OLD Z Gundam 1/144 Gaplant

Release 1985.10

Price ¥700

BANDAI BANDAI Japan product info

Box side view

Runners

Parts diagram

Manual

Straight build + waterslide decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Two beam sabers are included.

Limb articulation is the best among the old Z 1/144 kits.

The hip joints spread out nice and wide to the sides too.

OLD 1/144 Gaplant - Beam cannon action. The poses are pretty impressive for an old kit~ (1/3)

Beam cannon action. The poses are pretty impressive for an old kit~

Beam saber action

To transform into Mobile Armor mode, first tuck the head in and raise the backpack verniers.

OLD 1/144 Gaplant - Rotate the shoulders 90 degrees backward and tuck them inward, then extend the beam cannons to full lengt

Rotate the shoulders 90 degrees backward and tuck them inward, then extend the beam cannons to full length.

OLD 1/144 Gaplant - Raise the backpack section as high as it goes, then extend and flip up the verniers that were in front of

Raise the backpack section as high as it goes, then extend and flip up the verniers that were in front of the rear skirt.

Rotate the legs fully backward and adjust the body angle.

Mobile Armor form complete

Underside

OLD 1/144 Gaplant - Together with the 1/144 Z Gundam. It's noticeably bigger, as you'd expect from a Mobile Armor transformin

Together with the 1/144 Z Gundam. It's noticeably bigger, as you'd expect from a Mobile Armor transforming unit.

Alongside the HGUC Gaplant released in 2003. The old kit's proportions hold up surprisingly well!

Comparison with the HGUC - Mobile Armor form

This is the old Z Gundam 1/144 Gaplant — a unit that boasts impressive bulk and a transformation gimmick. The proportions are surprisingly refined, almost on par with the HGUC, and the color separation is quite well done too.

It's not just the color separation and proportions that impress — the articulation is solid as well, allowing for poses that blow every other old Z Gundam kit out of the water. It even pulls off more dynamic poses than the HGUC, which honestly gives you a bit of a thrill. The shoulder section in particular feels more stable than the HGUC, making it easier to nail good proportions, and the polycaps keep the joint strength decent too.

The transformation gimmick is implemented in a way that's very close to the HGUC, so the Mobile Armor form doesn't look all that far behind either. That said, the locking of the transformation joints feels a bit iffy — probably because these are early-generation polycaps — and the overall smoothness and feel of the transformation process is clearly more refined on the HGUC.

Either way, the sculpt is so well done that with just some seam line cleanup and a basic paint job, it's hard to tell whether you're looking at the old kit or the new one. Among the Z Gundam 1/144 lineup, this one stands head and shoulders above the rest — a true gem of an old kit. :-)
[ Updated at 2017.3.23 ]

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.