AMX-110 ZAKU III 1/144 BANDAI PLASTIC KIT Modeling by Lewismaster Photos by R. Petti

	The AMX-110 is the last mobile suit to bear the name Zaku, about 12 years after the production of the first prototype. But this powerful and agile machine doesn't have so much in common with its old forefather anymore, except some external features. In fact it's more on a par both in armament and versatility with the overpowered Gundams, that it faces in the ZZ Gundam series, than with the older Zakus. After six months of painstaking work on the High Grade ZZ Gundam, this kit has been like a breath of fresh air! I completed it in less than two weeks, with very satisfying results. The kit is well built and proportioned and has a great degree of limb mobility. Considering these features, it's for sure one of the best in the whole ZZ Gundam series of kits and it's much better than the new High Grade AMX-110S model, too! In the animated series it appears as a new spacefaring mobile suit, so I didn't apply any weathering, leaving it as a fresh out of factory unit. Here come the few modifications that were necessary:

	HEAD - Like almost every other Zaku model, this one has a huge head, in great need to be reduced both in height and width. In fact I cut out 2,5 mm of plastic in width and filed about 1 mm in height. A new visor was made with transparent plastic, using white plastic to simulate the eye against a painted black inner backdrop. The frontal part was reduced and redefined to appear a little less bulky, adding a few details on the back of the head, too. A small B-joint connected the head to the short neck, which was completely reconstructed with plasticard and putty. BODY - The body of this kit is very well done and permits some extra movements, a very uncommon feature in most of the other Bandai kits. In fact the torso can ro-

	tate and tilt, using a well-studied connection between the upper and middle parts of the body. I only had to cover with some plasticard the inner part of the moving surfaces. Even the skirts can be easily modified to make them mobile. After separating the four skirts from the body, I drilled two holes in the protruding lower part of the body, to house two small portions of sprue that I fixed to the anterior skirts, the ones with the guns inside. I used plasticard and putty to close the rear part of these skirts and to add some details to them. The lateral skirts were even easier. In fact I drilled wider and deeper an existing hole on the line connecting the two halves of the body, and used it to house a thin steel wire that I had inserted in the thickness of the skirt. It worked like a charm! The backpack was left as it was, except for a couple of holes opened on the tips of the main prolongations.

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