Eh. Its been a while since I've done one of these. This post is a sequel of sorts to one of my earliest gunpla articles, featuring the Hizack. At the time, I pointed out how that machine made no sense in context of Titans faction, and the Barzam is much the same. I find it to be kinda fascinating. Appearing late in Zeta Gundam, its visual design screams villain, as a tall monoeye machine with unusual proportions. OK, fine, the Titans were very much mask off by that point, long-long before, but I've often felt the Titans-made mobile suits were too zeonic in appearance, even if our subject goes in new directions. While supposedly derived from the Gundam Mrk-II, the Barzam has almost no family resemblance, and bar a few details it might as well be a completely new machine. This is noteworthy as while the GM family is a lot more complex than it looks, those are usually just a headswap away from being a Gundam. Which has actually happened more than a few times, in either direction. Ancillary media has dedicated much time to explaining or fixing the Barzam, usually making it more like the Mrk-II, and also throwing in ties to other Titans mobile suits. The instructions point out you can switch backpacks with that model incidentally. That's a lot of retcons, ink and plastic spent on what amounts to a late-war grunt. While the Barzam is usually regarded as a capable machine, it didn't get fielded soon enough to really matter. Because if the Titans liked anything more than warcrimes, it was spending obscene amounts of money and time on prototypes. Like I said, too zeonic.
As a 2017 kit, the Barzam is quite modern and nicely designed, if still having the occasional polycap in there. Its exposed internal frame and general weirdness make for an interesting build. Colour separation is good, you could add red to the thrusters but life's too short, and the sticker sheet is very inoffensive. Its used for sensors and the occasional red detail, often in recessed areas, so that’s okay. I mean, they used three different plastic colours for the codpiece, for heaven's sake. An effort was made, but they did hollow out the trim on the buttplate. Its also somewhat big. Not super-big or anything, but even if we ignore the frill, its on the tall/wide side for a High Grade.
One thing that confused me at first was the gun. I'd assumed that the gun would sit flush with the arm, possibly having a connector piece, but no, it just floats there, held by a long handle. The shoulder connection is nice, but the whole affair feels somehow wrong in a way that I can't quite put into words...
Once I had this together, I went in to paint a few details, before weathering it, and applying the sensor stickers. I don't think the weathering comes across well in the photos, its rather subtle. It turned out OK though.
All-in-all, this is a pretty decent gunpla with an odd look. That odd look is both a strength and a weakness, but if you want a weird grunt, I doubt the Barzam will disappoint.
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