Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers + Panel lining

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Various angles (1/6)

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Various angles (2/6)

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Various angles (3/6)

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Various angles (4/6)

Various angles

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Detail shots (1/4)

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Detail shots (2/4)

Detail shots

Weapons & accessories

The Zaku Machine Gun has been redesigned to look sleeker and more detailed.

There's a movable handle on the inside of the shoulder shield.

Only two types of hands are included.

Joint parts for the stand

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - You can attach joint parts to the rear skirt to mount weapons on it. (1/3)

You can attach joint parts to the rear skirt to mount weapons on it.

Weapons that mount on the legs.

You can also rotate the mono-eye.

Relatively excellent limb articulation

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - In addition to the hip slide gimmick, there's also a gimmick where the front of the crotch t

In addition to the hip slide gimmick, so you can raise the front skirt —
there's also a gimmick where the front of the crotch tilts forward.

Forward/backward shoulder articulation

Waist articulation

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Zaku Machine Gun pose (1/5)

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Zaku Machine Gun pose (2/5)

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Zaku Machine Gun pose (3/5)

Zaku Machine Gun pose

Heat Hawk pose

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Shoulder shield attack pose (1/3)

Shoulder shield attack pose

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Together with the HGUC Zaku II F2. The basic feel is similar, but the details are completely

Together with the HGUC Zaku II F2.
The basic feel is similar, but the details are completely different.

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) - Compared to the HGUC Zaku II Char's Custom (new version), the difference is even more striki

Compared to the HGUC Zaku II Char's Custom (new version), the difference is even more striking.

The HG Origin Zaku II comes just a tiny bit closer, though...

Straight build

The Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) — the unit piloted by Solari in "Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance," a Netflix original CG anime that premiered in October 2024 — has been released as an HG kit. Since it's set in 0079, you'd think it would carry the HGUC title, but being a side story, it just came out under the plain HG label. That said, the numbering still falls in line with the existing HGUC lineup at No. 254. (Which is a bit confusing...)

Since Requiem for Vengeance leans heavily toward a military aesthetic that emphasizes the feel of actual weapons, this kit sports an unusually complex level of detail and molding for an HG — it's almost dizzying once you add panel lining. Since it's officially part of the HGUC lineup with its tradition of panel lining, I went ahead and did it anyway. Instead of heavy double lines, though, I went with lighter, more subtle panel lines — if you're not confident about keeping them thin, going lighter is probably the better call. Anyway, while it borrows the Zaku silhouette and basic layout, the design feels more alien than any other Zaku II we've seen before.

Structurally, it uses the polycap-less joints that have been trending lately, and the joint strength is rock solid. Articulation is above average, but the joints are so stiff that movement feels a little awkward. The shoulders in particular are extremely tight — if you don't move them slowly and carefully, there's a real risk of snapping a pin. Sanding down the shoulder ball joints lightly before reassembling helps somewhat, but go too far and they'll end up loose, so it takes a careful touch. As for weapons, you get the Zaku Machine Gun, Heat Hawk, and the leg-mounted weapons seen in the show. The shoulder shield also comes with spikes and an internal handle, so you can pull off some poses using those too.

The over-the-top detail and panel lines will definitely be a love-it-or-hate-it thing, but that's also what gives this kit such a strong personality. Personally, I found Requiem for Vengeance really interesting with its heavy military vibe, so building this was a lot of fun. (Gundam anime really is just one big Gunpla commercial, isn't it...) It's a bit of an unlucky machine — getting wrecked right from episode one — but it is the protagonist Solari's unit, after all. Either way, the quality is solid enough, so if the style is your thing, this is definitely a kit worth enjoying. :-)

HG Zaku II F Type Solari (RFV) | 2024.10 | ¥1,900

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.