great take on the original Gundam's design (including a very nice, warm color scheme). If it came with a seperate little core fighter in the same design language (look I'm not asking for it to transform, I saw what happened with the RG RX-78) then it'd be perfect. But I'll settle for 'extremely good'.

A photo of the RX-78-2 Gundam model kit posed along with the high-grade Char's Zaku II. Both kits are on a raised stand, and they are posed so that the Gundam appears to be reeling from the Zaku hitting it with a flying kick, similar to a scene from the original show. The kits are on a shelf with other plamo kits, including a couple of Haropla models and the 'Weird Tails' Hexa Gear model.
Ah, much better.

RX-78-2 Gundam [EG]

A photo of the RX-78-2 Gundam entry-grade model kit. It is similar in appearance to the Beyond Global high-grade kit, being a humanoid mech that is mostly white with red, blue, and yellow details. However, the white is a much cooler color temperature and the other colours are more saturated. It is holding a beam rifle in its right hand and a shield in its right, and is posed as if shooting at something to the left of the photo frame. The instruction manual is visible in the background.
It's... The Gundam! Again!
A photo of the RX-78-2 Gundam entry-grade model kit. It is posed splayed out on the ground: the bottom of the feet are visible, showing molded thruster detail, but otherwise it shows much the same parts of the kit as the photo with it standing up.
oof.wav

I had to give the EG RX-78 a go, and the kit engineering is also incredible: you really can just snap/twist the parts out of the runner, stick them together, and have a complete RX-78 with excellent poseability and colour seperation. I don't really have a lot else to say about it though - that's all I did with this kit. At some point I want to do a full repaint, but who knows when I'll get around to it.

MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type (Char's Zaku II) [HG]

A photo of the Char's Zaku II high-grade model kit ('revive' revision). It is a bulky humanoid mech, with curved red armor pieces and coolant tubes around the waist, legs, and helmet-like head. It has a single pink monoeye that can move left to right in a track, a spiked armor plate on its left shoulder, and a large shoulder shield on its right shoulder. It is holding a machine gun in both hands, and the instruction manual is visible in the background.
It's that red mobile suit!

If you have an RX-78, you need to have Char's Zaku II. I think it's the law. But that's no great obstacle, because the Zaku II is an amazing 'enemy' suit design. Bulky armor, a spiky shoulder, and a big menacing looking monoeye. It's great.

A photo of the Char's Zaku II model kit, zoomed in on the head. Using a combination of the head itself rotating and the monoeye moving in its track, the monoeye is pointed directly at the camera. The head resembles a gas mask, with a long 'snout' intake connected to coolant tubes that run around the head. It also has an antenna on the top, reflecting it being a commander model.
The Zaku monoeye just looks cool. It just does.
A photo of the Char's Zaku II model kit. It is posed kneeling down on one knee, with its head and eye swivelled to the side as if it has stopped mid-movement to survey its surroundings. One end of the bazooka can also be seen attached to its back.
This kit has very good movement range, like most modern HGs.

This kit has pretty good color seperation and accuracy to start with, so I didn't do much to it apart from panel lining. The only thing I did was use some fluorescent pink paint marker on the rifle scope (just about visible in the first image) and on the monoeye, making it a bit more vibrant than the stock sticker's pink.

RB-79 Ball [HG]

A photo of the RB-79 Ball high-grade model kit. It is a spacecraft composed of a grey spherical pod with two manipulator arms at its sides and a dual cannon mounted at the top. The pod has a circular viewing hatch surrounded by a red hexagonal frame. Red thrusters beneath the pod are also slightly visible. The instruction manual is in the background, showing the color pictures and paint guide.
The Ball is aptly named.
A photo of the RB-79 Ball high-grade model kit. This one has a single large cannon on top, instead of one with smaller, dual barrels. From this angle, the 'backpack' thruster is slightly visible.
The HG kit comes with two of them, presumably to make it worth producing.

The Ball is one of my favorite non-MS designs. It simultaneously looks more 'grounded' and 'realistic' than mobile suits, yet extremely cartoonish and silly, and also terrifying. Did you know that the only thrusters it has are solid fuel boosters? Like the type that can't be switched off, like a firework? Mobile Coffin indeed.

A photo of the RB-79 Ball model kit being carried in the arms of the the RX-78-2 high-grade 'Beyond Global' kit.
A new sport for Universal Century.

There isn't much to say about the kit, really. I did some detailing with metallic green sharpie for the scopes (although after these pictures were taken, I think), and of course did panel lining, but it's pretty much 'what you see is what you get'. My hope is that one day there'll be an RG of the Ball from the beginning of 08th MS Team (hey it's piloted by a protagonist, so it's technically eligible!) but in the infinite meantime I'll just have to be satisfied knowing the Ver. Ka exists.

RX-78GP01-Fb Gundam "Zephyranthes" [RG]

A photo of the real-grade GP01-Fb model kit. It is a humanoid mech with a white lower body, blue upper body, and red and yellow accents. It has somewhat bulky, bulbous armor, and has vernier thrusters in several locations including two massive boosters on its back. It is posed looking down at the camera, with its rifle pointed in the same direction. The box art is visible in the background.
Hello hand grenade.
A photo of the real-grade GP01-Fb model kit's core fighter. It is a small fighter jet-like craft, but instead of wings it has two large booster pods on either side of the fuselage (the same boosters that are on the back of the mobile suit when the core figher is inside). The nosecone and booster pods are white, the forward part of the fuselage is blue, and the back of the fuselage (including a section that has two more thrusters) is dark grey.
Absolutely the best part of the kit.

Oh, the GP01-Fb. Piloted by one of UC's greatest losers, rebuilt from one that was destroyed for stupid reasons, and cursed with an RG that just refuses to stay in one piece. Despite all that, I really like the design - verniers everywhere (yes, I will be calling it the Full Vernier, thank you very much), a much cleaner color scheme than the regualar GP01, and the core figher. Oh, the core fighter. All time Weird Little Thing.

MSN-04 Sazabi [RG]

A photo of the real-grade MSN-04 Sazabi model kit. It is a large mobile suit with bright red armor and many seperated panels, many of which have thrusters underneath. The head looks like a samurai helmet and has a green monoeye. It has a backpack with bays for six 'funnel' remote weapons. It has a large pointed shield mounted on its left hand, which has a black panel and a gold Zeon crest, and it has a gold Casval Deikun symbol (resembling a treble clef) on the front skirt armor. There are white decal details all over the armor. The model is on a raised stand which needs a large bracing arm to support the weight of the kit, and is posed as if flying forward.
Char is fighting for our prayers!
A photo of the real-grade Sazabi kit. This photo is taken from behind the model, showing panels opening in the ankle armor with several thrusters underneath, two auxiliary fuel tanks attached to the backpack, and the right hand holding the beam shotgun.
The funnel rack and fuel tanks sticking out of the back looks so sick.

Finally (for now), we have the RG Sazabi. An incredible mobile suit and an incredible kit. Every inch of the kit has little details, panels that open, thrusters that gimbal, and so on. It's huge. It's solidly built. The subtle red/red color seperation looks stunning. What can I say about it? All-time suit, all-time kit.

A photo of the foot of the real-grade Sazabi model kit. It is mostly bright red with some black armor towards the ankle. The side of the foot has some metallic chrome venting detail, and the back above the heel has two large silver pipes.
Just from assembling the foot, I knew I was in for a fun build.
A photo of the top of the real-grade Sazabi model kit, showing the open 'funnel' weapon bays. The funnels are red cylinders with silver detailing around their beam emitters. Inside the bay, molded detailing can be seen which suggests complex interior machinery.
Even the inside of the funnel rack has detailing.

Despite being a complex RG, I still did some metallic detailing with the EX Chrome marker, touching up little pipes and thruster nozzles. Apart from that and panel lining though, it doesn't need a lot else unless you're going full decal/scribing/topcoating/whatever.