[Bandai] - Master Grade Wing Zero EW Ver Ka. Pt.1

 

So in celebration of the new year, the community of plamo enthusiasts I'm a part of has decided to start a "Backlog Accountability" poll semi-regularly this year.  Everyone's backlog is growing, but the desire to build has been dwindling.  Why not make it a group effort and change things up a little?  Pick a day in the month where we check in with our current works in progress, whether it be a straight building or a custom.  Hopefully this takes off and we can make it a regular thing to keep everyone motivated.

As a result of the poll, I've been tasked to start the year off with the Master Grade Wing Zero EW Ver Ka. (which I will refer to as the WZC moving forward)

I will be chronicling the process here, and this will once again be a straight out-of-the-box build with basic lining and the use of the included waterslide decals.

• Purchase Link: MG Wing Gundam Zero [Endless Waltz Ver.] Ver.Ka 

Since this is basically a "2.0" of the 2004 release, we've got 15+ years of Gunpla advancement crammed into the standard issue Ver. Ka style box which looks amazing as always.  

Unboxing

Starting off with opening up the box; we're greeted with (21) color separated runners including an action base (black), (1) tiny sticker sheet and (1) fairly large sheet of waterslide decals, all prepackaged as you would expect alongside a 35pg instruction manual with colored artwork and a two page spread of an interview with Hajime Katoki in the center.  

Image courtesy of Mech9

Assembly: Feet/Legs

From here we're going to jump straight into the build. For this build (and typically how I tend to assemble kits) we'll start with the feet, and work our way up completing the inner frame first.

With the legs and feet being a fairly straight forward assembly process, I did find the knee articulation a little weird. I'm sure its done this way due to the transformation gimmick, but they do not "go back into place" on their own once you straighten them back out.

The rest of the leg assembly is typical.  An area of concern is the joint for the thigh/hip connector. I *highly* recommend giving the peg a light sanding as this part is VERY tight, once put together it will be a huge hassle to disassemble and fix.  Sand it down a little at a time and test fitment but don't fully insert the part, stop when you feel that its not too tight and have the desired ease of rotation.  If you feel the joint ratcheting upon rotation once fully put together, this means the peg is still to tight, disassemble and sand down the peg some more.  This is NOT supposed to happen.

 

Waist

Nothing special here. Legs have a sliding gimmick for more dynamic poses. Forward and back slider.

Side waist armor can swing out for the transformation.

So far everything has been the standard Master Grade build when it comes to complexity with minor modifications required for some suspiciously tight joints, we'll continue on with the upper body in the next part!  

Until then, happy building!