Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Seals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Upper body

Small but handsome face.

Arms and shield

Legs

Outer armor removal shot

Inner frame shots.
Despite being a fully transformable unit, the frame covers the entire body..!!!

RG Zeta Gundam - Frame detail shots by section. The mechanical detail is on the lighter side due to the transformation gimmic

Frame detail shots by section.
The mechanical detail is on the lighter side due to the transformation gimmick.

Articulation in frame-only state is excellent.

Taking a look at the frame structure...
The front skirt and side skirts are connected to the legs.

The hip joint is fixed to the rear sliding plate and only swings forward.

RG Zeta Gundam - The connection between the hip joint and the legs uses a U-shaped pin to lock them together, making for a pr

The connection between the hip joint and the legs uses a U-shaped pin to lock them together,
making for a pretty solid connection.

The gimmick that connects to the Waverider wings is implemented much more simply compared to the MG.

RG Zeta Gundam - The hip joint articulation gimmick that's the key to Zeta Gundam's transformation... this time it's been imp

The hip joint articulation gimmick that's the key to Zeta Gundam's transformation...
This time it's been implemented in a completely new form.

RG Zeta Gundam - As you can see, the wide locking plate on the back rotates 180 degrees upward, while the hip joint locking p

As you can see, the wide locking plate on the back rotates 180 degrees upward,
while the hip joint locking pin rotates 180 degrees in the opposite direction, allowing the legs to spread apart over quite a wide range.

Here's what this gimmick looks like from the front.

RG Zeta Gundam - From the front you can see it clearly — it spreads open with a full 180-degree rotation. This is a big step

From the front you can see it clearly — it spreads open with a full 180-degree rotation.
This is a big step up in locking stability compared to the old MG and PG approach where the hip plate only rotated 90 degrees and barely held together.

RG Zeta Gundam - During transformation, Zeta Gundam's feet also slide in and out — when you bend the knee, the foot and the r

During transformation, Zeta Gundam's feet also slide in and out...
When you bend the knee, the foot and the rear slide cover automatically retract inward.
An auto ankle linkage gimmick that wasn't even attempted on the MG!!
The linkage gimmick using the lever principle at the knee joint is a really clever idea..

RG Zeta Gundam - When you bend the knee into an S-shape for transformation, the joints at the back of the knee link together

When you bend the knee into an S-shape for transformation, the joints at the back of the knee link together
and automatically reposition themselves — it's brilliant.
Better than the MG!!!

RG Zeta Gundam - Even at 1/144 scale, not only is the cockpit interior reproduced, but the pilot seat rotating during transfo

Even at 1/144 scale, not only is the cockpit interior reproduced,
but the pilot seat rotating during transformation is also replicated.. wow

RG Zeta Gundam - The side torso gimmick that was the biggest headache on the MG Zeta v2.0... on the RG it's been reproduced i

The side torso gimmick that was the biggest headache on the MG Zeta v2.0...
On the RG it's been reproduced in a way that's both simple and sturdy.
Actually transforming it, it's a million times better than the MG.

There's also a hidden slide gimmick where the shoulders spread left/right for transformation.

RG Zeta Gundam - Action poses in frame-only state (1/3)

Action poses in frame-only state

RG Zeta Gundam - In frame-only state, kneeling poses come naturally... it gets a bit tricky once the armor is on ;; (1/3)

In frame-only state, kneeling poses come naturally...
It gets a bit tricky once the armor is on ;;

RG Zeta Gundam - Frame state transformed into Waverider. (1/3)

Frame state transformed into Waverider.

The transformation gimmick is truly impressive in terms of technical refinement.

Separate frame parts are used on the inside of all the skirts.

It's only on some parts, but like the MG, there's molded detail on the inside of the armor too.

The included weapons.
Unfortunately, the Hyper Mega Launcher is not included.

The shield extension is also properly reproduced with a slide gimmick.

RG Zeta Gundam - You can attach a grenade launcher to the bottom of the shield — something that wasn't even on the MG. Though

You can attach a grenade launcher to the bottom of the shield — something that wasn't even on the MG.
Though you do have to remove it when transforming into Waverider mode.

The small beam saber parts included as extras can be plugged onto the end of the beam rifle.

The beam saber handles can be stored inside the side skirts.

RG Zeta Gundam - Not only does the grenade hatch open, but you can also load the magazine. It's a gimmick you rarely see at 1

Not only does the grenade hatch open, but you can also load the magazine.
It's a gimmick you rarely see at 1/144 scale, but that's RG for you..

A total of 6 hands are included.

Joint parts for connecting to the Action Base 2 and landing gear are also included.

True to RG form, the cockpit hatch opening is properly reproduced.

RG Zeta Gundam - A 1/144 figure of Kamille Bidan. It's a bit lacking in detail given the small size.. Also, just so you know,

A 1/144 figure of Kamille Bidan.
It's a bit lacking in detail given the small size..
Also, just so you know, that round object in the lower left is a helmet, not a Haro ^^;

Pretty good articulation for a full-transformation unit.

The waist rotates too!

RG Zeta Gundam - The front skirt and side skirts are connected to the hip joints on the leg side rather than the body, so the

The front skirt and side skirts are connected to the hip joints on the leg side rather than the body,
so they don't restrict the legs' range of motion too much.

The Waverider wings can be plugged into the stabilizers in MS mode, so they stay on nice and secure.

RG Zeta Gundam - Interestingly, both sides of the rear skirt move independently. It doesn't really help much with action pose

Interestingly, both sides of the rear skirt move independently.
It doesn't really help much with action poses, but this might be the first Zeta Gundam to have this feature..

RG Zeta Gundam - Overall the straight build goes together without any major issues, but.. the side skirt connection points po

Overall the straight build goes together without any major issues, but..
The side skirt connection points pop off way too easily without glue, which gets pretty frustrating -.-;
On top of that, the clear parts on the beam rifle kept falling off too, so I ended up gluing those as well.

RG Zeta Gundam - Grenade firing pose. Being a transformable unit I guess it can't be helped, but the leg angles are a bit lim

Grenade firing pose.
Being a transformable unit I guess it can't be helped, but the leg angles are a bit limited for standing poses on the ground..

You can recreate aerial poses by plugging the included joint parts into the Action Base 2.

RG Zeta Gundam - Launch pose on the stand (1/3)

Launch pose on the stand

RG Zeta Gundam - The classic(?) Gundam shooting pose. (1/5)

RG Zeta Gundam - The classic(?) Gundam shooting pose. (2/5)

RG Zeta Gundam - The classic(?) Gundam shooting pose. (3/5)

The classic(?) Gundam shooting pose.

RG Zeta Gundam - Pose with beam parts attached to the beam rifle (1/4)

RG Zeta Gundam - Pose with beam parts attached to the beam rifle (2/4)

Pose with beam parts attached to the beam rifle

RG Zeta Gundam - Beam saber + beam rifle action pose (1/4)

RG Zeta Gundam - Beam saber + beam rifle action pose (2/4)

Beam saber + beam rifle action pose

Transformation

Folding the head antenna, narrowing the shoulders, and lifting the chest are all the same as the MG.

Flip the locking pin below the neck downward,
then bring the head and waist as close together as possible.

RG Zeta Gundam - The chest cover that you lift up is on a slide mechanism, so you need to push it in as close to the body as

The chest cover that you lift up is on a slide mechanism,
so you need to push it in as close to the body as possible.

RG Zeta Gundam - Normally the rear skirt section hangs down, which keeps the hip joint mechanism locked in place so it doesn'

Normally the rear skirt section hangs down,
which keeps the hip joint mechanism locked in place so it doesn't come apart.

When you raise the rear skirt upward, the hip joint articulation mechanism finally starts to open up.

RG Zeta Gundam - At this point the rear skirt serves two purposes: when it's down, it holds the hip joint mechanism in place

RG Zeta Gundam - The rear skirt actually serves two purposes here: when it's down, it keeps the hip joint locking mechanism f

The rear skirt actually serves two purposes here:
When it's down, it keeps the hip joint locking mechanism from spreading open,
and when you flip it up, the center of the skirt engages with the fixing pin on the back panel,
bypassing the waist ball joint and locking the upper and lower body in a straight line.
This is another brilliant idea you won't find on either the MG or PG!!

With just one sliding gimmick on the rear skirt, it manages to handle both the hip joint lock (MS mode) and the upper/lower body lock (WR mode) —
killing two birds with one stone.

RG Zeta Gundam - As seen in the frame shots above, you rotate the hip joint lock 180 degrees and spread it wide open. Unlike

As seen in the frame shots above, you rotate the hip joint lock 180 degrees and spread it wide open.
Unlike the existing MG/PG, the gimmick where the front skirt opens up connected to the legs actually recreates the original Zeta's design specs.

Pull the shoulder outward to fold the arm inward.

Adjust the shield length as needed, rotate the fixing pin 180 degrees, then slot it in under the head.

RG Zeta Gundam - Rotate the arm 90 degrees inward, then unfold the Waverider wings that were stored on the back and bring the

Rotate the arm 90 degrees inward, then unfold the Waverider wings that were stored on the back and bring them forward.

RG Zeta Gundam - Rotate the wing section 180 degrees and spread out both the inner wings and the tip wings. The shape is almo

Rotate the wing section 180 degrees and spread out both the inner wings and the tip wings.
The shape is almost identical to the MG, but it's much simpler to fold them out.

RG Zeta Gundam - Rotate the wings all the way down, then secure them by plugging the two fixing pins on the inside of the win

Rotate the wings all the way down, then secure them by plugging the two fixing pins on the inside of the wings into the shield.

Rotate the side skirts forward to get everything into position.

RG Zeta Gundam - Bring the feet together and snap the knees into an S-shape, and the leg transformation is done — it's so muc

Bring the feet together and snap the knees into an S-shape, and the leg transformation is done —
it's so much easier than the MG Zeta v2.0 where you have to keep pulling parts in and out.

A mid-transformation half-converted pose, recreated for a moment.

Spread the stabilizers out to the back..

RG Zeta Gundam - Fold up the beam rifle and attach it on top, and the transformation is complete! The beam rifle's articulati

Fold up the beam rifle and attach it on top, and the transformation is complete!
The beam rifle's articulation gimmick is the same as the MG.
Considering the small scale, the engineering is really impressive..

Just like the MG, you can remove the landing gear cover and attach the landing gear.

Waverider transformation complete!!

The cockpit hatch can be opened even in Waverider mode.

Bottom view with the landing gear removed.

To mount the Waverider on Action Base 2, you need to attach the joint parts like shown.

RG Zeta Gundam - Views from various angles. Looks really convincing~ (1/7)

RG Zeta Gundam - Views from various angles. Looks really convincing~ (2/7)

RG Zeta Gundam - Views from various angles. Looks really convincing~ (3/7)

RG Zeta Gundam - Views from various angles. Looks really convincing~ (4/7)

RG Zeta Gundam - Views from various angles. Looks really convincing~ (5/7)

Views from various angles.
Looks really convincing~

Side view.
Maybe it's the smaller scale, but it doesn't quite feel super slim. ^^;

RG Zeta Gundam - Looking at how tightly everything fits together after transformation, you start to wonder if this is really

Looking at how tightly everything fits together after transformation, you start to wonder if this is really 1/144 scale..

RG Zeta Gundam - Together with the RG RX-78-2 / Char's Zaku. Now if ZZ Gundam comes out too, will the legend of the Universal

Together with the RG RX-78-2 / Char's Zaku.
Now if ZZ Gundam comes out too, will the legend of the Universal Century TV series finally be complete..

Together with the HGUC Zeta Gundam.
The difference in quality is just enormous.

Together with the HGUC Waverider.

RG Zeta Gundam - Together with the MG Zeta v2.0 in both MS mode and Waverider mode. In terms of overall gimmicks, the RG is a

Alongside the MG Zeta v2.0 in MS mode and Waverider mode.
From an overall gimmick standpoint, the RG is a cut above the MG Zeta v2.0.

RG Zeta Gundam - Straight build shots. (1/4)

RG Zeta Gundam - Straight build shots. (2/4)

Straight build

The RG Zeta Gundam that so many fans have been waiting for has finally been released. Before it came out, there was a lot of debate about whether it would be able to transform or not — but RG is RG!! Despite being in the small 1/144 scale, it delivers a fully self-contained transformation gimmick along with a full-body inner frame. Given how complex the transformation gimmick is, you'd expect the engineering to have been incredibly difficult — and after actually building it, you really do get a sense of the craftsmanship and hard work that Bandai's development team poured into every single detail. ^^

Setting aside the transformation gimmick for a moment and looking at the overall kit composition, all the hallmarks of RG are very much alive and well here. The white and gray base color combination, near-perfect color separation, the full-body inner frame provided as a single integrated piece — it's all faithful to the RG fundamentals. On top of that, there's a beam saber storage gimmick, cockpit hatch opening, forearm grenade cover opening, and various articulation gimmicks for the weapons — a wide range of features that are on par with or even beyond MG level. One particularly interesting touch is that both rear skirts can move independently, which is actually kind of amazing when you think about it — no Zeta Gundam plastic model has ever had that feature before. It doesn't really help with leg articulation, but it's nice that they paid attention to even these little details. And as a bonus, you even get a shield grenade launcher pack that wasn't included in either the MG or PG.

Articulation is decent as you'd expect from an RG, but... the leg transformation gimmick does make it hard to get natural-looking leg poses. In particular, when standing on a flat surface, the range of poses you can pull off is very limited — you really need a stand to get it looking halfway decent. Even then, the hip joints don't swing side-to-side very well, so posing it in the air isn't super easy either. The only consolation is that it's a slight improvement over the MG Zeta v2.0. Either way, the RG is no different in that you really shouldn't expect great articulation from a Zeta Gundam. ^^;

The most important feature of the Zeta Gundam is of course its signature Waverider transformation gimmick. Unlike the HGUC, the RG Zeta Gundam is capable of 100% self-transformation without any parts swapping. The overall transformation process isn't drastically different from before, but many of the finer gimmick details have changed quite a bit compared to the MG v2.0 — more precisely, they've been refined into the most evolved form yet.

The biggest difference is definitely the hip joint expansion gimmick. They've done away with the 90-degree rotating/locking hip plate used in the MG v2.0 and PG Zeta, and boldly switched to a rotating plate system where a large hip plate at the rear rotates 180 degrees in a double-layered fashion. On top of that, lowering the rear skirt locks this hip plate in place, while raising it locks the upper and lower body in a straight line — a so-called "killing two birds with one stone"gimmick — which has greatly improved the stability of the hip joint and body in both MS mode and Waverider mode. Also, the side torso compression/expansion gimmick that was the biggest headache in the MG v2.0 has been implemented in a much simpler way, making transformation easier and the fit more secure, which I really appreciate. Folding the head antenna and tucking the head in and out is also no easy feat, but the RG Zeta handles it smoothly without any major issues.

The S-bend knee gimmick no longer requires the complicated extend-and-compress routine like the MG v2.0 — you just bend it twice in quick succession and all the various knee gimmicks link together and fall into place automatically. On top of that, a rotating lever mechanism automatically adjusts the ankle length and rear vernier covers as you go, extending and retracting on their own — which makes transforming the legs incredibly easy. It's truly a triumph of gimmick engineering, and the improvement in ease of use and handling is massive.

That said, the section where you raise the upper body and align it with the backplate has more moving parts than necessary, which makes it a bit tricky to move and lock into place. In particular, getting the chest armor to sit properly in MS mode is somewhat ambiguous, making it a little difficult to nail down a clean proportion. If you look at the chest area in the MS mode photos above, you might notice something feels a bit off — and when you actually handle it, it really isn't easy to get it to lock in as nicely as you'd hope. T_T Every time you touch the chest to adjust something, it keeps shifting out of place...

In any case, the transformation gimmick alone is packed with ideas that surpass the old MG and PG, and the fact that they managed to cram a full inner frame and transformation gimmick into such a small-scale kit is genuinely awe-inspiring. And since locking pins are provided just like on the MG/PG, the stability after transforming into Waverider mode is pretty solid too. Apparently this is the RG kit that Bandai spent the longest time developing — and after building it, you can totally see why.

There are a few things to nitpick though. The transformation process has come a long way, but it's still not easy. T_T In particular, rotating the wings and locking them into place still has the legs getting in the way, so you have to carefully line everything up just right for it all to click together. There's also the issue of the chest armor being tricky to lock in cleanly in MS mode, and the leg articulation still leaving something to be desired due to the transformation gimmick. Separately from that, some parts don't hold together well with snap-fit alone — things like the side skirt connection points, the clear parts on the beam rifle, and the wing-to-body connection points in Waverider mode — so for some of these, you'd probably be better off just gluing them for your own sanity. And while it's probably a cost issue, the omission of the Hyper Mega Launcher is a bit of a shame too.

All in all, this is a kit that leaves you feeling very satisfied — just being able to build a kit this small with such an incredibly precise gimmick packed inside is enough to move you. In terms of gimmick engineering, this was probably the greatest challenge Bandai's developers have ever faced, and thanks to the long and thorough development process, the result is a masterpiece to match. The few shortcomings feel minor given just how polished the overall kit is — if you're a Universal Century fan, this is an absolute must-buy, no question. And I have a feeling we won't see gimmick engineering this painstakingly crafted again for a long time. A true gem of a kit. :-)

RG Zeta Gundam | 2012. 11 | ¥3,300

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.