Kit Review
Straight build + panel lining + stickers/decals
Size comparison with a cigarette pack
Upper body close-up. The 2.0 brings back that original feel.
The Zeta 2.0 takes seam line hiding to an absolute art form.
Sleek, well-shaped legs.
Seam lines are eliminated through this unique parts division.
Three-dimensional parts division on the shoulders, also to eliminate seam lines.
The outer armor layout on the legs. Zero seam lines here too!
The head also uses a unique parts division to eliminate seam lines.
Outer armor removed
Inner frame shot. Once the wings are attached, they're really hard to remove if you ever want to take them off..
The upper body and arms do have a frame, but there's no detail to speak of — it's just a bare skeleton.
The legs are built entirely from a mechanical frame.
The frame assembly structure of the legs.
Internal mechanical detail of the legs.
Of course, there's molded detail on the inside of the outer armor panels too..
The molding under the skirt feels a little plain compared to other kits.
There's a single cylinder on top of the foot.
It's not articulated — it just becomes visible when you tilt the ankle downward.
A great example of parts division on the stabilizer section.
Cockpit hatch open. It opens up quite high.
Beam sabers are stored on the sides.
Just like the 1.0, the small yellow sections on the arms and legs are handled with stickers instead of color separation.
Fortunately, they don't look too out of place.
The cockpit is incredibly cramped;; As some have said, it's the kind of environment that would give Kamille an existential crisis -_-;
Many of the articulation gimmicks on the Zeta 2.0 use this kind of ring-lock structure.
The part shown here is from the wing gimmick,
and if you look closely, you can see there's a tab on the tip of the pin that goes into the hole.
When you push the pin all the way into the hole, the tab catches at the end and keeps it from pulling out easily.
So it holds together well.. but the problem is that it's really hard to remove later when you need to.
So if you're doing a straight build before painting, watch out for this.
Otherwise you'll end up in a situation where you can't disassemble it for painting after the straight build;;
One of the biggest complaints about the 1.0 was that the wings were incredibly loose in MS mode.
In the 2.0, this is solved simply by plugging the wings directly into the fixing holes next to the stabilizers,
locking them in perfectly.
The articulation gimmick on the side skirt armor is really clever. A first for any Zeta kit.
The double joint gives it a very wide range of motion, which is great both for posing and for transformation.
However, in MS mode there's nothing locking the upper body armor and cockpit section in place..
so they keep lifting up.
The upper body armor connection point and shoulder connection pins also tend to pop out a bit too easily.
There's a limit to how far the upper knee area can fold forward,
and oddly enough this makes it hard to get a clean, upright pose.
The feet are one of the most commonly criticized points of the 2.0.
The front and back of the sole are about 1mm different in height -_-;;
This causes some grounding issues when standing it up on a flat surface.. but at least there's a stand included.. ahem;;
The large catapult stand and the full basic weapons set are all included.
The new beam rifle, with color separation in deep blue and gray.
The beam rifle's extension.
A unique locking gimmick on the back of the beam rifle.
It's needed for transformation.
All weapons, including the beam saber, have a fixing hole so they can lock onto the peg on the palm.
The grip isn't super tight on its own, but the locking pin keeps things from falling apart..
it's not a rock-solid hold, just enough to keep things from dropping :-)
The grenade pack that attaches to the forearm has interior detail too, as you'd expect from a 2.0 kit.
Attaching the grenade pack. Once attached, push it forward and the grenade on the back of the hand automatically slides out.
The shield's extension.
A slightly upgraded Hyper Mega Launcher.
Based on an HGUC-style blue molded color, with gray color separation throughout.
A unique gimmick added in the 2.0.
The long-range sensor section moves up and down.
Opening and closing of the grip section.
The Hyper Mega Launcher's extension. Same as the 1.0.
Interestingly, all the seam lines on the large Hyper Mega Launcher are treated as panel lines.
Meaning you can just do panel lining or line work without any seam line cleanup..
The Argama stand. A very versatile piece!
The catapult can move significantly forward and backward.
When you move the catapult, the back of the foot rest rises up.
The foot rest itself is the same design as the MG Mk-II 2.0, but a different size.
One of the standard features on recent stands — parts storage.
You can store the two stand support arms and the grenade option pack in the bottom of the stand.
If you remove or slide the catapult out of the way, you can raise the support arm.
This arm can be locked into either of the two fixing points at the back.
Two different support stands can be attached to the end of the arm —
one for the Zeta 2.0, and the other for the Mk-II 2.0 is included as a bonus.
The Zeta 2.0 support stand has 4 angle adjustment positions, so..
The stand can actually achieve 4 × 2 = 8 different angles.
(Getting that one photo up there was harder than it looks ㅠ.ㅠ)
The 1/100 figures included as extras.
Ever since the MG Ball, those tiny figures have gotten noticeably better in terms of detail.
Straight build — front view
Straight build — rear view
The 2.0's legs bend quite a lot too. 180-degree arm bend is a given!
Boldly, the waist uses a ball joint.
Adding waist articulation to a complex transforming kit like the Zeta is a brave move.
The waist only moves a little side to side..
but it does bend forward a decent amount.
One of the downsides of a ball-joint waist is.. if the backpack is heavy, the upper body tilts backward and you end up with a pot-belly look (;;).
Fortunately, the Zeta 2.0 has parts that support each other at the back, so it won't tilt backward.
And the waist rotates quite a lot side to side. Good enough!
There's an extra joint in the shoulder that lets it swing forward about 30 degrees. What a nice little bonus.. ^^;
The shoulder plate also swings backward, whether you need it to or not (?).
180-degree wrist articulation.
The fingers, like those on the MG Gundam Ver. O.Y.W. 0079 / Mk-II 2.0, are structured so that individual finger articulation is possible with a simple mod.
There was a lot of talk about the elbow area moving forward and backward too.. but it doesn't move all that much.
The Zeta 2.0 can even pull off a kneeling pose nicely!
It can even nail the legendary squat pose that not just any kit can do!
Even a full kneel.
Kneeling aim.
Beam rifle action. The pose looks natural.
The ever-lo~ng Hyper Mega Launcher
Zeta mounted on the catapult.
The connection is so solid it handles a horizontal pose like that without any trouble.
But wait, what's that pose!?!
Just goofing around.
Stand on! The pose looks a bit more natural.
That pose from the box art! Looks sharp.
Beam saber action
Ended up doing a bayonet move without even planning it..
This one's just a shot I took for the heck of it ^_^;
Hyper Mega Launcher action
It's big, but it holds it up well enough.
Together with the Mk-II 2.0. The Zeta really is a big kit.
The Mk-II 2.0 stand and the Zeta 2.0 stand can be combined. Makes sense, since they're both MS aboard the Argama.
Stand combination
You can swap their positions too, of course.
Zeta 2.0 on the Mk-II 2.0 stand
The cockpit heights are close enough that they look good together.
The Mk-II 2.0 support stand included with the Zeta 2.0 plugs into the bazooka storage port on the rear.
It connects quite solidly.
Mk-II 2.0 on the Zeta 2.0 stand
Recreating the Zeta 2.0 box art
The famous side kick pose. Something you just can't pull off without a stand..
The Mk-II 2.0 box art pose. In practice, the waist doesn't rotate enough to fully replicate the box art -_-;
First, carefully set the weapons aside..
Raise the upper body, fold the head antenna, lower the head, narrow the waist..
Up to this point it's exactly the same as the original transformation method.
Fold in the shoulder verniers.
One of the highlights of the 2.0 — the leg locking pins.
They lock front and back, so they're quite sturdy.
Both the front and rear skirts lock down the leg connector plate in this way.
Open up the leg connector plate..
Watch out — the ring on that leg connector plate comes off easily!
Rotate and rotate..
The leg connector plate attachment has always been a problem.
In v1.0 it was really flimsy, but v2.0 uses the improved structure from the Zeta Plus as its base.
The difference from the Zeta Plus is that the part that plugs into the upper body has been changed to a ring shape —
and the satisfying "click" when it snaps in feels pretty great.
The ring structure does make for a stronger connection, but it looks a bit fragile in terms of durability, so handle with care..
The leg connector plate plugs into the upper body like this, and is double-locked by the peg on the rear skirt.
Bottom line: super solid!
Now fold down the front skirt and...
It transforms into roughly this shape.
Pop off the two wings that were attached to the stabilizers.
Swing the wings straight back 90 degrees.
Rotate the wings 90 degrees up to horizontal, then
swing them back up 180 degrees and straighten out the connector pieces horizontally.
The wing connector pieces are pretty sturdy and stiff.
Wing expansion. The connection gimmick is very similar to the PG's.
Once you expand the wings like that, space is opened up for the arms to tuck in.
Wing expansion.
When expanding the wings, the front section locks in tightly by bending and straightening it in multiple directions.
Like this.. it fills in completely so there are no gaps in the wings.
One hidden gimmick: a locking pin pops out from the inside of the wing —
this is for securing the shield later.
Now rotate the wings downward.
Push the wings back and fold them in, and —
the wings snap flush against the underside of the body.
A seamless wing gimmick. Totally worthy of the v2.0 name.
The wings flush against the underside. They sit perfectly flush along the line of the arms, with zero wasted space.
Alright.. the body transformation is basically done.
It's like everything is being snugly wrapped up.. ^^
The shield's locking pins are no joke — it locks in at a whopping 7 points, pulling the whole body together into one tight, solid package.
Reposition the shield's locking pins.
Not only are there plenty of locking pins on the shield, but the directions they bear force have been carefully thought out too.
If you look closely, the lower wing pins bear force outward while the upper pins bear force inward —
so once the shield is locked in, it forms a ring structure that won't come loose no matter which direction you push or pull.
As shown above, the shield has locking holes that bear force in opposing directions.
The cockpit connection is also designed to lock in extremely firmly — even a single hole has locking gimmicks working from 3 different directions.
Shield attachment. It locks in even more securely than the PG (almost to the point of overkill).
It fits together with absolutely no gaps. Amazing! It's so tightly packed it almost looks worrying;
Once you spread out the small wings too, the transformation is 80% done!
The side skirts need to be rotated 180 degrees and locked in place —
and true to the v2.0 name, there are additional locking pins here as well.
Side skirt locked in. Fits perfectly. :-)
The side skirts align at a crisp, clean angle. Nice~!
The leg transformation has a new element not seen before —
before folding the legs, you can pull out and extend the lower leg section.
This is possible because the knee connector piece is built as a slide mechanism as shown above.
The sliding piece has a locking pin so it holds its position firmly without any wobble.
Fold the knee and bring the leg up.
At this point, a gimmick kicks in where the structure behind the knee automatically slides up on its own.
In v1.0 you had to push it up by hand.
After bringing the leg up, pull the extended lower leg back forward to close it in.
This extend-and-retract gimmick allows for a more flexible transformation,
and because the knee folds more deeply, even after the leg is folded
you get an incredibly tight, flush result with virtually no gap between the upper and lower sections. Someone really put their thinking cap on for this one. :-)
Fold the foot in and push it up, and the cover on the back of the leg automatically slides open to expose the verniers.
A linked gimmick like this is pretty much expected at this point.
The legs folded in tight.
With the old Zeta, the legs suspended in mid-air would sometimes droop down under their own weight.
With the Zeta v2.0, the joints are stiff to begin with, and on top of that the wing connector pieces sit right underneath the legs and support them directly —
so there's simply no room for the legs to sag.
In other words, drooping legs are a non-issue. ^_^
The beam rifle attachment is also unique.
Instead of just plugging it straight in, you have to rotate the locking mechanism 180 degrees backward before inserting it.
The reason for this is...
to get the beam rifle to sit flush against the body.
Unlike the old beam rifle that looked like it was floating in mid-air, this one snaps right up against the body. :-)
And with that, the basic Waverider transformation is complete!
The stand attachment point is the same as in MS mode.
The Waverider locked in solidly in a horizontal position.
The flap section on the back of the lower wings can also move up and down!
Bottom view. Everything is neatly covered up.
Top view.
Seamless transformation gimmick..
Front view.
Rear view.
Enjoy the Waverider from various angles..
The slimmest Waverider in history.
Hyper Mega Launcher attachment. It locks in firmly because it connects from two points at 90 degrees to each other.
The shield cover that the Hyper Mega Launcher attaches to is removable,
and can be repositioned to the front side after detaching.
The rear hook hooks sideways onto the bottom of the shield like that,
and then the front locking pin plugs into the shield.
It's on a completely different level compared to the v1.0 Hyper Mega Launcher, which was a pain to keep attached because of its weight.
Also, the Hyper Mega Launcher sits quite flush along the line of the shield, which gives it a very stable look.
Attachment complete.
Not a single loose part anywhere.
The v2.0 is a massive upgrade in terms of transformation sturdiness and locking security. ^^
~ Comparison with Ver.1.0 ~
Looks sharper and slimmer compared to v1.0.
It's slimmer from the side too with the v2.0.
Head comparison.
Looking from the front, you can see the face has become more slender as well.
From the side, the size difference is really obvious.
The v2.0 body — thinner and taller. The difference in the blue molded color is quite significant.
The v2.0 arms — thicker forearms but much longer overall.
Honestly, the v1.0 arms were short and thin and looked a bit weak..
The v2.0 legs, redesigned overall to match the original design concept.
There's a misconception going around that the v2.0 legs are longer, but the v1.0 legs are actually slightly longer in absolute terms.
The v2.0 legs just look longer because they're so much slimmer.
The difference in the legs seen from the side.
The rear wings look similar on the outside, but the internal gimmicks have been massively upgraded.
The contrast is especially stark between the floppy v1.0 wings and the solid v2.0 wings.
The Hyper Mega Launcher has gotten significantly longer in v2.0.
The grip section is also much larger in v2.0.
It's not just bigger — the design has changed quite a bit too.
It's not an exaggeration to say it's an almost completely different design.
The MG v2.0 Hyper Mega Launcher shares the same molded color and design concept as the HGUC version.
The beam rifle section doesn't look like it's changed much.
Though it seems the yellow sticker on the front that was on v1.0 has been left out of v2.0 ;;
The v2.0 shield has become even thinner and longer.
Waverider comparison.
View larger image
The Waverider landing gear that was on v1.0 has been removed in v2.0.
I get that there's a stand, but was it really necessary to cut it?..
Especially since the v2.0 itself even has a landing gear storage bay built in.
The overall size is about the same.
The even slimmer v2.0 Waverider.
From the side you can really see just how much slimmer it's gotten~
The wing design has changed significantly compared to v1.0.
The v2.0 nose — way, way slimmer.
The difference in body gimmicks.
The 1.0 skirt had an extra hole for mounting the beam rifle, but that's been left out in the 2.0.
Looks like it was removed to keep the design cleaner.
Differences in the leg area
The stabilizers are also thinner and longer, and the LED light-up feature that was on the 1.0 is gone.
Comparison with the Hyper Mega Launcher attached.
~ Various comparison shots ~
The MG 1.0 shares the same design concept as the PG.
The PG does look a bit chunkier though.
The MG 2.0 shares the same design concept as the HGUC.
Here it is alongside the Zeta Plus, which is an improved version of the Zeta.
I used to think the Zeta Plus was pretty slim in its own right, but standing them next to each other, it looks downright chubby compared to the Zeta;
Comparison with the Zeta Plus Waverider
The improved Zetas!
The Zeta trio of main characters
Comparison with the MG Gundam Ver. O.Y.W. 0079 and Mk-II 2.0. They just keep getting taller!
Comparison with the ZZ. They're almost the same height — even though the ZZ is supposed to be bigger according to the specs.
The evolution of TMS (Transformable Mobile Suits). The ultimate TMS has to be the Ex-S!
Comparison with the HGUC.
Comparison with the HGUC Waverider.
With the Hyper Mega Launcher attached
Zetas, assemble!
The Zetas have kept getting better year after year... just how far will MG version upgrades go?