RX-79[G] Gundam Ground Type (Gundam Vs Zaku Box Set)

Series	08MST
Title	RX-79[G] Gundam Ground Type (Gundam Vs Zaku Box Set)
Release Date	April 1998
Suggested Price (JPY)	1,500
No. of Parts	77 + polycaps + stickers (Not including Zaku)
Plastic Color	light gray, gray, red, blue, yellow
Grade	HG 1/144
Scale	1/144
My Rating	Above Average
Model Status	Completed (2002-06-16)
Production Roll-Out#	#7

Comment
This is actually my 7th completed model in my collections. I always like ground type mobile suits much more than space type owing to the reason that ground type Gundam gives me more way to weather it. I really like the idea of Gundam and Zaku playing hide and seek in the jungle trying to ambush each other. This kit is perfect for creating this diorama.

The proportion of this kit in overall is solid. It is just that the legs look a bit thin to my taste. Plastic is molded in the correct color but some painting is required.

Packaging

3 plastic trees. 1 water transfer decals, 1 polycaps.
Plastic molded in a 5 colors. Painting will greatly enhance the appearance.
Plastic quality is below average for a HG. Seam lines, holes and plastic excess are visible.
Some pictures on the box and a 14 pages manual. (including Zaku II)

Weapons, Gimmicks and Accessories

1 clip-fed machine gun
1 beam rifle
1 long range anti-MS artillery rifle
2 beam sabers
1 moveable shield
1 backpack box

The beam sabers are unfortunately molded in white only. The backpack box has two hinged doors so it can be opened, but there's nothing interesting that can be put inside. There are also three different combinations of head-mounted communication and sensor attachments for the three Gundam pilots in the OVA, who are Shiro Armada, Karen and Sanders. The moveable shield can be pose in 2 positions.

Construction Note
The plastic quality is below typical HG and even inferior to my Turn-A model series. I had to do quite a lot of sanding and puttying for the visible holes and seam lines especially on the limb area.

Some painting is necessary to make this kit look sharp. As usual, the parts were designed intelligently to facilitate the painting process. I painted the knee joint first. Sub assembles and painted the rest next except for the legs and the shoulder armor, which come last.

The most challenging part is the face, first I painted the mouth with white and then I use a very fine brush to paint the red strip. Apply 2 black wash on the black area and lastly painted chrome silver and then clear green for the eyes and head light.

This is actually my first attempt to test out the washing and weathering techniques. Actually I am piss off with painting Tamiya flat white on the kit. After 3 layers of white, the surface still visible with horrible paint splotch and brush strokes. What I did is to wash it with some cheapo artist acrylic mix with a drop or 2 of dishwashing liquid. I found that cheapo acrylic paint wash better than the expensive Tamiya paint. One lesson that I learned from washing is that acrylic paint leave a ring mark when dried. The problem is solved when the wash is half dry, I use cotton bud dip wet with water and rubbing alcohol to gently poke or rub the ring area until it blends to the background. This is a very tedious process. I can only wash a small part at a time as acrylic dried up too fast and if I am not quick enough, the ring mark will be permanent. Panel line is washes using a 40-60 mix of white and black to give a more natural look.

Color. Flat Yellow, Flat White, Flat Red, Flat Blue. Dark Grey

Lesson Learned

Painting white is a pain in the a**.
Paneling : Acrylic washes do not panel well.
Acrylic washes leave rings when dry.

In brief
Bandai has never release RX-79[G] as a standalone HG kit to date. This mech only comes with a HG Zaku II in this box set. If you are a fan to the 08th MS Team OVA, this kit is a must buy.