MS-06D DESERT ZAKU 1/144 BANDAI PLASTIC KIT Modeling by Lewismaster    Photos by Roberto Petti

	The MS-06 has been the workhorse of the mobile suit  forces in most of Zion incarnations, resulting a vastly reliable and adaptable machine and the most produced model of the whole U.C.. The D version appears for the first time during the One Year War, but it is only the slightly different version of this model kit that can be seen in animation, in the ZZ gundam series. This is an adaptation for the desert environment of the basic Zaku II, involving vents, coolant grids and (not yet shown) hovering systems. The model kit  derives directly from the crude MS-06D of the MSV series, whose parts are all incuded in this kit. The new features of the kit are some great  weapons, a new backpack and some minor details in the body and legs. Taking inspiration from the great model shown in the Church of the Machine site, I exchanged many parts of the original kit with those of the high grade MS-06J from the 8th Ms Team series, seamlessly combining the multi-joined new stuff with the older material (see picture below).

	HEAD - The head of J model is much better proportioned and sculpted than the original one, so I used that one for this model. The torso of this Zaku is very big and the J's head fits just right without any size modifications. I opened the visor and replaced it with some transparent  plastic, after painting the inside black, using a small piece of white plastic to simulate the eye, fixed inside the head at about 1 mm from the transparent windscreen. After that I reshaped the beak in front of the head to house the newly constructed tube connections, which contain additional air filters. I don't use very often springs to simulate the mobile suits tubes; I think that they don't simulate the multi-elemented flexible tubes any better than the not flexible ones present in the kits. I prefer to use springs in this fashion only when I am compelled to, as in the Hizack model, or to mobilize some parts. I completed the head drilling two holes for the machine guns barrels and placing the antennae of the original model in their place, enlarging and reshaping a little the sensor opening under the main antenna. I maintained the neck joint of the MS-06J model, which gives the head enough mobility.

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