OLD MSV 1/144 MS-06R-2 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II

OLD 1/144 MS-06R-2 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II Box

Release 1984.2

Price ¥600

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

OLD 1/144 MS-06R-2 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II - Box side view (1/3)

Box side view

Runners

Waterslide decals

OLD 1/144 MS-06R-2 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II - Parts (1/2)

OLD 1/144 MS-06R-2 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II - Parts (2/2)

Parts diagram

OLD 1/144 MS-06R-2 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II - Manual (1/4)

OLD 1/144 MS-06R-2 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II - Manual (2/4)

Manual

Straight build + wet decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

OLD 1/144 MS-06R-2 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II (1/2)

OLD 1/144 MS-06R-2 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II (2/2)

Quite a few leftover parts remaining.

OLD 1/144 MS-06R-2 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II - The heat hawk can be mounted on the side skirt, but it barely stays in plac

The heat hawk can be mounted on the side skirt, but it barely stays in place, so you'll need to glue it down..

A bazooka rack can be glued onto the shield.

Fully armed with heat hawk and bazooka

Articulation is identical to the existing 1/144 High Mobility Zaku.

Bazooka action

Heat hawk action

OLD 1/144 MS-06R-2 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II - Zaku machine gun action (1/3)

Zaku machine gun action

Together with the 1/144 MS-06R Zaku

Together with the 1/144 Char's Zaku

Together with the HGUC Johnny Ridden's Zaku released in 2013

The 1/144 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II came out as a variation of the 1/144 MS-06R High Mobility Zaku, which was the first MSV release in the 1/144 line. Structurally, the leg armor and spike armor were changed, and the forearms are slightly thicker, which means some of the original MS-06R parts end up as leftover parts.

Since it's a kit with only partial changes, the basic characteristics are the same as the 1/144 MS-06R Zaku. I wasn't expecting much from the articulation to begin with, but the joint strength is still pretty weak, making it a tough kit to pose. The shoulder-to-forearm area in particular is quite loose and tends to droop down constantly — this is definitely a kit that needs joint reinforcement work.

By the way, due to the design of Johnny Ridden's unit, the thicker legs could potentially reduce knee articulation, but in the 1/144 MSV version, the armor was added with some clearance left at the lower rear of the knee, so it actually maintains the same articulation as the original MS-06R High Mobility Zaku. Sure, the range of motion isn't huge since it's an old-school kit, but it's pretty interesting to see that back in the day, there was already some thought put into designing the armor so it wouldn't restrict knee articulation.

The MSV 1/144 Johnny Ridden's Zaku II has one more unique gimmick — a bazooka rack can be attached to the middle of the right shield. It has to be glued on rather than being a snap-on/off piece, but it feels very MSV-like as a feature. Either way, the fact that it's Johnny Ridden's unit in red gives it its own personality as an MSV, and it seems like a hard item to pass up for old-school Zaku fans. :-)
[ Updated at 2016.8.13 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.