Assembling the 1/144 Bau from "Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ," an old kit whose combined transformation creates endless possibilities, we will beat the intense heat and corona! The 13th issue of "80's B-Grade Anime Plastic Model Natural History

This column has finally reached its first anniversary, but since readers are drifting away if we only feature plastic models whose names are not well known, we have to introduce major characters from time to time, and we are rather serious about it. The person in charge of this project also said, "For example, Gundam plastic models? So this time, I decided to build a 1/144 Bau, an enemy mobile suit from "Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ" (1986), which I was able to bid cheaply on Yahoo!
Speaking of Bau, this must be the guy!　Yes, Gremmy Toto!

In "ZZ," it was okay for Gremmy and the other newcomers to make gags, but it was painful for Bright, Haman Khan, and the other serious people who had continued from the old works to be forced to go along with them. ...... It's like a serious singer being forced to perform in a drifting comedy.

When I look at the box art of Gremmy, I'm slowly reminded of the unique atmosphere of "ZZ", isn't it? As far as mobile suits are concerned, it must have been significant that you ordered various people to design the mecha in the previous "Mobile Suit Z Gundam" (1985) and lumped them all together as "all of them are mobile suits," wasn't it?　The enemy mobile suits in "ZZ" were redesigned from the concept by Yutaka Izubuchi, and Bow was one of the early models, but the more they tried to unify the concept, the more people asked, "Where do we start and end with mobile suits? The more they try to unify the concept, the more it seems as if they are rehashing the existential question, "What in the world makes a mobile suit a mobile suit?
However, rather than adding excessive binders and funnel containers, I find Mr. Izubuchi's silhouette-oriented mobile suits more physiologically compatible with me. ......

▲ On the back of the assembly instruction manual, setting drawings and an explanation of the aircraft are printed. It is said that the separation into Bau Attacker (upper body) and Bau Nutter (lower body) is a trend of the Gaza series, but the Z Gundam-like design of the chest and legs when in mobile suits is confusing, isn't it? Is there some kind of backstory? It may be a trick to make us think "Is there a backstory to this design?

Setting aside the setting in the play, I think it is conscientious as a plastic model product to be able to enjoy two types of mobile suits and flight forms within the 600 yen price setting. It means that rather than just putting together a bunch of products that somehow look alike, it's more agreeable to have some fun and challenge in it, even if it fails.
Now, the runners are two orange, two yellow, and one poly cap.

▲ First, this elongated plate is the shield. The five holes on the surface of the shield are beam cannons, I hear, and they are superbly molded in one piece. This is why plastic models of this era are so interesting. The holes facing to the left and right are formed at once without going against the dividing surface of the mold. ...... I don't think it is correct to divide these into 5 parts

▲ Look at these Z Gundam-like legs. The two thin parts extending from the knee joints are probably power pipes or decorations around the joints. Are those delicate internal parts integrally molded with the external armoring of the shin?　That's cool!

Let's take another look at the yellow runner. The chest parts still look like Z Gundam. If you think about it, the heat exhaust ducts on the left and right sides of the Z Gundam looked like eyes when it was in flight form, maintaining its character. I think they are following that symbolism.

▲ Decals with difficult kanji characters (apparently this reads "bow") and poly caps. The decals are dead, so I'll leave them alone, but the poly caps should be taken care of.

Bau is indeed an orange body with yellow parts scattered all over the body, but two yellow runners are too many. The box and instructions only show a painted sample, but I wonder what the color scheme would be like if it were unassembled. ......　Wouldn't you like to see it?　Building plastic models without painting is a lot of fun!　Let's start from the next page!

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