The GeNeRaL's Plamo Camp: [Project] BANDAI MG 1/100 MSN-04 Sazabi Ver. Ka

Char's legacy

Pic from Gundam Wikia

どうも！
Posting here my project from last year. Nothing special compared to my HG GP02 MLRS that I did earlier this 2015 but here're some pictures from the build.

Little Info:

The Sazabi is considered to be Char Aznable's last mobile suit in terms of the anime series. This was showcased in the animated movie "MS Gundam: Gyakushuu no Char" or 'Char's Counterattack'. This went head-to-head with Amuro's last MS, the RX-93 Nu Gundam where they both disintegrated into Minovsky Particles when they, technically, stopped half of the Axis asteroid from plunging towards Earth. An alternate version of the mobile suits are featured in the novels (now being serialized in manga), 'Char's Counterattack: Beltorchika Children'. In those media, Char pilots the big-ass 'Nightingale', instead, to face Amuro's RX-93-v2 'Hi-Nu Gundam'.

This kit itself is actually a redesign from an existing MG kit by Bandai.

Pictures taken from Dalong.net

Picture c/o Dalong.net

The redesign was done by Hajime Katoki, one of the most popular mecha designers nowadays. He actually started designing Gundams in photo-novel media and his first works appeared in Gundam Sentinel, designing the Sentinel, EX-S and redesigning suits like the Zeta (Zeta Plus). He also did the designs for the 0083 Stardust Memory mini-series (GP01 up to GP03) and I believe he is also a designer of some Mobile Fighters in the G Gundam series, mainly the Devil Gundam. He also designed mobile suits for the Gundam Wing series and actually went back to redesign them for the Endless Waltz movies. It is worth mentioning, that his designs are technically realistic and features militaristic looks and designs. A lot of his designs were already put into kit from, specially in MG 1/100 form. Katoki-designed kits are usually marked with a "Ver. Ka" but please note, there are already a lot of gunpla kits based on Katoki's original designs that it doesn't have to be marked with the Ver. Ka anymore (like the MG EW kits). One characteristic of Ver. Ka kits is that they usually come with a lot of decals for warning signs and markings that provides even more details for the kit.

The MG Sazabi Ver. Ka kit added even more details into the earlier kit, adding more panel lines, color separation, better inner frame and a tranformation that exposes the Sazabi's Psychoframe like the Nu Gundam Ver. Ka that was released before it. I think he got this idea when he designed kits for the Unicorn series and also given that time that the Gundam UC was very popular. The Sazabi in 1/100 form is a large model or toy (if you'd like). Standing at 23m as designed, it is expected to be 23cm in 1/100; I measured it with a straight rule, but found it to be taller than that and one could say it can already be as tall as a 1/60 scale model of an ordinary mobile suit. The box itself is also as big as the Perfect Grade RX-78-2's box as I compared them, so that basically already says a few things about this kit's uniqueness. No wonder until now that it is still considered a must-have for serious collectors.

The Kit

For me, this kit is a great addition for any builder's pipeline - probably a "holy grail" kit. This is so special in my opinion that I would hate to see this bootlegged; it is worth getting for its price in the market and I feel strongly that everyone should invest getting only the Bandai version (not like there are other non-Bandai copies of this one as of the time of this writing). I actually pledged to myself to never buy bootleg gunpla when I finished this kit due to its superbness, showing the hard work Bandai and Katoki poured into its engineering making me see why original Bandai prices are kinda steep. Anyway, I would not dive into the philosophy of that issue.

During this build (late 2014), I didn't have an airbrushing system yet, so painting was done thru spraycans and handbrush. I used Aluminum Silver for the psychoframe parts and gold for the yellow parts. I also slightly changed some parts' colors so that there will be a better contrast of colors. Final coat was a flat coat as well.

Here are the pics of the build itself. Hope you enjoy!