Build Diary: 1/144 SDBD RX-零 Zeromaru

Big thanks to the usual suspects from Gundam Mad for selling me this kit. This article isn't sponsored, but I will still happily accept payment in the form of verbal headpats. (I am of course kidding, folks - don't try to pay the bills with headpats)

It's not every day that I immediately jump into the open box shot, but...well...

That's not a sticker sheet - that's a sticker TAPESTRY!

...yeah, I alluded to this kit's gigantic sticker sheet in my last build diary, and now that I've given it a proper look-see, all that talk of counting my blessings when it came to the annoying folding on the Gusion Rebake seemed mighty pertinent. Seriously, this thing's about the same size as the MG Epyon's dry transfer sheet. 

Gundam marker for scale.

Still, I've had something of a soft spot for SD kits, with particular mention going to the SDBB Unicorn Gundam (the first gunpla kit I ever built!) and the SDSS Sima Yi Destiny Gundam. And of course, it'd be weird if I didn't mention the cute little guy in my profile picture that this very blog is named after. So it's interesting to work on an SD that's not only from a gundam animé I've actually seen all the way through (for once, and not counting the 0079 movie trilogy), but one that actually has a proper canonical 1/144 scale. Oh, and transforms into a normal-looking gundam. Can't go wrong with transformations (well...most of the time...).

I've rambled long enough, let's build this thing.

Head




These aren't the most annoying stickers I've worked with, especially not when I have tweezers on hand. But I'm not so keen on how they fit over the indentations on the sides of the head rather than flush. Still, not the worst I've worked with.




For the purposes of animé accuracy, I'm going with the more SD-ish eyes on this kit rather than the traditional blank old-school SD eyes.






Not a fan of how the yellow stickers in the middle require me to close the horns to fold them around the centre appropriately. Makes me wonder why the manual doesn't bother to mention that until the next row down. Not a fantastic layout of instructions, methinks.



Phew, that's a pretty nice-looking head. I particularly like how it has a visor that flips down as part of the Kakure Form transformation.

Body








OH NO, NOT ANOTHER ACCURSED SPAGHETTI STICKER.

I alluded back to the Vigna-Ghina II earlier with a very similar sticker, but I had no idea I was tempting fate that hard! Granted, this one somehow feels easier to attach than the one on the head of the Vigna-Ghina II, but they're still annoying to work with.


The upside of this being an SD kit is that the arm and leg sections are really short and simple, so let's go through those.

Arms





Bleugh, more thin spaghetti stickers. This yellow one in the above image is labelled as sticker 69, no less. This is far from nice.




And the same thing should apply lower down as well. So over to the...

Legs







All I really have to say is that the red stickers on the feet just don't feel like they're the right size - I try aligning it with the mesh as normal, but there's always a gap below or above it. It's not too noticeable when the yellow parts are attached, but I've no idea what happened here. Maybe the smaller indentations early on in the head assembly were a blessing in disguise.

Waist




And it's at this point that the manual says to put it all together. So, looks like we're doing that!


Pretty sweet. Yeah, the masses of stickers look over shiny in a way that you don't want from these kind of stickers, but I feel like I can forgive that for something as intentionally-cutesy as an SD kit. Now to give Ayame some assorted knick-knacks to hack opposing GBN players up with!

Weapons

The tanegashima rifle is just "put two parts together", so it's not interesting, but here's a picture.


And the other weapons like the kunai and ninjato are just a case of cutting out the other parts. What with the usual chunky SD hands, you don't even need to swap the hands round to have the Gundam holding them.

No no, the interesting weapon is the honking great shuriken. Yeah, it's also just "put two parts together", but it's not a weapon I'm gonna forget any time soon.


The shuriken doesn't fold away like I thought it would, but then I don't remember it doing that in the animé, so it's alright. I guess I just have the Unicorn Gundam's shield on the brain, which makes sense considering what the Zeromaru is based on.

And thank goodness that (with the exception of the rifle and the hand grip for the shuriken) you can store the weapons on the kit - I really appreciate when kits allow you to do that.




Well, the next part in the manual involves showing off a simple transformation, so let's try it out.

Kakure Form

You close the horns, put the visor down, then invert the yellow ankle parts. That's about it.


Armed Armor Hattori

Oh yeah, there's a winged companion as well. That explains all the parts and stickers yet to attach.













Good lord, that one was really heavy on the stickers and the folding thereof. But at least Ayame has winged backup. And a means to transform, too.

Ninto-Do

So first, you detach everything from the bodies, and indeed set weapons aside...


...remove the helmet and the smaller part on the crest...


...remove the eye block...


...remove the large mouth part to reveal the smaller head...


...realise there was some kind of neck scarf part that I forgot to add and get momentarily confused by the instructions, and then be thankful that the scarf part isn't given a letter in the instructions thus implying that it isn't needed for the transformation...and, uh, add an ab part to the body...


...stick the yellow mask-like parts on the chest and head, and the larger one does give the option to go on the head...


...stick the mouth, eyes and helmet back together, drop the visor and close the horn...


...stick a pair of parts from the D runners in the bottom of the head, thus defining this as a partsforming kit...


...stick that in the back of the body...


...swap out the shoulder joint and throw on a claw on the side of the arm...


...move the shoulder joint to the opposite shoulder part and fit the arm into the newly-oriented joint...


(and do the same with the other arm)

...pull the leg off the feet, attach one of the Hattori's backflap-things to the former leg, rotate one of the red parts on the wings round, then make that the new leg...


(and do the same with the other leg)

...then put it all together! (and get a little annoyed that the head on the back obviously makes it a little back-heavy)


I suppose you can rearrange the leftover parts to make a rifle. (I clipped out a part of the aforementioned scarf that I also hadn't clipped out yet, ssssssshhhhh!)


But yes, that's the SD Zeromaru. Predictably, for a kit with a pamphlet-sized sticker sheet, this is a kit to steer far from if you like neither the look nor the application process of stickers. Nonetheless, I can't really bring myself to dislike this kit - it's charming enough in Shinobi form, and the transformation is elaborate enough to make the switch to Ninto-Do (or "Real Mode" as the wiki calls it) impressive in bringing it from an SD to the proportions of an average High Grade. Certainly one of the better Build Divers kits I've laid eyes on, and I'm glad I gave it a shot. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna transform the kit back to Shinobi mode for display purposes, because honestly I prefer it like that.


Stay safe and keep clipping, folks!


The Good

+ Cute design
+ Fun transforming gimmicks

The Bad
- Sticker sheet is massive, especially by High Grade standards
- Articulation is about what you'd expect from an SD unless the kit is in Normal Mode

Build Experience: B

Completed Kit Rating: B

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