Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

SD Gunner Zaku Warrior - Photos after applying seals (1/4)

SD Gunner Zaku Warrior - Photos after applying seals (2/4)

SD Gunner Zaku Warrior - Photos after applying seals (3/4)

SD Gunner Zaku Warrior - Photos after applying seals (4/4)

After applying stickers

You can open the head hatch and rotate the mono-eye.

The beam tomahawk can be stored inside the shield.

The rifle can be mounted on the backside.

The rifle's secondary grip is removable and can be adjusted to different angles.

SD Gunner Zaku Warrior - The front and rear sections of the high-energy long-range beam cannon are detachable and can be fold

The front and rear sections of the high-energy long-range beam cannon are detachable and can be folded or extended.
Guess it was a bit tricky to pull off as a fully articulated feature at SD scale ^^;

Instead, the two grips are reproduced as articulated parts.

You can also swing it forward using the locking gimmick.

The shoulders swing forward at a noticeably wider angle compared to other SD kits.

Two-handed rifle firing pose

Beam tomahawk action pose

High-energy long-range beam cannon action

SD Gunner Zaku Warrior - Aerial action shots using the stand included with the Force Impulse Gundam. SD SEED Destiny kits rel

Aerial action shots using the stand included with the Force Impulse Gundam.
SD SEED Destiny kits released after the SD Force Impulse Gundam have a stand peg hole added at the hip joint.

Together with the SD Force Impulse Gundam.

SD Gunner Zaku Warrior - Together with the BB Senshi Char's Zaku. Not only are they different sizes, but the stubby proportio

Together with the BB Senshi Char's Zaku.
Not only are they different sizes, but the stubby proportions have been slimmed down quite a bit.

Together with the 1/100 and HG Gunner Zaku Warrior.

The Zaku from Gundam SEED — the Zaku Warrior — has been given the SD treatment in the red Gunner configuration. The molded colors match the old 1/100 and HG releases perfectly, and they came out looking really clean and lovely ^^

Comparing it to the newer BB Senshi SD Zaku, you can easily see how the proportions of the SEED-series SDs have changed overall. The head is proportionally smaller, the arms and legs are longer, and the body is slimmer, giving it a sleeker look overall — though somehow it feels like that chubby little cuteness has been dialed back a bit. In a way, the older SDs were almost too squashed, close to a 2.5-head-tall figure, but the SD Gunner Zaku Warrior looks more like a 3.5-head-tall proportion. That's going to be a matter of personal taste, but I think it's probably a strategy aimed at appealing to the newer generation of Gunpla fans.

With the longer limbs, the range of articulation is naturally a bit better than before — though only slightly, so pulling off really dynamic poses is still a challenge. That said, it does feel like it strikes better poses than the previous generation, and the color separation and seal placement are well done, making the straight build experience quite satisfying.

The Gunner pack's functionality stays faithful to the source material — while it's not fully articulated, you can detach and extend the front and rear sections of the high-energy long-range beam cannon, and you can also swing it forward using the connection gimmick with the backpack. That said, since the arm articulation isn't all that flexible, getting the cannon's grip to line up with the arm is a bit of a struggle. And just like the BB Senshi Zaku, the mono-eye rotation gimmick is also included.

Overall, the quality is what I'd call "excellent" for a BB Senshi kit — it's a kit that earns its marks for its compact but well-packed proportions and faithful recreation of the source design. If you're a fan of the Zaku Warrior from SEED, this is definitely a kit you'll have a great time building :-)

SD Gunner Zaku Warrior | 2005.7 | ¥600

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.