HG Zeta Plus A1 Test Type Color

Introduction:

Lately, I’ve been involved with a series of group builds for various series (some of these group builds happened months or years ago, and I never got around to photographing the kits). This kit was one of the kits that I built for a Zeta era group build. The designs of the Zeta era have grown on me over time, and the A1 version of the Zeta might be one of my favorites. It’s just too bad that this particular color variation is a P-Bandai kit at the HG scale. If you’re interested in picking up an HG Zeta A1 for yourself,f consider supporting me by purchasing one through this Amazon affiliate link. I receive a small percentage of any purchase you make, and it doesn’t cost you a dime to use!

Kit Talk:

I was overambitious with this kit, I made some dumb mistakes, and I compromised the stability of the design. Despite all of those statements, I still don’t hate how the kit turned out. I modified the thigh/knee area of the kit to allow the lower leg to rotate just above the knee. In theory, I liked the extra mobility this modification provides. In practice, this required removing a lot of material, making the joints very fragile and prone to separating. I also replicated a mod I’ve seen on many Zeta/Sentinel designs, by using plastic plate I elongated the distance from the forehand to the back of the head. I also made many of the “normal” modifications to this design (reshaping, sharpening, seam line fusions, etc). 

I based the kits’ color scheme off of an old Robot Spirits Ka Signature toy, which features a two-toned red splinter camo scheme. Unfortunately, the two reds I chose did not have a lot of color contrast. I didn’t notice this until it was too late, and if I’m being honest, I was running out of motivation to finish, and I wanted to move on to another Zeta era kit before the group build ended. On top of that, the camera crushed any remaining contrast in the pictures. 

Decals are from Ghost/GRework. I really like the decal designs and layout they chose, and the decals contrasted well with the color scheme. Based on what I’ve seen with other kits in their series, the decal designs can change over time. So, if you see a decal design you like, I recommend purchasing it before it changes.  

Photos: