Product Line / High Grade After Colony
Scale & Class / 1/144 Scale Plastic Model Kit
Manufacturer / Bandai Spirits
Release Date / 2014
Appearances / New Mobile Report Gundam Wing
When I started building Gunpla around 1999, one of the first kits I owned was a Gundam Wing collection series 1/144 scale Wing Gundam Zero. Reruns of Gundam Wing was still airing on local TV, and I could never forget the first appearance of Wing Zero. However, the kit wasn’t the best representation of the mobile suit in 1/144 scale, and it will take us some 20 years before we get a proper 1/144 scale Wing Gundam Zero, as part of the High Grade After Colony line.
The sculpt and proportions are definite improvements from the old 1995 kit, with everything being sharper and closer to how it looked in the series. There’s also the benefit of good parts separation though color-correcting seals would still be used in some areas. This kit also introduced me to C-type connectors that have become more common in modern kits, much to the dismay of some. However, these don’t have that satisfying click during assembly and are just held by friction. Some of them get dislodged occasionally resulting in parts falling off or hinges not working as expected. Articulation is also on par with its contemporaries but would be lacking when compared to recent releases. You can flare out the wing binders in different directions for dynamic poses, though this is where those aforementioned C-type connectors are used, so be mindful when handling them. Its transformation to Neo Bird mode looks great as well, and the decision to use replacement feet parts instead of using joints with multiple axes allows a more stable standing base when in mobile suit mode.
