Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers

Big Gun - size comparison with a cigarette pack

This kit combines the separately sold Zaku II Thunderbolt Ver. with the Big Gun.

The Zaku II Thunderbolt Ver.

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - For a detailed breakdown, check out the separate Zaku II Thunderbolt Ver. revie

For a detailed breakdown, check out the separate Zaku II Thunderbolt Ver. reviewfor more info.

The highlight of this kit is definitely the Big Gun!

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - Detail shots (1/6)

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - Detail shots (2/6)

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - Detail shots (3/6)

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - Detail shots (4/6)

Detail shots

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - The legs look like they might be extendable at first glance, but they're actual

The legs look like they might be extendable at first glance, but they're actually fixed length.

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - The round caps covering the screws don't hold well and keep popping off. Had no

The round caps covering the screws don't hold well and keep popping off.
Had no choice but to glue them down.

The barrel can of course rotate.

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - The secondary grip section is also articulated, but aside from that there aren'

The secondary grip section is also articulated, but aside from that there aren't really any other moving parts on the barrel.

The legs can be adjusted in height within roughly this range.

The Big Gun alongside the Zaku II!

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - Various angles (1/8)

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - Various angles (2/8)

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - Various angles (3/8)

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - Various angles (4/8)

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - Various angles (5/8)

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. - Various angles (6/8)

Various angles

All three Gundam Thunderbolt releases together!

The last of the three new HG Gundam Thunderbolt kits is the Zaku II + Big Gun Set. As you can tell from the info shot, it looks like these two components were originally planned as completely separate releases and only got bundled together at the last stage. Not only are the runners completely separate, but the stickers and seals are separate too — and most tellingly, there are two entirely separate manuals included. Usually even with a bundled kit they at least combine the manual into one unified booklet, but I guess that was just too much trouble. ^^;

Normally you'd expect the base kit — the Zaku II Thunderbolt Ver. — to come out first, followed by the Big Gun set as an accessories add-on... but oddly enough, the bundle came out first and the standalone Zaku II Thunderbolt Ver. followed two months later. A bit of a weird release order. Once everything's out it doesn't really matter, but it's still a strange way to do things.

For a detailed look at the Zaku II Thunderbolt Ver. itself, please refer to the separate review— but in short, it's a solid, well-put-together modern HG kit. Like the Full Armor and GM, this Zaku II also features reactive armor-style joint covers, along with decent articulation, sturdy joint strength, and a flashy backpack loadout.

The real star of this bundle is the massive Big Gun — it's the kind of oversized weapon you rarely see in Gunpla, which makes it a pretty eye-catching item. Building it feels like putting together a military kit with that classic Bandai snap-tight goodness, and while the color separation is a bit lacking, the generous amount of stickers and seals cover it well enough that it looks pretty good even as a straight build. ^^

That said, there are fewer moving parts than you might expect — no leg extension, just height adjustment and barrel rotation — which is a bit of a letdown. Still, it's big and imposing enough that it carries itself on looks alone, so it works.

It pairs well with the Zaku II Thunderbolt Ver. for posing, so getting a good action pose out of it is pretty easy. And when you display it in a firing stance, it has a presence that's hard to match with just about any other kit. Pricewise, at ¥3,800 it feels a bit steep for what you get — the Thunderbolt lineup as a whole feels about 20–30% pricier than regular HGUC kits. At ¥3,800 you'd expect a big box, but it comes in a small box more in line with a ¥2,000-range HG kit, which probably makes it feel even more expensive.

That said, the quality is solid as you'd expect from a modern HG kit, so if you're drawn to this unique giant gatling-style Gunpla, it's definitely worth recommending without hesitation. After all these years, Bandai still manages to surprise me with the stuff they come up with. :-)

HGGT Zaku II + Big Gun Set Thunderbolt Ver. | 2013.12 | ¥3,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.