Kit Review

Straight build
+ panel lining + decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

MG Zaku Minelayer - The Minelayer pack is pretty big, so the center of gravity looks a little unstable. (1/7)

MG Zaku Minelayer - The Minelayer pack is pretty big, so the center of gravity looks a little unstable. (2/7)

MG Zaku Minelayer - The Minelayer pack is pretty big, so the center of gravity looks a little unstable. (3/7)

MG Zaku Minelayer - The Minelayer pack is pretty big, so the center of gravity looks a little unstable. (4/7)

MG Zaku Minelayer - The Minelayer pack is pretty big, so the center of gravity looks a little unstable. (5/7)

The Minelayer pack is pretty big, so the center of gravity looks a little unstable.

Upper/lower body close-up shots

The highlight of this kit is definitely the Minelayer pack! Great detail.

Delicate layered detail..

The Minelayer pack removed on its own

Mold detail is densely engraved all the way to the connection point with the body. Gotta love MG.

On the Zaku Minelayer, the head's power pipes connect to the backpack.

There's a spring inside, so it flexes smoothly every time you turn the head.

The mines in the Minelayer pack opened up.

The mines fold up for storage.

MG Zaku Minelayer - The mine chain folded and unfolded. They don't separate — all 5 are connected as one unit, with each segm

The mine chain folded and unfolded.
They don't separate — all 5 are connected as one unit, with each segment able to rotate individually.

Outer armor removed

Internal frame

Upper body frame front and rear shots.

Type F leg frame.

Looks great..

MG Zaku Minelayer - The interior detail of the Minelayer pack is excellent too. (1/4)

MG Zaku Minelayer - The interior detail of the Minelayer pack is excellent too. (2/4)

The interior detail of the Minelayer pack is excellent too.

The Minelayer pack's outer armor separates in that fashion, so there are absolutely no seam lines.

There's also some pretty nice molding on the inside of the Minelayer outer cover.

The weapons. With the Minelayer added, the rest feels a little sparse..

Skipping the usual articulation shots and going straight to action poses!

Ground action poses

Being a Type F, it really suits being displayed on a stand in flight mode.

Stand action poses

Heat hawk action

MG Zaku Minelayer - Bazooka action (1/3)

Bazooka action

MG Zaku Minelayer - Scattering mines scene. (1/3)

Scattering mines scene.

The Minelayer pack gets a perfect score.

Comparison with the standard Type F released at the same time.

MG Zaku Minelayer - Besides the addition of the Minelayer pack, the other difference is that the power pipes have been change

Besides the addition of the Minelayer pack, the other difference is that the power pipes have been changed to black.

A whole bunch of green Zaku 2.0s.

Comparison with the High Mobility Zaku 2.0 backpack. The Minelayer is more than twice the volume.

MG Zaku 2.0 collection. All part of an absolutely fantastic, top-quality series!

Straight build

This is the Zaku Minelayer, released at the same time as the MG Zaku II Type F v2.0. The base body is identical to the Zaku 2.0 Type F, with the Type F's backpack and Giant Bazooka dropped in favor of the Minelayer pack. Beyond the addition of the Minelayer pack, the other difference from the Type F is that all the power pipes on the body have been changed to black. The decals and seals have been updated as well.

For info on the base Type F body, please refer to the MG Zaku II Type F v2.0 Review— and ultimately, the appeal of this kit comes down to the quality of the Minelayer pack. As expected, the Minelayer pack quality is excellent, with the internal frame as well as the inner molding of the outer armor faithfully reproduced using separate parts. In particular, the armor is split along the outer edge lines, so there are absolutely no visible seam lines — that's a nice touch. ^^

The Minelayer pack detail is up to 2.0 standards, and on top of that, the mine chain segments are individually articulated, letting you recreate the mine-scattering scene. However, the mines themselves are all connected in a single chain, so individual deployment as depicted in the lore isn't possible.

As expected, the main draw is the clean Minelayer pack addition, and aside from the interesting change of the power pipes to black, there's nothing else particularly different. That said, the price went up ¥1,000 with the addition of the Minelayer pack, which feels a bit steep. It looks like a natural reflection of rising costs, but considering they also removed the Giant Bazooka runner that came with the Type F, the increase feels like a lot. In my opinion, something like ¥4,000 — a ¥500 increase — would have made for a much more appealing kit.

One more side note — thanks to the large Minelayer pack, the center of gravity is a bit precarious;; The base body on its own had perfectly solid joint strength, but with the added weight in the back, the ankle joints are under noticeably more stress. If you don't get the body balance just right, there's a good chance it'll topple backwards. Because of this, the Zaku 2.0's joint strength doesn't feel quite as rock-solid as it normally does.

Anyway, just the fact that they released a somewhat niche item like the Minelayer in such a nice package is enough to be genuinely excited about. Looking at the kit on its own merits, it's a top-tier base body with a spectacular armor option added on — a very well-executed kit overall. No matter how great the Zaku 2.0 is... if you were getting a little tired of building plain Zakus, this should make for a great treat. :-)

MG MS-06F Zaku Minelayer
Category	Rating	Analysis
Seam Lines	★★★★★★	The greatest slide mold one-piece part ever. The backpack is Perfect too.
Molding Color / Color Separation	★★★★★	Molded color and color separation that's far more refined than the 1.0.
Proportions	★★★★★	A blend of classic and modern. You can clearly see the thought the development team put into it.
Articulation	★★★★★★	The greatest articulation range ever, with joints that are genuinely effective in practice.
Joint Strength	★★★★☆	The base body is fine, but the large backpack puts extra demand on the ankle joint strength.
Internal Frame	★★★★★	A 'perfect' full-body frame. The backpack frame is nice too-
Detail	★★★★★	It's been simplified in some ways, but the beauty of restraint really shines through.
Weapons / Accessories	★★★★★★	Welcome back, Minelayer! Top-notch quality.
Parts Count / Price	★★★★☆	347 parts total. 66.7 parts per ¥1,000. The price feels a little high..
Uniqueness	★★★★★★★	The glorious return of the Minelayer. A sign that the MSV era is just around the corner!
Dalong's Point : 108 pts.

MG Zaku Minelayer | 2008.3 | ¥4,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.