By Loran
Alrighty, this week, I’m gonna cover some kits from Double Zeta Gundam-one from the old days, and one that’s… well, more recent. I took a bit of inspiration from Chris on this one. Old kits can be pretty fun side projects, but extra care and work must be done with them because of how few parts they have, and of course they need glue. But, with a lot of patience and maybe some kitbashing, you can get some nice kits out of them. Sadly, there are still some that haven’t been updated in HGUC or MG yet, like this one (well, two) here…
The Gazu R/L suits, used by a pair of twins in the later episodes of Gundam ZZ, were modified Galbaldy Beta units captured or manufactured by Neo-Zeon. As such, these kits are repacks of the Galbaldy Beta from Zeta Gundam, with extra parts and decals. This means that if you want, you could just build a Galbaldy Beta instead of a Gazu. I noticed this was the case with a lot of the suits from the later episodes of ZZ. I’m pretty sure it’s because the earlier ZZ kits sold poorly, so Bandai just modified pre-existing kits (ReGelg, Desert Zaku, Gazu, etc) instead of making kits of the newer designs.
Oh, and if you haven’t guessed, the Gazu R is the one with the big shoulder on the right, and the Gazu L is the one with the big shoulder on the left.
I’ve always kind of liked the way the head on this kit was made-you’ll notice that the monoeye is sort of “free-floating” instead of built into anything. A nice touch, and if you want to enhance the look a little, paint some black on the inside. The head has a command antenna, which is an extra piece exclusive to the Gazu kit. Also notice the tubes feeding into the neck. These were a pain to work with, by the way… The head has pretty much no movement due to the tubes and general construction.
The torso is basically… a block. No waist articulation whatsoever, which is standard fare for these old kits. The shoulders are holes on this part instead of pegs, like on newer kits. The backpack is simple, and holds the two beam sabers.
The arms, while mostly built as one single unit, aren’t too different from 90’s kits in terms of articulation, although the elbow can’t bend at a 90 degree angle. Obviously, the shoulders are what set off the “R/L” designation, with the big shoulder on the Right being the R and the big shoulder on the left being the L. There is also a spot to hold the Galbaldy Beta’s shield, which is covered by the smaller shield on the forearm. The hands are constructed similarly to some 1/100 scale kits in the 90’s and beyond, but have some issues holding the weapons.
The legs are very primitive, though, and are probably the easiest to break. Unlike almost every other kit made in the past 20 years, older kits didn’t have ball-jointed hips-instead they had stick joints, which break VERY easily if you aren’t careful. The joints are very limited and can’t do much in terms of dynamic posing, sadly.
The weapons are a cool selection-you get the Galbaldy’s beam rifle, two backpack swords (which can be combined into one double-bladed sword, but I misplaced the connectors), a Gyan-like lance, and a Galbaldy Beta shield you probably won’t even use.
I’d also like to talk about the decals for a bit. They’re really cool and really pretty, but damn can they be a pain. Also, they include two Neo-Zeon emblems just in case you mess one up… trust me, I did the first time around and put my finger on one before it dried. Whoops.
So, overall, this kit hasn’t aged well, but that’s the case for most 80’s kits. Really, the only reason you should get this is if you REALLY like the Gazu, and well, you’d have to get two for full “enjoyment”. I’m still holding out hope for an HGUC Galbaldy someday, which will hopefully lead to these two at some point. Old kits are fun side projects, however, and if you ever want to slap one together, we’ve got one of Mashymre Cello’s monsters-of-the-week in the FP store, the Galluss-J. Wanna give yourself a challenge? Go for it, and heck, I’d love to see what you come up with!