Gunpla Build - Real Grade Wing Zero

I know what you’re thinking - “You had three downer builds in a row, and you need a rebound. So your solution is to build Wing Zero, a mobile suit that you’re on record as disliking? Make that make sense.”

Hear me out. Remember how I built the Real Grade Wing Gundam, and it made me (finally) appreciate that design?. The same thing’s got to happen with Wing Zero! Right?

Right … ?

About the Mobile Suit

I wrote up a synopsis on Wing Zero back when I built the High Grade, and while it’s not too bad given its age, it’s still missing some important context.

Unfortunately, the blurb in the Real Grade’s instruction manual is small¹, and the entry on the Gundam Wiki is currently in bad shape, as it reads like a bad edit of an even worse machine translation. So for today’s post, I’m going to instead post the very long, but extremely informative writeup found on MAHQ:

Before there were five Gundams, there was only one – and it existed strictly on paper. In AC 180 – fifteen years before they sent their own respective custom-built Gundams to wage guerilla warfare on Earth – the five eccentric scientists Doctor J, Professor G, Instructor H, Doktor S and Master O, completed designing the first mobile suit of that era, the OZ-00MS Tallgeese.

Seeing their work being put to oppressive use in the form of mass-produced OZ-06MS Leo – and spawned by the assassination of space colony political leader Heero Yuy – the five scientists decided to design their own mobile suit which could overpower OZ’s forces.

This mobile suit was the XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero, and it was a design to truly be feared. In addition to being extremely maneuverable, the Wing Zero was a transformable mobile suit, capable of changing into a fighter-like Neo-Bird mode for added speed and mobility. Sporting Gatling-like machine cannons, wing-mounted vulcan guns and beam sabers, its firepower was topped by an extremely powerful twin buster rifle, capable of wiping out entire groups of mobile suits in a single shot.

However, one more factor put the Wing Zero above everything else: the cockpit’s Zero System, which allowed the pilot’s mind to interface directly with the Gundam’s combat computer. Although the exact nature of the Zero System’s operation was unclear, it appeared to operate by “sampling” the pilot’s thoughts and, combining them with current combat data, presenting the pilot with various alternate outcomes.

Thus, depending on the pilot’s mood, the Zero System could tell them how to achieve total victory… or decisive defeat. Nevertheless, the mental stresses the Zero System placed on the pilot were too great for any ordinary human to handle, and even the five mad scientists saw the dangerous turn their work was taking.

And thus, the Wing Gundam Zero project was shelved. A copy of the plans went with each of the five scientists when they broke up and went underground to pursue their own individual plans for revolution against OZ. The Wing Zero design served as a base model for the five Gundams that would actually be built and sent to Earth.

In AC 195, unfortunate circumstances placed XXXG-01SR Gundam Sandrock pilot Quatre Raberba WinnerM in space without a Gundam, with a dead father, and with enemies of the very space colonists he was fighting to free. Wracked by a serious mental imbalance, Quatre discovered the abandoned work of the five scientists, and he built the Wing Zero.

Mindless of its dangerous Zero System, Quatre took off to destroy anyone and everyone fighting in space. Though his mental condition was temporary, the Wing Zero’s power proved truly terrible, as Quatre used it to destroy an entire space colony. After that, the Wing Gundam Zero passed from one pilot to another until it landed in the hands of former OZ pilot Zechs Merquise, and then XXXG-01W Wing Gundam pilot Heero Yuy – two of the only humans known to actually master the Zero System by making use of its advantages while preventing it from driving them mad.

The Wing Zero remained as Heero’s personal mobile suit throughout the Eve Wars and was destroyed in AC 196 while attacking the Mariemaia Army’s seized headquarters in Belgium.

I think it’s really interesting that the scientists designed Wing Zero because they had buyer’s remorse after helping OZ develop mobile suits, and wanted to create something that could crush the organization.

It’s like, “you guys were scared of what you created with the Tallgeese so you … *checks notes* … made something even more powerful?”

(To be fair, the five scientists are frequently depicted as being brilliant, but lacking in foresight)

I also think it’s interesting that, while Wing Zero is ostensibly a midseason upgrade for Wing Gundam, it technically existed earlier, even if only on paper. That’s not a common Gundam trope.

Is it Really a Midseason Upgrade?

I mean, yes, technically it is, but it’s journety is unorthodox. It’s not as simple as “new mobile suit shows up around the halfway point, and the main character gets his/her paws on it”.

It’s more like “appears around the halfway point, then gets passed around to lots of different people - including all the other Gundam pilots, AND Zechs - before finally landing with Heero at the ass end of the show”.

Indeed, it was still getting passed around to different pilots as late as Episode 43 of a 49 episode show, meaning Heero is its “permanent” pilot for only the last six episodes.

Again, this isn’t how it usually works in a typical Gundam show (though whether or not that is a stroke of brilliance, or a sign of how sloppy Gundam Wing’s writing is, is in the eye of the beholder).

About the Model Kit

We know that Real Grade designs make all sorts of tweaks, and that these tweaks are (in my opinion) usually a good thing (though there are exceptions!) Already I’m seeing changes on RG Wing Zero that I like a lot:

• It adds a bunch of grey. That might sound risky on a mobile suit that’s already very busy looking, but it’s a neutral color, and I think it works as a nice counterbalance to all those bright colors.
• The green area on the shield is now recessed, which makes that extra bit of color much less prominent.
• It appears to use a nice, dark, golden yellow, which I think looks a thousand times better than the neutral yellow that Wing Zero is often depicted with.
• The thruster pods look like they’re longer than usual, which I think is a great change (I’ll explain why later, if it turns out to be true)
• The thruster pods also appear to have some really nice articulation, which could open up some great posing opportunities.

I’m feeling cautiously optimistic about this build. Fingers crossed.

Other Thoughts

This is the third time I’ll be building Wing Zero. That’s quite a lot for something I’m supposed to dislike.

I think, deep down inside, that I want to like it. The basic concept is sound; I just think the original design is a bad execution of it. That probably explains why I made color tweaks to my High Grade version, and why I’m interested in this Real Grade. I’m trying to chase a perfect interpretation of Wing Zero, and maybe the third time will be the charm.

One more thought before we go. At an MSRP of around $54 - $56, this kit ain’t cheap. Traditionally, normal-sized Real Grades were in the $35 - $45 range, with only the really big ones (like the Hi Nu Gundam or the Zeong) going above that. Even the RG Shining, which is still relatively fresh, is in the $45 range, while the RG Gundam 2.0 can be found for under $40.

But for some reason, both RG Wing Zero and RG Epyon (which is about the same price) cost the same amount as I spent on the RG Nu, which is a much bigger kit with tons of accessories. What’s going on here?!?

It’s possible, even likely, that this is simply due to a combination of tariffs and Bandai’s general price hikes, but maybe there’s something to these kits that makes them extra complex (and thus extra expensive). We’ll have to wait and see.