OLD MSV 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku Box

Release 1984.5

Price ¥600

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku - Box side view (1/3)

Box side view

Runners

Waterslide decals

Includes a black-and-white assembly manual and a color-printed mechanical file.

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku - Parts diagram (1/3)

Parts diagram

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku - Manual (1/8)

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku - Manual (2/8)

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku - Manual (3/8)

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku - Manual (4/8)

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku - Manual (5/8)

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku - Manual (6/8)

Manual

Straight build + wet decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku (1/2)

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku (2/2)

Instead of legs, it has massive rocket engines.

When you move the head up and down, the mono-eye moves separately on its own.

The lower body is fixed in place, so only the arms have any articulation.

Shoulder articulation range — up/down and forward/back

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku - The support arms attached to the sides of the rocket engines have a little articulat

The support arms attached to the sides of the rocket engines have a little articulation too.

The center support arm slides up and down.

Action pose 1

OLD 1/144 MSN-01 Psychommu System Zaku - Action pose 2 (1/3)

Action pose 2

With the 1/144 mass-production Zaku.

With the 1/144 Zeong. As you can see, the upper body structure is quite similar.

This kit is the High Mobility Zaku, one of the more outlandish designs from the MSV lineup. In terms of lore, it was a test unit developed just before the Zeong was created. Structurally, it's essentially the MS-06Z Type Z Zaku — which was equipped with a Psychommu system — but with the lower body replaced by rocket engines. As you can tell just from the model number, it was designated MSN-01, right before the MSN-02 Zeong. Because of that, it's sometimes just called the "Psychommu System Zaku" in English, but since that gets confused with the Type Z Zaku, calling it the "High Mobility Zaku" is a lot clearer.

The massive rocket engines in place of legs don't articulate like actual legs would, but they've got great volume and the detail is pretty decent. The support arms on the sides of the rocket engines are linked together so they move in tandem, while the center support arm operates on a sliding mechanism. The arms are thick and hefty, so the joint strength is a little iffy when it comes to holding them out horizontally. One interesting touch is that the mono-eye inside the head is mounted on a separate moving piece internally — so as you tilt the head up or down, the mono-eye appears to follow along in the same direction.

Being such a uniquely shaped Zaku, this was a pretty popular kit among the old MSV releases. It really screams "this is what MSV is all about!" with its bold concept and visuals, making it one of the most distinctive and iconic kits the MSV line has to offer. :-)
[ Updated at 2017.1.7 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.