Bandai Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor [Completed]

 In a scale model kit that keeps on giving, the Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor figurine being featured in this post is the third possible configuration that can be assembled from the Bandai Hello Kitty/Zaku II Super-Deformed-Gundam-Cross-Silhouette (SDCS) Gunpla kit. Please read on for a short review as well as some photos of the completed figurine.

Bandai Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor [Completed]

 Apart from parts specific to it, this third figurine also uses parts from the earlier two builds. Unique to the Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor is the oversized green helmet and tinted visor, a neck extension, and lastly a pair of shoulder extensions. Everything else comes from the previous two figurines e.g. the head and ribbon bow comes from the Hello Kitty in Green Overalls figurine while the body and limbs come from the Super Deformed Zaku II figurine. So of the three build variations, this last one was the easiest and quickest to complete because most of the assembly was already done.

Apart from using the body and limbs of the Super Deformed Zaku II figurine ...

... as well as the head and ribbon bow of the Hello Kitty in Green Overalls figurine ...

... this Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor also utilizes new parts in the form of an oversized helmet/visor.

 Because the quality of the molded plastic finish was so good, I didn't have to paint the shoulder/neck extensions or the oversized helmet. I did, however, panel-line the whisker-like grooves on either side of the front section of the said helmet. And although some stickers were provided for this third build, I chose not to use them because I felt the stickers would have made the final build look tacky. 

Bandai Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor (back view)

Due to her peace-loving nature, the Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor ...

... does not wield any form of weapons whatsoever.

 Based on the oversized head vs small body proportions, this Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor is the build that most resembles a chibi-style character. And in keeping with Hello Kitty's peace-loving persona, the weapons have been removed from this third build. Having this cute feline wield weapons would make her look out of place in any pose. As such, this final configuration exists sans any weapons.

Of the three builds from this kit, this is the one that'll be on display

 Of all three configurations that I had built from this Bandai scale model kit, I prefer the one you see here the most. As such it is the build that will be put up on the display shelf. Unfortunately, if you want all three to be displayed at the same time, then you will have to purchase two sets of this kit.

 However, if you are not a fan of the Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor configuration, then just one kit will do because the Hello Kitty in Green Overalls and the Super Deformed Zaku II figurines do not share any parts. Not being a fan of either Hello Kitty or the Super Deformed mobile suits, I am fine with having just the Hello Kitty in Zaku II Armor on display. Well that's enough kawaii for now. It's back to more 'serious' builds for me in the coming weeks. Thank you for taking the time to follow my journey with Hello Kitty. Until we meet again in my next post ... be well and happy.

Bandai Super Deformed Gundam Cross Silhouette Gunpla Kit - Zaku II [Completed]

 Second in the type of scale model kits or figurines that can be created from the Bandai Hello Kitty/Zaku II Super-Deformed-Gundam-Cross-Silhouette (SDCS) Gunpla kit is the SDCS Zaku II. This model kit could not be more different from the first one that I completed earlier i.e. the Hello Kitty figurine from Sanrio's supercute universe. The Zaku II, meanwhile, is a mecha mobile suit from the Gundam universe that deals with war in the future. However, the SDCS product line from Bandai takes this more serious subject matter and turns them into smaller deformed versions of their usual form. And the SDCS Zaku II is the scale model kit being featured here.

Bandai Super-Deformed-Gundam-Cross-Silhouette (SDCS) Zaku II [Completed]

 Unlike the Hello Kitty figurine before it, the SDCS Zaku II had at least some panel-lining work done on it despite being a straight out-of-the-box build. But that was all I did. Because this super deformed mobile suit's molded plastic finish was of high quality, I felt it didn't need a coat of paint to make it look better and less plasticky. On the other hand, the weapons does look a tad plasticky. So much so that I very nearly painted the machine gun, heat sabre, bazooka, and leg missile pods.

SDCS Zaku II is fitted with a lot of weapons starting with the machine gun on his right hand, ...

... the heat sabre in his left hand, missile pods attached to both ankles, and ...

... the biggest weapon of all, a bazooka, which is secured onto its back.

 So I guess you could say that the one key drawback to doing a straight out-of-the-box build, at least for the SDCS Zaku II, was that its weapons would've looked much better painted in a dark metallic gun metal hue. But tempted as I was to paint the weapons, I had decided against it seeing that realism wouldn't be the main takeaway from a kit designed to look cute rather than menacing. So with that in mind I left the weapons unpainted and in its original glossy black finish.

Bandai Super-Deformed-Gundam-Cross-Silhouette (SDCS) Zaku II (back view)

Both the SDCS Zaku II's armor and weapons are molded in a glossy plastic finish ...

... and look good sans any paint save for some panel-lining on the grooves.

 In addition to panel-lining, I also applied foil stickers onto the SDCS Zaku II's mono-eye as well as on the lenses of its machine gun and bazooka. For the mono-eye, a reflective chrome-like sticker was first applied onto its surface. Following that a piece of clear pink plastic was then placed on top of the reflective foil sticker. What this does is to allow the mono-eye to better reflect any light that falls on it thus making the mono-eye look like it's shining. Meanwhile, the other two foil stickers comprised shiny/reflective pink stickers that acted like pseudo-lenses for the machine gun and the bazooka. 

The SDCS Zaku II is the second of three figurines to be built from this scale model kit

 With the two main figurines of this scale model kit - the Hello Kitty and SDCS Zaku II - now completed, there is only one option left to be build from this scale model kit. This last option uses not only new parts but also parts from both the existing Hello Kitty and SDCS Zaku II figurines. This Hello Kitty Zaku II combo should be finished in time for next week's blog post upload. Until then, I hope you're having a good week so far, and as always ... do be well and happy!

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!