PG Char’s Zaku II part 8

With some struggle, I was able to complete the assembly of the Zaku’s arms. The struggle was getting those darn little screws into the model to hold it tight. I do hope I got the right screws in the right places as I’ve not been able to find an English translation of the Japanese instructions to tell me which screw goes where….SAM_0011However, the end result looks great. There’s one small armour panel that you link into the skeleton, but the rest of the armour will go on afterwards. I’m pleased with the final look and the level of articulation, but the quality of the engineering and fit of the parts is not quite up to Bandai’s modern standards. Of course, if the end result looks great, that doesn’t matter too much, but it would be really nice to see what they could do with a V2.0 of this kit! I do like all the small hydraulic sections. They make it look as though the skeleton could actually move, whereas on most of the Gundam model kits you’re left wondering where the motors, hydraulics (effectively the muscles of the robot) are and how the parts would actually move.SAM_0012

The manipulators went together very well. The fingers are moulded individually so each one just needs to be removed from the sprue and de-nubbed. They fit securely into the palm section and look to be a sturdy enough design.

It’s nice to get the hydraulic on wrist too!

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