RG 1/144 Zeong

Here it is, guys! The Real Grade 1/144 Zeong! The Zeong is one of those mobile suits I’ve only heard of, but have never seen in action before. What I do know about it is that the Zeong is a prototype Zeon mobile suit that made it’s debut in the final episode of Mobile Suit Gundam. Piloted by Char Aznable, the Zeong was the first mobile suit specifically built to use by Newtypes, as well as the first mobile suit to utilize a Psycommu system. Armed with mega particle cannons in each of it’t fingers, as an additional two on the body and one on the head, the Zeong was only actually 80% complete when it was deployed.

This is, in my opinion, one of the most ambitious Real Grade kits that Bandai has given us yet. I was pretty surprised when Bandai announced this kit, but had no doubt that they’d find a way to make it work. And they did! This kit has some of most top tier engineering I’ve seen in Gunpla of this scale. The majority of this kit you get to build from the ground up. The only reassembled parts in this kit are the fingers and the base of each hand. So if you’ve been looking at those fingers and thinking how much of a nightmare they must be to put together, you don’t have to worry about that. What’s more, this kit even comes with it’s own display stand! Which is great, because you’re going to want an action stand to display this kit.
For those wondering, they actually made two versions of this kit: this one, the regular one, and a bundle that comes the Zeong plus a set of effect parts for both the Zeong and the RG 1/144 RX-78-2 (sold separately). The bundle is a lot more expensive, as well as harder to find, so I just got the regular version of this kit. But if you want effect parts, you have the option of tracking the version that comes with those.
The build of this kit was a lot of fun, but a friendly heads up? This kit has a lot of undergated parts. It’s worth the trouble, though, as you see this thing come together. 🙂 I don’t really have too many issues with this kit, but for the sake of giving an unbiased review, I will say what I don’t like about it. First, plugging the wire pieces into the hands is a Zeong sized pain in the ass. It took forever for me to do it right because of this. Actually cutting the right length of wire is tricky too. My other issue is the finger pieces. Yes, they are individually articulated, but the have a strang habit of trying to straighten themselves out when you try to pose them. You bend the fingers, and the literally move back to a straight position on their own. I don’t know if you just need to loosen the joints emoji er time to make them stop doing that, or if that was just an engineering error on Bandai’s part, but I really don’t like how they do that. Other than those issues, though, I’m pretty impressed by how Bandai pulled this one off.
Overall, this is definitely a challenge to build, but if you’re up to the challenge, I definitely recommend picking it up. I don’t know how much the bundle retails for, but the regular version that I get seems to retail for around $59.99. Definitely pricey for a Real Grade kit, but hey, it’s a big kit with a lot of pieces. 😆