Bandai Super Deformed Gundam Cross Silhouette - Zaku II [Work-in-Progress: Assembly & Panel-lining]

 After completing the cute Hello Kitty figurine from the Bandai Hello Kitty/Zaku II Super-Deformed-Gundam-Cross-Silhouette (SDCS) Gunpla kit, next up on this scale model kit's to-do-list is the SDCS Zaku II. The second of three possible figurine variations that can be created from this kit is a chibi-style take on the Zaku II Zeon Mobile Suit. It's a stand-alone figurine that uses parts unique to itself that is it does not share any parts with the Hello Kitty figurine. Below are the main sub-assemblies of the SDCS Zaku II that have been put together as a straight-out-of-the-box build with some minor work done to bring out the details of the kit sans painting.

SDCS Zaku II work-in-progress: Straight out-of-the-box build of the main sub-assemblies; with foil stickers and some panel-lining for added detail 

 So at this point of the build, the main sub-assemblies such as the head, upper torso, waist, limbs, and weapons have been put together and are only awaiting the final assembly process. These sub-assemblies have not been painted. Apart from having to clean and prep the parts prior to assembly, the only work I did on the parts are to panel-line them with Mr. Weathering Color as well as apply foil stickers on the mono-eye and on the lenses of weapons like the machine gun and bazooka.

Mr.Hobby's Mr.Weathering Color was used to panel-line the main sub-assemblies of the SDCS Zaku II

 While photos alone cannot really do justice to the SDCS Zaku II parts, you can still get a general idea of the quality of its plastic finish from the photos shown here. As someone who hates the plasticky look of most scale model kits, I tend to spend an inordinate amount of time painting the parts to prevent this issue from being an eyesore. But as was the case for the Hello Kitty figurine, I didn't do any painting for the SDCS Zaku II sub-assemblies because they look like glossy painted pieces already without having to actually paint them. Is it perfect? Well, no. The black parts, especially the weapons, can look better with a proper paint job. But because the kit is a chibi-style piece, the glossy black weapons don't look as out of place as they would be with a standard Zaku II mobile suit.

SDCS Zaku II sub-assembly: Head with poseable mono-eye

SDCS Zaku II sub-assembly: Hands and arms with shield armor on right shoulder and spike armor on left shoulder (bottom up view from hands)

SDCS Zaku II sub-assembly: Hands and arms with shield armor on right shoulder and spike armor on left shoulder (top down view from shoulders)

SDCS Zaku II sub-assembly: Upper torso (isometric view from the front)

SDCS Zaku II sub-assembly: Upper torso (isometric view from the back)

 Color separation for a kit this small is surprisingly good. Neither stickers nor paint were required to make the SDCS Zaku II itself reasonably color accurate. The dark and light greens as well as the blacks and dark greys were adequately separated from each other. That being said, the weapons especially the missile pods on the legs could have done with better color separation between the missiles and the pod they were housed in. But it's something most hobbyist and scale modellers can live with seeing that the SDCS Zaku II is a chibi-style figurine. Moreover, I believe molding the weapons in dark metallic grey would've been a much better option than having it in glossy black. But that's just my own personal preference. Most would be satisfied with the glossy black.

SDCS Zaku II sub-assembly: Waist (isometric view from the front)

SDCS Zaku II sub-assembly: Waist (isometric view from the back)

SDCS Zaku II sub-assembly: Legs and feet (isometric view from the front)

SDCS Zaku II sub-assembly: Legs and feet (isometric view from the back)

 My color preference for the weapons meant they would have benefited most from a coat of paint. Painting the weapons in metallic gun metal would've been a step towards making them look better than just plain glossy black. Yet in the end, I didn't paint the weapons because I felt the end result wouldn't be worth the effort. This largely had to do with the fact that the SDCS Zaku II was a chibi-style figurine. The style's cute cartoon effect meant the SDCS Zaku II could still pull off having to wield plain glossy black weapons. After all, realism isn't a key requirement for chibi-style figurines.

SDCS Zaku II sub-assembly: Weapons comprising heat sabre, ankle missile pods, machine gun, and bazooka

 With the main sub-assemblies completed, all that is left to do is to put the SDCS Zaku II together in the final assembly process. I usually do posts like the one you see here in order to appreciate the details of the sub-assemblies in isolation. In the coming post, I will upload photos of a fully-assembled SDCS Zaku II and talk a bit about the completed figurine. For now I'll take my leave, and end what is technically the 650th post of my hobby-related blog. Until my next post, please be well and happy!