Gundam Fan Creates Moving, Human-Sized Replica of Char’s Zaku

Lots of Mobile Suit Gundam fans watch the anime and are inspired to build one of Bandai's Gunpla model kits, but a Japanese high school student is taking their fandom to another level.

The crafty young Gundam fan showed off their creation on Twitter. According to Sora News 24, the Zaku's builder created the massive 1:10th scale recreation of Char's custom mobile suit using CAD and 3D printed parts. The outer shell of the Zaku houses a robotic interior, which is filled with wires and motors that actually allow the human-sized model to move its legs and bend its joints. The Zaku isn't quite complete yet: in the latest videos, the mecha is still missing a leg and some paint applications, but it's still an incredibly impressive work of fan art, especially when you consider that it is being built by high school senior in their free time.

The creator of the model, who goes by the Twitter handle @roa27379771, is also working on a number of other 3D printer-based projects, including building a working replica of Attack on Titan's 3-D Maneuvering Gear, which actually fires out wires that can attach to objects using powerful magents, and a recreation of Spider-Man's web shooters.

Char's Zaku was originally featured in the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam anime series. The Zeon-built mecha was the piloted by Char Aznable, the masked rival to the show's protagonist, Amuro Ray. Char's customized unit was able to move three times faster than a standard Zaku, and thanks to Char's expert skills as a pilot, the unit was able to go toe-to-toe in a fight with Amuro's RX-78-2 Gundam, despite the Gundam's vastly superior technical performance. While Char would later move on from the Zaku to more advanced mobile suits, such as the Newtype enhancing Sazabi, it has remained one of the most beloved and iconic mecha designs from the Gundam franchise.

While the fan made Zaku is certainly impressive, it's still a fraction of the size of the 1:1 scale Gundam statues that Bandai has erected throughout Japan. Those statues move as well: the life-sized RX-78-2 statue in Yokohama is capable of walking in place and striking several of the Gundam's most iconic poses, while the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam statue in Tokyo is capable of transforming to into the mobile suit's Destroy Mode and back. The Unicorn Gundam was the subject of international attention when it served as the backdrop for several events during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were held in Japan this summer after numerous delays.

Source: Twitter, via Sora News 24