Data Evolution:This topic is a bit more geeky—one might even say otaku—than my usual Gundam research subjects. But we're going to take a little dive into the details of the mecha specifications published for the mobile suits of Z Gundam and Gundam ZZ, specifically a mysterious number called the mass ratio (質量比, shitsuryōhi).
In many Gundam series, only a single figure is provided for mobile suit weights. But over the years, it's become standard practice for the Universal Century series to list both base weight (本体重量, hontai jūryō) and fully equipped weight (全備重量, zenbi jūryō) for each machine. In 1989's Entertainment Bible 1, these are defined as follows:
Base weight: Weight excluding weapons, propellant, lubricant, and other additional items.
Full weight: Weight including all the additional items above. Machines with a low base weight and a high full weight usually have high performance.
The mass ratio, which was briefly featured in specs published between 1985 and 1987, is a term borrowed from rocket physics. Simply put, it's the ratio between the mass of a rocket fully loaded with propellant, and that same rocket when its tanks are empty. This latter figure, unlike the base weight discussed above, would include the mobile suit's weapons and other accessories. For our purposes, we'll call this the derived figure dry weight.
Full Weight ÷ Mass Ratio = Dry Weight
The difference between dry weight and base weight presumably represents the mobile suit's shield, rife, and other accessories not included in the base weight. For our purposes we'll call this the payload.
Dry Weight - Base Weight = Payload
In most cases, this payload figure seems to be a whole number of tons—typically between 5.0 and 8.0—which suggests that it's something of an approximation. But sometimes, even allowing for rounding effects, the number ends up being some weird fraction. It's hard to see any definite pattern, but this gives us some sense of how much all that gear is supposed to weigh, and how much of the remaining weight is devoted to propellant for the mobile suit's thrusters.
The following chart includes all the published mass ratio specs I've seen from the Z Gundam and Gundam ZZ series, as well as a few from the Z-MSV series published in B-Club magazine and a couple from the Gundam Sentinel model kit manuals. Enjoy!
| Series | Model Number & Name | Full Weight |
Mass Ratio |
Dry Weight | Base Weight |
Payload |
| Z Gundam | RX-178 Gundam Mk-II |
54.1t | 1.44 | 37.5~37.7t | 33.4t | ~4.2t |
| Z Gundam | RMS-099 Rick Dias |
54.7t | 1.43 | 38.2t | 32.2t | 6.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | RMS-099B Sturm Dias |
61.3t | 1.44 | 42.5t | 32.5t | 10.0t |
| Z-MSV | MSA-099-2 Rick Dias II |
58.2t | 1.53 | 38.0~38.1t | 30.7t | ~7.3t |
| Z Gundam | MSN-00100 Hyaku-Shiki |
54.5t | 1.44 | 37.8~37.9t | 31.5t | ~6.3t |
| Z Gundam | MSA-003 Nemo |
55.6t | 1.32 | 42.2t | 36.2t | 6.0t |
| Z-MSV | MSA-004K Nemo III |
56.1t | 1.38 | 40.6~40.8t | 45.4t | ?? |
| Z Gundam | MSA-005 Methuss |
52.4t | 1.45 | 36.1~36.2t | 27.8t | ~8.3t |
| Z-MSV | MSA-005K Guncannon Detector |
54.5t | 1.33 | 40.9~41.1t | 34.5t | ~6.5t |
| Z Gundam | MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam |
62.3t | 1.70 | 36.7t | 28.7t | 8.0t |
| Gundam Sentinel | MSZ-006C1 Zeta Plus C1 |
77.04t | 1.83 | 42.2t | 36.18t | 6.0t |
| Z Gundam | MSK-008 Dijeh |
51.8t | 1.30 | 39.9t | 33.9t | 6.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam |
68.4t | 1.72 | 39.7t | 32.7t | 7.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | MSZ-010S Enhanced ZZ Gundam |
71.6t | 1.78 | 40.2~40.3t | 32.7t | ~7.5t |
| Gundam ZZ | FA-010S Full Armor ZZ Gundam |
87.2t | 1.54 | 56.7t | 32.7t | 24.0t |
| Gundam Sentinel | FA-010-B Full Armor ZZ Gundam |
93.3t | 1.69 | 55.1~55.3t | 43.4t | ~11.8t |
| Z Gundam | FXA-05D G-Defenser |
60.3t | 2.44 | 24.7t | 24.7t | 0.0t |
| Z Gundam | RGM-79R GM II |
58.7t | 1.29 | 45.5t | 40.5t | 5.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | RGM-86R GM III |
56.2t | 1.29 | 43.6t | 38.6t | 5.0t |
| Z Gundam | RMS-106 Hi-Zack |
59.6t | 1.33 | 65.6t | 38.7t | 6.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | RMS-119 EWAC-Zack |
73.5t | 1.61 | 45.6t | 41.6t | 4.0t |
| Z Gundam | RMS-108 Marasai |
59.4t | 1.48 | 40.1t | 33.1t | 7.0t |
| Z Gundam | RMS-117 Galbaldy Beta |
56.9t | 1.35 | 42.3t | 36.3t | 6.0t |
| Z Gundam | RMS-154 Barzam |
62.3t | 1.35 | 46.1t | 40.1t | 6.0t |
| Z Gundam | RX-110 Gabthley |
56.2t | 1.42 | 39.6t | 32.6t | 7.0t |
| Z Gundam | RX-139 Hambrabi |
56.9t | 1.55 | 36.6t | 34.6t | 2.0t |
| Z Gundam | RX-160 Byarlant |
54.7t | 1.33 | 41.2t | 34.2t | 7.0t |
| Z Gundam | MRX-010 Psycho Gundam Mk-II |
283.9t | 1.37 | 206.5~207.9t | 187.8t | ~19.5t |
| Z Gundam | NRX-044 Asshimar |
63.8t | 1.35 | 47.1t | 41.1t | 6.0t |
| Z Gundam | NRX-055 Baund-Doc |
129.4t | 1.33 | 97.0~97.6t | 82.7t | ~14.5t |
| Z Gundam | ORX-005 Gaplant |
94.2t | 1.63 | 57.7t | 50.7t | 7.0t |
| Z Gundam | ORX-005 Gaplant & Booster |
274.2t | 3.53 | 77.7t | ?? | ?? |
| Z Gundam | PMX-000 Messala |
89.1t | 1.97 | 45.3t | 37.3t | 8.0t |
| Z Gundam | PMX-001 Palace-Athene |
80.0t | 1.40 | 57.0~57.3t | 65.0t | ?? |
| Z Gundam | PMX-002 Bolinoak-Sammahn |
56.2t | 1.46 | 38.6t | 31.6t | 7.0t |
| Z Gundam | PMX-003 The-O |
86.3t | 1.36 | 63.3t | 57.3t | 6.0t |
| Z Gundam | AMX-003 Gaza-C |
72.5t | 1.49 | 48.8t | 40.8t | 8.0t |
| Z Gundam | AMX-004 Qubeley |
57.2t | 1.41 | 40.5~40.7t | 35.2t | ~5.4t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-004-2 Qubeley Mk-II |
57.2t | 1.41 | 40.5~40.7t | 35.2t | ~5.4t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-004G Mass Production Type Qubeley |
62.1t | 1.61 | 38.5~38.6t | 35.2t | ~3.4t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-006 Gaza-D |
68.4t | 1.86 | 36.7t | 28.7t | 8.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-008 Ga-Zowmn |
58.2t | 1.47 | 39.6t | 31.6t | 8.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-009 Dreissen |
66.8t | 1.50 | 44.4~44.6t | 36.7t | ~7.8t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-011 Zaku III |
68.3t | 1.36 | 50.2 | 44.2t | 6.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-011S Zaku III Custom |
71.4t | 1.42 | 50.3t | 44.3t | 6.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-014 Döven-Wolf |
74.5t | 1.66 | 44.8t | 36.8t | 8.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-015 Geymalk |
78.7t | 1.40 | 56.3t | 46.3t | 10.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-101 Galluss-J |
78.3t | 1.33 | 58.7t | 52.7t | 6.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-102 Zssa |
74.5t | 1.55 | 48.0~48.2t | 23.7t | ~24.5t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-103 Hamma-Hamma |
79.4t | 1.68 | 47.3t | 40.3t | 7.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-104 R-Jarja |
67.5t | 1.63 | 41.4t | 36.4t | 5.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-107 Bawoo |
67.5t | 1.66 | 40.7t | 34.7t | 6.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-109 Capule |
57.5t | 1.35 | 42.7t | 38.7t | 4.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMX-117R/L Gaz-R/L |
70.8t | 1.55 | 45.5t | 40.5t | 5.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMA-01X Jamru-Fin |
58.5t | 2.04 | 28.7t | 24.7t | 4.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | AMA-01X + AMF-02R Jamru-Fin & Mega Booster |
103.6t | 2.62 | 39.5t | 35.3t | 4.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | NZ-000 Quin Mantha |
264.7t | 1.57 | 168.1~169.1t | 143.2t | ~25.5t |
| Gundam ZZ | MS-09G Dwadge |
81.7t | 1.65 | 49.5t | 43.5t | 6.0t |
| Gundam ZZ | MS-09H Dwadge Custom |
87.4t | 1.65 | 52.9~53.1t | 43.5t | ~9.5t |
| Gundam ZZ | MS-14J Regelgu |
82.6t | 1.73 | 47.7t | 43.7t | 4.0t |
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