BODY - The body of the Desert Zaku kit is large and short and, especially in the middle part, completely out of proportion. So I used, for the upper part of the body, the MS-06D torso and, for the middle and lower parts, the MS-06J components. The chosen parts were cut out from much bigger pieces, but when joined together they didn't pose much of a problem. Of course, I had to use a lot of putty to mask the discontinuities between parts coming from different models, but all things considered, this was quite easy. On the big torso, I applied the neck joint from the J model, maintaining the holes in the rear for the backpack. On the lower part, I preserved all the mobile skirts present in the J model and exchanged only the rear one with the skirt cut out from the D body piece. The lateral skirts were later enlarged with the additional parts from the Desert Zaku kit and  used to hold more weapons. I made very few modifications to the well sculpted backpack, drilling three holes to make the fuel tanks detachable and adding an antenna. ARMS - I used the arms of the J model and added all the extra parts from the D model. In order to be at the same level of the torso, the upper element of the arm had to be enlarged about 1,5 mm in length, using thick plasticard and putty. The rest of the arm was left intact. On the contrary, all of the Desert Zaku's detailed components were modified. The left shield was thickened and modified to cover all the shoulder as in the original design, using more plasticard for the new parts and some added details. The handle in the lower part was made with thin copper wire. The left shield inside was filled with putty and attached to the shoulder with a small B-joint. On the outside, some details were added, as another handle made with copper wire. The left forearm shield was made detachable, using the cavities sculpted in the forearm near the elbows. A couple of small rods of the right size, glued to the back of the shield, did the trick.

	LEGS - Thighs and feet are from the J model and the rest from the D. The connection of these parts was the most difficult part of this model. I used a 4 mm diam. plastic tube, cut in the right size to fit in the middle part of the leg, and inserted a B-joint at each end. Then I used some sprue and the original housing for the foot joint to fix the tube inside the middle leg, which had accurately been "cleaned" of all exceeding parts. The other ends of the B-joints were put on the feet and on the thighs lower part. The thigh connection was later covered with common paper to simulate an air-tight seal. The thighs upper sockets were enlarged enough to house two more B-joints, used to connect the legs to the lower body and permit a wider movement. A few details were added to the middle section of the legs, like mesh sheets to substitute the vent grids. WEAPONS - I used all the weapons at my disposal from the D model, modifying only the 230 mm grenade launcher, to make it detachable from its shoulder holster. I threw in the tomahawk and the bazooka from the J model, too. PAINTING - I used Humbrol enamels and normal brushes to paint the model. The colours are Sand (HUMBROL MATT 63), Dark Earth (HUMBROL MATT 29) and Black Green (HUMBROL 91). After the decals application, all was covered with Humbrol Matt Varnish.

	WEATHERING - I used some "sponging" done with matt black, yellow ochre and light grey. The most worn out spots were painted with silver.

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