Review: RG #43 Wing Gundam Zero

The advantages of Real Grade Gunpla are their increased detail and articulation in a smaller package. They’re a great way to flex your modeling muscles when another HG feels a bit too simple. Such is the case with the RG #43 Wing Gundam Zero, one of the latest in the RG line. 

How easy is the RG #43 Wing Gundam Zero to build? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Read on for Gunpla 101 contributor chennerbot’s full review of this kit. 

First Impressions

For me, Gundam Wing brings back several core memories growing up in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s. My parents would take us to the local Japanese market for groceries, and sometimes the connected food court for a quick meal. While the food was great, my true purpose in tagging along was to peruse the offerings at the collectible store.

Over time, I picked up my first 1/100 kits (this was before Gunpla grades existed): Deathscythe and Heavyarms. Once home, I ripped open these kits, got a nail clipper to separate the parts from the runners, and didn’t come out of my room ‘til they were done.

See also: How Gunpla First Came To America

In 2000, Gundam Wing the anime dropped in the Toonami block on Cartoon Network. What a time to be both alive and a giant mech nerd.

Timeskipping ahead, I’ve collected and built most of the RG kits from the series, and just completed the latest: RG #43 Wing Gundam Zero. Here are my thoughts.

Color and Design

The aesthetics of the RG #43 Wing Gundam Zero are mostly great. I love the color separation in the armor: white and gray in the legs; vibrant accent colors in the shoulder, chest, and waist. Some of the inner frame shows through in segments across the kit to create more contrast and add more customization opportunities: certain areas are addressed with mirrored stickers, and others can be attended to with paint or marker. There are panel lining opportunities on the kit, but when working with a smaller in-universe mobile suit at 1/144 scale, there isn’t much to do on the armor: most of the workable lines are in the head and inside of the wing binders. Expanding out the wings gives it a commanding amount of shelf presence. Wing Zero is one of my favorite silhouettes and overall I love the design used here.

I do have one slight nitpick. To my eye there is too much gray space on the mobile suit – specifically, the entire backpack, wing binder arms, and interior of the wing binders. The Twin Buster Rifles are predominantly gunmetal gray as well, but I can live with that as it’s true to source material. My issues with the backpack areas can be remedied, but I had a tough time justifying putting in the extra time with paint or marker when this kit retails in the same price range as the RG #29 Sazabi, RG #36 Hi-Nu, and others. Those kits handled the gray plastic distribution much better; I was hoping for a bit more effort here as well.

(Note: I got over it and built a second version using metallic markers on these parts).

See also: Metallic Paint Markers for Gunpla

Difficulty

Real Grade kits have become increasingly complex over time. While the RG #41 Akatsuki was largely a disappointment due to reusing the older premolded inner frame, the RG #43 Wing Gundam Zero is a fresh design—and it shows in the build process. With this kit’s heightened complexity comes the need for a solid finishing process on the builders’ part. There are numerous undergated portions, which if not cleaned up correctly will most certainly cause fit issues. My advice is to pay particular attention when working with the legs and arms. The end result is a sturdy, solid-feeling mobile suit. I’m a sucker for having places to stow accessories on the mobile suit itself, and this kit in particular has four beam saber attachments: two hidden in the shoulders, and two more on each of the wing binders.

Articulation

Once properly built, this kit boasts some serious articulation. Despite being a transforming kit, all components hold together very well in mecha form. Very wide shoulder pauldrons and long side skirts do limit lateral mobility in the shoulder and hip, but can be moved out of the way if you are intent on getting a pose at those end ranges.

The main articulation gimmicks with this kit are the backpack verniers: there is a dial that can expand and retract the outer plating.

When bending the knee, the leg armor will separate in two places: at the knee as well as the back calf area. The forefoot can point and flex. The arms and forearms can rotate 360°, and there is a small amount of abdominal crunch. The wing binders extend out on three axes and are connected to a ball joint: once fully extended, there is a great amount of freedom to pose the wings as you like.

The most interesting thing to note is how the arm and shoulder connect on this kit. Where there is traditionally a peg coming off the main body, the RG 43 Wing Gundam Zero has a round socket. The arm and body connect via a ball joint on the arm side, with the shoulder armor layered on top. I hope this is a feature on new kits moving forward as it creates more dynamic articulation in the shoulder joint than you get with a standard peg coming off the body.

Extras

The Wing Gundam Zero is forever tied to its Twin Buster Rifles, which naturally are included with the kit. The kit also comes with a shield, and two beam saber attachments—one straight and one slightly curved—and a total of four beam saber handles. Two can be stored in the backpack and two are stored in the shoulder armor.

For hand attachments, we get 5 total: 1 left hand open, 2 closed grip, and 2 closed fists.

Final Verdict

The RG #43 Wing Gundam Zero is a fantastic kit and a fun build experience. I have some nitpicks with the color distribution in the backpack, but the end result is a very well-designed kit that looks great on a shelf.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to share an incredible version of the RG #43 Wing Gundam build that I stumbled across on Reddit by /u/itgkira (gunplaKIRA on Instagram): this build is :chef’s kiss:. May it inspire you to put your own stamp of originality on your build.

About the contributor: Creeping towards a midlife crisis, chennerbot is supplanting the urge to buy a convertible Corvette by building plastic robots.