HG 1/144 Geara Zulu

This is the High Grade 1/144 Geara Zulu Bandai model kit. This kit isn’t overly great on articulation, but it has a lot of nice details for a High Grade kit. The need for panel lining is fairly minimal, with the majority of it needing to be done one the tube parts on the head, body, waist, and legs. However, this kit looks just fine even if you don’t panel line it.
The Geara Zulu is a mobile suit that appears in Gundam Unicorn, and is the most commonly piloted mobile suit used by the Neo Zeon forces. It’s easy to see that the Geara Zulu was somewhat based on the Zaku II, but it also has a very World War looking appearance. I wasn’t too crazy about the design of this one at first, but as I watched Gundam Unicorn, I warmed up to it, and now I think the design is pretty cool.
The articulation on this kit is about what you would expect from a High Grade kit, sporting the stand half bend at the elbows and knees, full rotation at the shoulder, biceps, hands, and waist, an outward swing at the shoulders, etc. The head’s left to right movement is a bit limited, but the neck is on a hinge, so it moves back pretty far. Also, the monoeye is moveable, and can move both left and right.
Personally, I think this kit is really nice, and there’s little that I can find wrong with it, or that could have been done better, apart from wishing that it had a bit more articulation. I will say that this is a very decal heavy kit. All of the white colored spots on this kit are sticker decals. If you prefer to paint your Gunpla over using the sticker decals, there is always that option, but for builders that are inexperienced at painting Gunpla, or just prefer to use the sticker decals, there are a lot of sticker decals to apply on this kit.
All in all, this is a very cool looking kit. For $20, its a good value, plus its fun to build. Applying all of the sticker decals can be a bit time consuming, but if you don’t mind putting in the extra time, I recommend picking this kit up. It makes a good addition to any Gunpla collection, and if you don’t have any Neo Zeon mobile suits in your collection yet, this kit is a good one to start your Neo Zeon army.