MG Wing ver. EW ver. Ka?!

Doubt there are many of us who saw this coming, but..

I’m actually really excited about it! I think I’ve interacted with just about every major kit of the Wing Zero Bandai has released save for some special coating versions or a p-bandai release here and there.

Why not recap all of those kits and how I feel about them?

MG Wing ver. Ka/Wing Zero Custom/ver. EW: Released in 2004 (2011 for the EW, but it’s the same as the ver. Ka), this kit doesn’t even have tabbed hands that debuted in 2005. The surface of the is fairly bland and the wings while better than other versions both still fall short for me. Neither of these kits are able to hold their iconic weapons very well at all either. While the Custom comes with a stand, the Ver. Ka doesn’t and that kit is so backheavy you have to rely on the wings touching the ground for the kit to stand up properly. Not bad for it’s time period but compared to a real grade, I feel like these kits are just too old to keep up with what modern builders would want out of a kit.

MG Wing Zero Proto: 2013 saw a new pseudo-TV version of wing zero come out. The hips and legs got a fair redesign that gives it mobility on par with modern MG kits, but it still feels a little lacking in the detail department. I still really like this kit and definitely have some ideas for it as I’ve got two of them in the backlog. Definitely one of the better Wing Zero kits to come out but also doesn’t have the shelf presence of the Wing Zero Custom. The frame is rock solid and it comes with a stand so there really isn’t much here to not like, aside from the fact that it’s not the “true” TV version of Wing Zero. Still nice of Bandai to toss fans of that version a bone with this design, I’ll take it.

HGAC Wing Zero Custom/HGBF Wing Zero Honoo: A beautiful little 2014 update to the kit from the 90s. I think this might actually be the best version of the Wing Zero that a lot of us grew up with right now. It feels very animation accurate and is a simple and enjoyable build. The parts/color separation here is definitely notable when compared to what you got back in the day. Nothing fancy and no real bells and whistles here, just a rock solid 17$ high grade. This is the most recent Wing Zero I’ve built! The HGBF Honoo kit is basically the same, but with a little more style since it has all those cool clear parts and is generally pointy and red. Plus it’s got big stupid swords. Who doesn’t love that?

PG Wing Zero: Picture your most disappointing christmas and birthday. Feed them the enimga of combination, smash them together and you’ll end up with this pile sitting in front of you. Holy cow, I hate this fucking thing. The PG Wing Zero came out in 2000 and feels every bit of 20 years old and then some. Even as my first perfect grade kit back in 2010 this kit managed to horribly underwhelm and disappoint me. First off, considering the era it released in: where are the open hatches? The UC suits both before and after this had them, what the hell? The inner frame for this kit is weirdly skinny in comparison to other kits but it’s explained in one of the manuals that this is the “Zero Frame”, which allows the gundam to operate even without it’s armaments or equipment. So…I ask again, where the hell are the open hatches? The frame detail on display with this kit really isn’t bad- in fact it might be the most detailed thing about this kit! Why have this be the one kit at the time without a silly hatch open gimmick?!

Since there’s no open hatch gimmick to create separation between sections or panel lines and the Wing Zero was already a very simply designed mobile suit this kit is also boring as all get out to look at. There’s very little panel lines to fill in and the parts are all very large. It’s like Bandai found a way to compress a yawn in to a plastic bead and then used that to create the runners for this kit. The main wings are composed of a grand total of 18 parts with ZERO separation or movement on anything other than the rubber feathers. The rear wings are around 20 pieces total and are just as lacking in terms of posing ability and detail. At least they have a small extension gimmick but good lord this kit has what I’d consider the worst wings on a Wing Zero bar none. Don’t worry though, the buster rifle (the only weapon Wing Zero had at this time aside from beam sabers) is boring as all get out too! Again: This is a perfect grade kit and this is the only weapon it has! The twin buster rifle is a pretty notable weapon in the gundam universe if you ask me and it’s a bummer that the PG representation of it is just as boring as the rest of the kit. As if anyone who bought this kit (yes, I’m talking about myself here) needed one more extra flaming “fuck you”, this thing doesn’t even have a stand. All of Wing Zero’s memorable poses and moments from the OVA are all in the air, why would you not give the damn thing a stand? This is still something I think Bandai is blowing it big on- PG kits like the Aile/Perfect/Rouge Strike, Strike Freedom, Unicorn and some versions of the 00 all came with a stand for them but Bandai has yet to make any sort of 1/60 action base. It just adds insult to injury with this kit, unfortunately.

Seriously, this is one of the worst most underwhelming lackluster gimmick free gunpla kits. Avoid it at all costs unless you’ve got some ambitious plans for it.

Hi-Resolution Model Wing Zero Custom: First off, I went in to this kit fully prepared to be like “no way, everyone is nuts, this kit isn’t that bad”. I was wrong, it is in fact that bad. At first test fit I wasn’t having too many problems. Then I made the worst mistake of all: putting it together. I think the very first day I’d had it fully assembled one of the hip joints cracked. To put that in to perspective, that was after I’d taken the pre-assembled frame apart, primed and painted it and then put it back together making so very sure to not over-tighten the screw in said hip joint. I didn’t have quite so many issues with pieces falling off of the kit but I did find the whole thing to be pretty fiddley and once again, the kit is entirely incapable of replicating the climactic moment when Heero blasts the MF bunker. This kit did give us a neo-bird mode and shield for the WZC, which I appreciate- finally, something to help this gundam feel like it could actually fight in a battle instead of just showing up for the last 30-40 minutes of an OVA. I adore the aesthetics of this kit though think this is the best looking official version of Wing Zero out there. The HiRM Wing ver. EW (with the original ‘ver ka.’ design) appears to have a better reputation than the Custom and I’d imagine there are a couple reasons for that. First, no fiddly angel wings. The front wings here have 2 or 3 sliding parts, feathers that move, and all of that is on a hinge with two points of articulation that links it up to the topmost part of the wing and the wing joint that connects to the backpack. It’s great for posing but it means things are going to do a lot of shaking and wiggling and thanks to the hinge for the wing, sagging. Even with paint on the joint and hinge the wings would stay in raised up poses. The back wings did what they needed to do well but usually popped out of their sockets and weren’t very tight either though. The ver. EW version has more traditional mechanical wings, eliminating all of these terrible pain points. The weapons are similarly improved- the Custom has to tab the TBR in to it’s hands and rely on the wrist and elbow joints to support the weight. They cannot. The ver. EW on the other hand has a tab for the hand and a section on the rifle that attaches to the wrist, enabling the kit to actually extend and point the weapon. Honestly the ver. EW just being more mechanical and less form over function in nature works greatly to it’s benefit. Even after my sour experience with this kit, I still want to build and paint the EW version.

That brings us to the newly announced Wing Zero ver Ka. I understand the disappointment for fans of the Zeta, G-self, or any other kit that wasn’t a Katoki design getting the treatment. I hope in time we get those, like how we eventually got the V2 or The O. I’m still really excited for this new version of Wing Zero- maybe this will finally be the kit I’ve been looking for to represent one of my favorite mobile suits! I’m very hopeful that we’ll see entirely new molds and gimmicks (neo-bird mode and the rifle being stored in the wing binders have already been confirmed) and some of the Wing Zero’s new equipment: the Drei Zwerg, Neue Zwerg and the Seraphim Binder. None of that is confirmed at all but honestly I think it feels inevitable that we see a p-bandai expansion set or a few variants that will eventually encompass all of the new armaments.

I’m already cooking up ideas for what I’m going to do with this kit. It’s going to be fun as more information is revealed to us in the coming months!

What do you think? Do you already have plans for this, or is this a big pass for you?