MS Classics: The Early Years To kick off our retrospective of classic mobile suits, we'll begin with the very first incarnations of the ubiquitous Zaku, created before the outbreak of the apocalyptic One Year War. The initial development of the Zaku was done by the Zeonic Company, under the supervision of Kishiria Zabi. Illustrations by Mark Simmons			Mobile Suit Classics The Early Years Outbreak of War The Earth Invasion The Ace's Zaku The Terrestrial Front Operation V The Jet Set

Mobile Suit Classics 2 MS-04 EARLY ZAKU Development of the Duchy of Zeon's first mobile suits began in UC 0073, under the auspices of the Zeonic Company. After finalizing the basic design, Zeonic's engineers attempted to construct an armored, combat-capable mobile suit. The resulting MS-03 was a write-off, its performance hobbled by the extra weight. The problem was solved by the recently-developed Minovsky fusion reactor. The MS-04, equipped with this reactor, had twice the power output of its predecessor and could carry even more armor without adverse effects on its performance. This successful prototype was dubbed the "Early Zaku." This rendition of the MS-04 is derived from a design by Genpachi Tokaimura, featured in volume 2 of the magazine G20. Another take on the MS-04, by Kunio Okawara, has seen print in Bandai's Entertainment Bible 25 and Mediaworks' MS Encyclopedia. Tokaimura's version is our favorite, though.

Mobile Suit Classics 3 MS-05B ZAKU I The first truly combat-worthy mobile suit was the Zeonic Company's MS-05 Zaku, an improved version of the prototype MS-04. The first production run of 27 trial units began in May of UC 0075, and six months later a mobile suit training battalion was organized to gather performance data and practice combat manuevers. Based on feedback from this training battalion, the modified MS-05B version was created for mass production. Though approximately 800 MS-05B units were produced, by the time the One Year War began, this early model had been deemed obsolete and largely relegated to non-combat work.

Mobile Suit Classics 4 MS-05A ZAKU I BLACK TRINARY COLORS Though the Zaku I had been rendered obsolete by the start of the One Year War, many of Zeon's veteran pilots had trained on this early model. Zeon's first training battalion was formed in November of UC 0075 and equipped with this mobile suit. It was in this training battalion that Gaia, Ortega and Mash - the famous "Black Trinary" - first met. At the time, they had yet to adopt their familiar black, gray and purple colors, and instead used a sea-green scheme. Though the basic colors of the Black Trinary's MS-05 have been long established, this rendition is based on volume 115 of B-CLUB magazine, which offers the only depiction of the actual color scheme.

Mobile Suit Classics 5 MS-05B ZAKU I RANBA RAL COLORS Though it's unclear whether he was actually a member of Zeon's mobile suit training battalion, veteran soldier Ranba Ral likewise piloted an MS-05 Zaku. It's commonly thought that he used this nominally-obsolete mobile suit even during the opening weeks of the One Year War. Ral's blue color scheme reflects his nickname "Blue Giant" (as in a blue giant star). This color scheme is derived from the original animation that appears in the Sega Saturn game "Giren's Greed." Though Ral's MS-05 is later depicted with matching shoulder armor on the right side, in its first appearance it sports the asymmetric armor typical of the Zaku.

Mobile Suit Classics 6 MS-06A ZAKU II The first prototype of the Zaku II was completed by the Zeonic Company in August of UC 0077. Though this A type introduced external power cables and other improvements over the MS-05 Zaku, it lacked the shoulder shield and "spike armor" of the subsequent versions. The prototype was deemed unsatisfactory by project supervisor Kishiria Zabi, and another round of development began. The color scheme shown here is derived from the March 1996 issue of the modeling magazine Hobby Japan.

Mobile Suit Classics 7 MS-06C ZAKU II Mass production of the MS-06C Zaku II began in January of UC 0078. When the war began one year later, this was the standard mobile suit used by Zeon's space forces. Around February of UC 0079, the design was slightly revised to produce the MS-06F model. Meanwhile, in anticipation of an upcoming Earth invasion, the MS-06J ground combat version was developed. The C, F and J types all look identical, and collectively they are considered the archetypal Zaku. All told, the Zaku II's production run numbers in the thousands, making it the most heavily-produced mobile suit in history.

Mobile Suit Gundam, Z Gundam, Gundam ZZ, Char's Counterattack, Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, Gundam F91, Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Gundam 0083: Last Blitz of Zeon, Gundam: The 08th MS Team, and Gundam W: Endless Waltz are copyright Sotsu Agency and Sunrise. V Gundam, G Gundam, Gundam W, and Gundam X are copyright Sotsu Agency, Sunrise and TV Asahi. Turn A Gundam is copyright Sotsu Agency, Sunrise and Fuji TV.