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MS-06B Zaku I Ramba Ral Custom
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| Series |
UC0079 |
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| Title |
MS-06B Zaku I Ramba Ral Custom |
| Release Date |
September 2000 |
| Suggested Price (JPY) |
2,500 |
| No. of Parts |
Approx. ? parts + 1 dry transfer decal + 1 wet transfer decal + 1 Ramba Ral figure (unpainted) + 1 colored instruction manual |
| Plastic Color |
black, blue, bluish grey, dark gray, clear |
| Grade |
MG |
| Scale |
1/100 |
| My Rating |
Average |
| Model Status |
Completed (2005-11-03) |
| Production Roll-Out# |
#19 |
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| Zaku I with an Axe |
Holding a Bazooka |
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| Zaku I pose with a Bazooka |
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| Head and Chest Open revealing internal details |
Feet open showing some internal details |
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| Dry brush on chest for highlight |
Rain marks and dirt using oil |
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Moveable piece under thrusters for holding its bazooka |
This is how much it can pose |
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| Zaku Machine gun. Note that ammo round is on the
side |
Posing with MS-06S Zaku II |
Construction Note
I got this kit from GF for a Christmas present and it has been kept for 3 years and up
until now I have not regain my interest in building another Zaku kit. I do not have a good
experience with building the MS-06S Zaku II, which is one of the main reasons that refrains
me from building another. This kit a recolor version of the MS-05 Zaku I (green). Zaku I has
2-recolor version, which is this (blue) and the Trinity Black Star version (black).
Since Ramba Ral is mostly operating in a desert environment, I plan to give this mech a
weathered look and this decision mean that I need to paint kit. Knowing that the Bandai old
plastic molding of Zaku is not that good, I am planning to sand this guy like crazy.
Basic construction technique is applied where cutting parts from runner and trimming the
nips. Note that all limbs have a divider line in the middle running from top to bottom. The
plastic precision is also not as good as newer kits. Expecting some serious sanding, I use
to glue all parts of the limbs together. I use Tamiya cement and applied a little bit more
so that when both parts are cemented together, the excess glue will squeeze out slightly
covering the gap. Then I will use a Craft Blade to scrap off the excess and to level the
steps. Next use a metal file to sand it like crazy and finish it off with a 1200 or 1500
grit sand paper.
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| The red arrows on the left indicate the seam lines
where the leg on the right is sanded to perfection. |
Rear view of the legs. Left is not sanded and right is sanded to perfection. |
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| Both arms has a very ugly seam lines as indicated by
the red arrows. The one on the right are sanded. |
Check out the ugly line on the shoulder shield on the left. The right shield is
sanded. |
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Oh my God! I broke the leg connector!
No fear. "Shift" happens. I did some emergency fix on it right away. This
connector support the upper body and ordinary cement or superglue will not provide
enough strength.
I am fixing it by drilling a hole to the base and the broken connector. A wire is
inserted to provide extra strength.
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Note that no matter how precise is your drilling, it still leave gaps between your
wire and the hole. I am using some Tamiya Epoxy Putty to fill the gap, insert the
wire and then pull it out. Put a drop of superglue and the re-insert the wire again.
Scrap off the excess putty but leave some on the joint to provide some strength.
Leave the fixed part for 24 hours and the joint is better than new.
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Since Zaku has a lot of expose inner parts, I decided to give a dark gray treatment to
it. The parts are masked as follows.
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| Inner shoulder shield. |
The soft plastic connector on upper arm. |
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| Fingers. Masked the hand like a glove. |
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| Knee joint is masked. |
The lower leg is expose so painting it dark gray is a
must. |
The unmasked parts are airbrush with dark gray. When the parts are dried, reverse the
masking (mask the dark gray area) to paint it with actual color.
Painting is done with the black parts first; feet, knee cap and chest piece. The
mentioned is painted with semi-gloss black. The limbs are painted with dark blue (semi-gloss
black mix with blue) as base color and then painted with phthalo cyanine blue (Gunze 322)
mix with some white as highlight. The abdomen area is painted using Gray mix with Air
Superiority Blue (Gunze 74) and some white.
Its arsenal, Bazooka and Zaku I machine gun, is painted with Dark Gray highlight using
Light Gray. The sniper lens comes with 2 clear parts. These parts are airbrush using Tamiya
clear red.
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| The small gray pieces is put on a stick for easy painting. |
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| Limbs with Dark Blue base coat. |
Highlighted with phthalo cyanine blue (Gunze 322). |
Paneling is done using Oil Paint (Burnt Sienna) on limbs. All parts are dry brush with
white (oil) for highlighting. Panel line is done using Oil Paint (Black) on abdomen. Rub the
black line downwards to create oil marks. Later, Burnt Sienna is applied for rain marks or
rust.
Last part is to apply decal after the oil has dried.
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| Zaku II (pink) and Zaku I (blue). Notice the
difference between a sanded and un-sanded kit |
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Document Date : 2002-12-23
Last Modified : 2005-11-07 |
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