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| MS-06J Zaku II |
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| This illustration was drawn with painstaking care by Mark Simmons of the Gundam Project All credit is due to him. This version is also nicely shaded. Good work! |
| Information: Model Number: MS-06J Name: Zaku II Unit Type: Mass production Armaments: ZMP-50D 120mm rifle heat hawk MIP-B6 Cracker grenades Mission specific armaments: H&L SB25K280mm bazooka Zi-Me Triple Missile Pod x2 ZIM/MT-K175C 175mm Top cannon Weight: 74.5 tons (maximum) Armor: High-tensile steel Thruster acceleration: .65 G's Remarkable pilots: Norris Packard Arth Dell Head height: 17.5 meters Sensor range: 3200 meters Operator: Duchy of Zeon First deployment: U.C. 0079 Cockpit: Standard type in torso |
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| Enter the basic, grunt mobile suit. The MS-06 Zaku II is quite possibly the most heavily produced mobile suit in |
| MS-06 J-type for ground combat. The J-type is designed for land combat, and it accels at its job. Lacking the calf boosters and extra sealants, the J-type is lighter and faster in atmosphere than it's space kin F-type. The main weaponry on this suit are a standard issue 120mm rifle, used by the MS-09 Dom as well, and a battery powered heat blade called a heat hawk. While beam weapons (i.e. beam saber) used by the Earth Federation have a bad tendancy to cause an impaled MS' reactor to explode, the simple and easy to mass produce heat hawk lacks this tendancy, which is good, because with mobile suits being powered by nuclear reactors, causing one to explode is not a good idea. Also, when the mission calls for it, the J-type Zaku II can be armed with a 280mm bazooka, which can be stored on the rear skirt armor when not in use, a pair of three tube missile launchers which mount on the legs for close combat and a hand-carried version of the Magella Attack Tank's high velocity 175mm cannon. A J-type Zaku II can also operate underwater if necessary, though only as long as the air supply in the cockpit lasts. However, an unstreamlined shape and design make the underwater ability seldom used, except by ace pilots, like Norris Packard. Another nifty armament is the multipurpose cracker grenade. Usually mounted on the skirt armor, a cracker grenade is thrown at an enemy, and explodes via a timed fuse into hundreds of smaller, explosive fragments. Crackers can also be equipped with high-candle power flares to blind an enemy so that the Zaku can escape. In order to keep both hands free and be able to block an enemy attack at the same time, a shield is mounted on the left shoulder via a pivot, as opposed to the Federation style of hand carried shields, which require the use of a hand to hold. A rounded shoulder armor, studded with three spikes, covers the other shoulder joint and also makes an exceptional tool for ramming in close combat. A mono-eye, external conduction cables and the two shoulder equipment pieces make the Zaku II easily recognizable. While it's high-tensile steel armor makes an |
| Weapon lineart: 120mm rifle heat hawk 280mm Zaku bazooka cracker grenade |
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| history, with production ranging in the thousands. The standard MS-06 F-type could be used in either space or land combat, but many variants were later released. This unit featured is the |
| individual Zaku vulnerable to a shot from a beam rifle or a rapid burst of bullets, Zaku II's typically travel in groups of three or more, making up for weak armor with superiority in numbers. An officer's Zaku II is easily recognizeable by a tall command spike mounted on the head, as dipicted here in another Gundam Project illustration by Mark Simmons. While a mass-produced mobile suit, a Zaku II can inflict a decent amount of damage on it's enemies, even a Gundam if it has a talented pilot. |
