MS-06VA Zaku Tank Anti-Air Type

The very first "serious" Gunpla build I ever did. Prior to this build, I had done a couple straight builds with just spray painted parts (and no seam fixing!), and this was the very first time I sat down and went "Okay, let's try everything I've seen and find out what sticks." My inspiration was (surprise, surprise) a Kazuhisa Kondo artwork of a Zaku Tank with twin cannons from the Viz 0079 manga.

The top half is the HGUC Zaku II and the bottom is a reissue of the vintage Magella Attack, I got both kits in a lot off of a Buy/Sell/Trade in a local Gunpla group. The original HGUC Zaku II is quite plain and complements the vintage Magella Attack quite well.

The arms are made from a variety of bits, most obviously Zaku machine gun barrels and the leg missile launchers from the HG Zaku. I did my best to clean the seams with my limited experience at the time - it looks okay on a table or in photos, but upon close scrutiny, it is definitely not the cleanest construction.

The kit was sprayed with Tamiya spray cans and then the camo was painted on with Tamiya paints. A small amount of oil paints were used for some light weathering and an all over pin wash was applied (and thus starting my love of the technique).

The one thing I wish I knew at the time was to use epoxy putty for large areas of fill-in and smoothing. The center section was widened to fit the torso and rather than use epoxy putty, I used multiple passes of Tamiya White Putty and it kept shrinking and driving me mad. Live and learn!

While this build certainly hasn't won any awards and is pretty amateurish as far as kitbashes go, it has a fond place in my memory as the build that would motivate down the line to continue with an aesthetic of mostly weathered builds. In terms of learning experiences, this is one of the most valuable ones I have ever had in any creative pursuit. Now... where the hell is my proper HG Zaku Tank kit?!