MG Johnny Ridden's Customized High Mobility Type Zaku II Ver. 2.0 Part 1

The 'real' red
Rolling out another Master Grade project, one with quite a mouthful name: Johnny Ridden's Customized High Mobility Type Zaku II Ver. 2.0 ^^


One of the many variations of Zaku II based off Type J Ver. 2.0 that was released in April 2007, this version is actually my favorite of them all, mainly because of its really striking color scheme. Red-yellow (or gold)-black is my favorite combination of colors, and when that is used on a Zeon mono-eye unit, that fierce image generated is very likable for me. Char may be called "the Red Comet", but the main color of his Zaku II is actually pink. ^^; For Johnny Ridden, a.k.a. "the Crimson Lightning" (真紅の稲妻), his red Zaku is really red. ^^

Many components on this MS has the adjective "huge" in front of them. ^^ The enlarged left shoulder armor with lengthen thorns, which is one of Johnny Ridden's personal trademarks for the MSs he piloted one. Additional plate armors for the legs is another, and the huge bazooka it's carrying is pretty much icing on the cake. ^^ The large backpack it has is identical to that on the Black Tri-Star's and Shin Matsunaga's customized types, so no special mentioning for that.

So, on top of the already fierce-looking color scheme, there are various other designs on this Zaku II that help to amplify its awesomeness. ^^ And I like that very much. ^^

When it comes to the model kit itself, the extra plate armors on the legs and Giant Bazooka made Johnny Ridden's unit stands out more as compared to Black Tri-Star's and Shin Matsunaga's customized types. Among the three, only Johnny Ridden's unit has that Dom or Gelgoog like large leg armors; his Giant Bazooka is the only one that doesn't need to swap parts with the original Zaku Bazooka to be used as well.

When I read about the gimmicks incorporated on this MG kit when it was announced in July 2008, I always thought that there was some special privilege reserved for this red guy XD


Very nice box art design by Hidetaka Tenjin (天神英貴).
This illustration of Johnny Ridden's Customized High Mobility Type Zaku II was actually on display at the artist's personal exhibition held in Tokyo in May 2010.


Detailed weathering effects on the entire MS in the illustration.




Introduction of the kit on the box sides.


Information about Zaku II's development history behind the box container.



Development and evolution of Zaku to find the most superior variation.


Content


A realistic-looking Zaku II in combat shown on the front cover of the manual versus ...


... a very clean completed model kit version shown on the back. ^^
The awesome box art adds a lot of points to this kit really. ^^

A look at the various runners for this MG. Since it's a variation of the original Zaku II Type J Ver. 2.0, which I have, along with Char's Zaku II, I'll skip some of the repeated ones and show those that I think are more unique for this variation.


Runner A - Second most heavily redesigned runner used by all the variations I supposed. The red parts for the waist, skirt armors and feet and the various clear parts are inherited, the spaces around the runner are rooms meant for unique parts for the different units.


Yellow spikes for the left shoulder armor.


Runner B - The most heavily redesigned runners among the variations. Only the head and shoulder shield parts are the same for all, the rest of the parts, including the pilot figures are different.


Large backpack armors and forearm parts on Runner E.


Runner I - ABS runner containing parts for the high mobility type mechanical frames of the legs and enlarged thrusters.


(Left) Tiny rings for the the high mobility type components inside the legs
(Right) Delicate details on the exterior of the thrusters.


Runner K - Runners for the conductive pipes of the head, legs and waist.
No changes made to this runner actually (except the color of course), but this is definitely the most special runner in the entire variation line of MG Zaku II Ver. 2.0.


Runner L - Contains armor parts for the legs.
The same runner from Black Tri-Star's customized type actually.


(Left) Runner separation hints show some other variation designs planned that would use some portion of this particular runner.
(Right) Extensive details behind the armor parts.


Runner M - Contains inner frame parts for the added components on the legs and backpack.
There's a large space in the middle section for some reason.



A lot of parts with very rich details. ^^


Runner N - Contains 4 large armors that are unique to type R-2.


Quite a bit of details behind the armors as well.


Runner O - Contains parts for the Giant Bazooka and some connectors for the extra leg armors.
Another unique runner for Type R-2


Most of the parts for the bazooka are molded in one-piece, and they are indeed much bigger than the regular bazookas found on other kits. ^^


More inner frame parts for the legs with details equivalent to the ones on Runner M.


Polycaps set PC-200A - The same one used by all variations, with added parts for the little pipes on the legs.
On the rights are two metallic pipes for the legs' conductive pipes.


Foil sticker, clear sticker and decal.


(Left) "Conventional" Zeon emblem for the right shoulder shield on the decal
(Right) Johnny Ridden's personal insignia and markings on the the clear stickers.


Red foil stickers for the elbow and backpack.


All removed parts are organized and stored in individual paper containers.


The tiny rings for the high mobility components of the legs from Runner I (8 on each leg) are held with a thread instead of placed together inside the boxes containing parts for the leg, for obvious reason of preventing them from going missing during the work process.


One ring to be removed from each set of parts for the leg's conductive pipes.


The trees are discarded, but the soft rubber (not really that soft actually ^^;) that are holding the rings will be retained till the final assembly.
The rings have some differences in terms of their shape, so it's best to keep them on the pipe first to avoid doing it wrong when assembling everything.


Connector parts from the original Zaku II Ver. 2.0 are not needed anymore for this variation.
3 Master Grade projects going on at the same time and another one will come in soon. ^^ June will be a month full of Gunpla parts and panel lining on this blog. ^^