Latest Gunpla news with pictures

Cool. The red cables on Zaku FZ looks fantastic! Too bad I think the other photos showing the traditional beige cables are the release colors.

Still, of the HGUC 0080 kits so far, Zaku FZ is one of the most improved. As kits, both Gelgoog JG and Zaku FZ (original release) were a bit dated by today's standard. But the old Gelgoog kit had at least the proportions right. The old Zaku FZ kit was a great kit for the time, but the proportions were a little curious. The HGUC version looks really great.

Latest Gunpla news with pictures

A page with pictures to accompany our sister site Gunota's latest merchandise report.

More on the HGUC Nu Gundam

Actually, I was thinking more of the Gun Eagle from SD Gundam Force when I did it...

Admin Question

errr, what happened to the Topica list? I was checking my account, and it wasn't there?

More on the HGUC Nu Gundam

Hmm... then I would be more inclined to build a symmetric Nu Gundam with just one kit instead. No, I am not (just) trying to skim on expense (stagflation alert!), it's that 12 of these huge fin fannels on one MS is kind of freaky. Mounting 3 fin fannels on each side seems reasonable right?

Well, it's not exactly like I will actually try it out... On a related note, the HGUC Sazabi will definitely tempt me out of gunpla retirement. Shall be interesting to see...

More on the HGUC Nu Gundam

As Core requested:

All the pieces to convert the HGUC Nu Gundam to the Double-Wing version are all there - except the extra six fannels, which you'll have to use a second kit for. Also, If you want to have two shields, then you have to use the other arm from the other kit.

Quick Fix Review: HGUC 1/144 Nu Gundam

Quick Fix Review:

The 1/144 HGUC Nu Gundam

I had seen on the net - I forget which site, sorry - that the Double Fin-Fannel Wing was doable. And once I got my hands on one kit in the store, I checked the parts...and indeed, it was possible! So without further ado, I bought two kits and proceeded to modify.

Points of interest:

1) The knee joints are designed to be able to take the stress of the extra weight the wings bring to the kit - but...it still sags, so the trick is really to properly pose it.

2) The "mechanical" joint areas are now in gunmetal/metallic grey, rather than neutral grey.

3) The helmet comes as one piece - no more nightmares for people who putty and sand. And there's internal detail under the back flange of the helmet, too.






























4) The rifle can be gripped well - a big difference from the MG Kit.

5) the Fannels are fully-articulated and detailed.

6) there are internal details for the calves, but not much else - unless you consider the detailing on the underside of the waist-plates to be important.

7) The backup sabers and mountings are fully-articulated as well.

8) The shield uses Hazel-type connectors - I guess it's the standard now.

9) The proportions are somewhat in-between Izubuchi and Katoki - but the overall result is that it simply looks good.

10) The Bazooka mount swings, so it can technically go into position for "back-fire."

11) On the Minus side...the left hands are a downer. One is an open hand, and the other is a closed fist - no fist for saber-gripping or trigger-grips.

All in all, this is a very satisfying kit - if only it had more useful hands.

RoboBusiness 2008

I visited RoboBusiness 2008 in Pittsburgh, PA. I couldn't afford the full registration fee, but registered for the exhibition and attended the two "open" lectures. The exhibit was much smaller than I expected, using perhaps 10% of the main exhibition floor of the conference center. About 40 companies and organizations set up booths. Most of them are offering software or hardware components instead of completed robots. Fewer than half of the few completed robots on display were turned-on and demonstrating very basic capabilities.


I expected to see some impressive robots, especially from the universities. But this self-navigating car was representative of the academic showings. Not bad but there's no Wow-factor.


Koreans showed up in force. These Netoy/robots will be put on market later this year.


iRobot shows off their new Gutter Cleaning "Robot". Hmm it has only one single function and employs no AI, is it really a robot? Sadly this qualifies as one of the more interesting display in the exhibit.

There are other robots on display, military robots (primarily bomb disposal by remote control) are big business nowadays, but to me they are boring. The last one worth mentioning are self-navigating robots that picks up and deliver drugs, samples, supplies etc within hospitals. Unimpressive to look at, but at least they are true robots.

IT LIVESSSS !!!!

Thanks for inviting me Core.

I just looked and I have GML mark-I email still saved on my computer from 2001 :-)

Has anyone invited -Z- to the list. I really miss his emails.

Mecha04

Exia Astraea

To be honest, I don't like the Exia as a pure design - that's why when the Astraea parts came out, I was one very happy camper...


The Exia Astraea here is armed with a weapon from Gundam X.



















































This Exia also had some work done to make a left-handed gunblade...

HGUC Gundam GP02A MLRS Specs

Hard to believe, but true. This is the first model photography I did since my daughter was born. Actually it went back further, it's the first model photography I did since Newtype Asylum was closed.

Damn... see how sloppy I got. The rocket engines are all posed this way and that way. Doesn't look like everyone is on the same mission. pfff! Ok I am out of practice.

About the kit: it's a no-brainer choosing this version (a variant from the arcade game Bonds of Battlefield) over the standard Physalis. For 200 Yens more you get two triple missile launchers and a meaner looking nuclear bazooka. You give up on the special stand for the GP02A vs. GP01Fb fighting pose. But that can be easily (and better) recreated with two Action Bases. Just to be absolutely clear, the photos here shows the model posed on an Action Base, which is NOT included in the kit.

PS: want to throw a question out there: the online pictures seem to show that the MLRS version uses a darker shade of gray than the standard GP02A. Is that true? Does anyone have a side-by-side photo of the two kits?

GML 3.1

For what its worth I created a free GML mailing list that you can subscribe to at GML-subscribe@topica.com. We could tie that into the 10 addresses Core has available so that everyone could get the e-mails. Let me know what you think.

Community questions

To Chris, yes you can get posts emailed to you. But Blogger.com limits that to ten email addresses. Right now I am using one (for testing purpose), and I've assigned one to another GML member. The reason that person gets it is that he participates in GML from work which employs a very heavy-handed firewall excluding most blogs. So I gave him one of the limited slots. For general membership, I understand the behavioral inertia is to expect to get GML in the form of email. But if more than 10 members want it some will be out of luck.

The "real" way to get instant notification whenever someone posts on GML3 is use Atom feed (our feed is here). You need to run a "feed aggregator". I am not an expert on it but I know aggregators of different types are used by many many people. Actually, perhaps so many people are already using aggregators that demands for email won't reach 10, then it would be a non-issue.

I think for now, we should keep having open discussions about community questions such as these. At the same time we are struggling to put in more Gundam contents during a quiet time (with G00 season 1 just ended), but we need real content (THANKS Richie for the picture!) to retain the old GML membership and hopefully attract new readers and authors. And we also need to set up the ground rules and logistics. Hopefully we can settle the blog logistics soon and get into 100% Gundam contents.

Wow...

Just signed up today, and was unaware the list had collapsed. I thought traffic was just slow for a bit! Sorry to hear of its demise, but I'm glad the community survives even if it's in blog form (I know very little about blogging, so apologies if my titles or labels are out of whack).

Is it possible to get e-mail notification when the blog is updated? It'd be nice to be able to keep track of what's going on without having to check every few minutes...

Gunpla

This is interesting. I think I'll startup my reviews again, this time with pictures.



























Here's one that I'll do a review on soon.

Admin

Wow. I get to be an admin? I'll be glad to do whatever I can to help! Just give me some time to figure out the interface.

OK. I was able to add a label to this. I do like the label concept a lot as it allows us to more easily focus on threads that may interest us.

Newtype and Nirvana

Glad that you are back, Boaz.

Firstly I would say a connection between Newtype and Nirvana via Tomino's personal knowledge of Buddhism is quite plausible.

But I think it's quite wrong to attribute too much Buddhism influence into Newtype. Buddhism emphasizes personal enlightenment (Hinayana) and enlightenment of all (Mahayana). It's quite a stretch to find evidence of the teachings of either school in Newtype. Especially, Buddhism's Nirvana is the reward for escaping from Samsara. It is very tempting to compare the endless cycles of wars, destruction and suffering in Universal Century to Buddhist view of the material world. However, the Gundam heroes reject the idea that Samsara is an unbreakable cycle and Newtype Nirvana is an acceptable escape from the pains and suffering of the material world. So while he could "always go back to where Lalah is", he couldn't indulge in his own spiritual bliss and let the Samsara cycle continues in the Gyps War (Zeta) and CCA.

Somewhat OT: a stroke, near-death experience and other neurological conditions causing spiritual experience is well-known. Whether one experiences a Western or Eastern favor is very variable. One famous example is Hildegard von Bingen whose migraine caused profound religious experience of the Catholic favor.

Dr. Core

G00 season 1 rating

Well obviously, more fans are in agreement with Bob Allen than I. Gunota reports ratings for the TV series. Season finale getting the 8th highest amongst other anime shows of the week isn't exactly impressive. But the season's average 4.85% shouldn't be considered a commercial failure amongst other Gundam shows. It's lower than Seed (6.1%) and Destiny (5.4%) but higher than Tomino's labor of love Turn-A (3.0%) and undisputed success Wing (4.3%).

Gundam 00 Season 1- slightly different perspective?

I have to disagree with Dr. Core on some things about it:

Politics/Society: 0 - I'd give it more of a 3 because of the links to the mid-east conflicts and the focus on how the "major" powers (Union, AEU, HRL) control the Solar power system to keep their interests first. It's not the most original look at things, but it doesn't leave me suspending disbelief and it holds together enough so that I don't have to sit back and wonder "why" all the time when I see how the "world" works.

Atmosphere/Credibility: 1 - I'll call it a 2/3. I thought it was doing well, until Coners pulled out that tacky mobile armor at the end and Graham seemed to go off the deep end in his battle with Setsuna in Ep. 25. Despite that, I still enjoyed the show without having to turn my brain completely off.

Human drama: 1 - I'd say more of a 3, again. There were some really good moments with Setsuna going back and forth between his youth as a guerrilla and the "present", but they seem to be saving the majority of the character development for season 2.

On another note, I was surprised in that I thought Saji, Louise, and Marina seemed to be less of empty shells and more of reflections showing the reactions of the world around them. They were still very passive throughout the first season, but I expect to see them take more leading roles in the second season

Characters (villains): 1 - Some of them turned out to be very disappointing. I expected more of Graham and Conners, but at least Ali remained the unrepentant sociopath. I'm not sure if you'd call him a villain, but the more I see of Sergei, the more I like him.

And what's the deal with Wang? I can't tell if she's just very comitted to "the plan" or a little on the sociopathic side herself.

As for the Fansubs - have to give thumbs up to what I've seen also. Still, call me old fashioned and such, but I'm hoping the show gets listened in North America and I can get the DVDs for it.

I really enjoy this show after the train wreck that was Destiny and the freash take on the Gundam universe.

Mekton Zeta Mailing List

Back in the day, I know there used to be at least one or two people who were on both the GML and the Mekton Zeta Mailing List (MZML). I've gone ahead and posted a note there explaining about the list collapse, and asking anyone who was a member of the GML when it went down to contact me off-list. Hopefully I'll be able to get at least a name or two.

Also, the blog appears to be e-mailing my old e-mail address just fine.

And I haven't cleaned out my inbox since at least September of last year... You want me to send any e-mail addresses I pull up directly to your inbox, Core?

Ripping Off Gunota

Isn't that what we did back on the old mailing list anyway?

:P

On a more serious note, so long as a hat tip is given to Gunota I can't imagine that anyone will mind. And since the new series is dropping into it's season-long hiatus, most of our posts will probably end up being news picked up from that site. You certainly can't comment about new episodes if there aren't any.



junior

GML mk.III may be a mailing list afterall?

Just exploring the features of Blogspot. It seems that a blog can be read using email, and new posts can be created by email as well. Well than perhaps it can be used as a mailing list after all! I know at least one member from GML2 who might be restricted from using forums or blogs at work, perhaps this is a solution. Private email me and we can try to work it out!

Gunpla announcement roundup

Ok before you complain that I am just ripping off Gunota (this and that), well ok guilty as charged. But the point of GML (as opposed to Gunota) is to have a little discussion.

What do I have to say... well... wow Gunpla is going 7 ways at the same time: First, CCA, 0080, Seed, Sangokuden, G00 and G00 side story. That's a little mad!

MG Gelgoog Ver. 2.0
MG Force Impulse Gundam
HGUC Sazabi
HGUC Zaku II Kai
HG Saachez custom AEU Enact Custom
HG Tieren Space Commander Type
1/100 Over Flag
1/100 Gundam Astraea
BB Senshi Sangokuden Kakouen Dalas
BB Senshi Sangokuden Sousou Gundam + Shibai Sazabi ~Miracle Of Guandu~

Newtype and Nirvana (experience of a stroke)

I got invited by Doc Core so I just joined without hesitation... so it seems like I am suddenly back on the GML ship.... :-)

I just blogged about MSG 5 min in my own blog before getting the invitation, so, hmm, sorry the first post is a cross post, and it's a far-fetched one....

Adding Admin

I've just granted "Admin" privileges to Jason Reynolds. I must emphasize that it doesn't mean I trust him more than everyone else. It's a relatively ad hoc and tentative decision. I am still waiting for more people to accept the invitations to become "Authors" so don't take this action too seriously yet.

The primary purpose to bring in more "Admins" isn't to manage the recruitment, censorship and especially not to kick out people. I want to establish a habit for all the authors to put in "Title" and "Labels". I hope Jason will agree to help me manage that. I propose he and I will edit or add "Title" and "Labels" to posts that lack them. I have already done that on a couple posts. I will strongly oppose editing the content of someone else posts. So add/edit title, label = OK. Edit/delete post content: NO NO.

If you would like to help this effort, by all means send me a private email. I will most likely accept.

OK?

Dr. Core

PS: actually, more help with recruitment would be welcome too. We have currently 10 authors and additionally 20 open invitations. Hopefully many of the invitations will get a positive response. But we could still bring in more Authors. Send me private email to discuss.

G00 season 1 review

Very brief review (my very personal opinion) of the entire season 1:

Each category out of 5

Originality/Surprise: 4
Politics/Society: 0
Atmosphere/Credibility: 1
Human drama: 1
Characters (heroes): 2
Characters (villains): 1
Mecha designs: 2
Mecha action: 2
Fansub(s): 5

Comments: full of clumsy executions, shallow and empty story/plotline, but it's full of surprises and unpredictable.

Full marks for the fansubbers, I've only seen Mendoi and Nyrono, both are truly excellent.

Ground rules (evolving...)

1. All former GML members will be made an author and can post.
2. New members will be added without questions initially, if problems appear, trouble-makers will be kicked out.
3. No censorship of the absolute kind, but "excessiveness" (vaguely defined) is not encouraged.
4. Please use "Labels", first label is "Admin", such as for this post.
5. Please don't use "Comments" to follow up a thread, make a new Post. "Threads" should be managed by "Label" and "Post Title".
6. Therefore, always put in a "Title" and at least one "Label".
7. Only use "Comments" sparingly, I think "Comments" should be used by general public, i.e. non-authors.

More to be added, subject to discussion.

GML revival

Think it was left to run on auto-pilot and eventually, it just die. Guess we have to re-build it from "scratch" again. Guess it is a bad sign when you don't see the admin of the list posting anything from time to time...

GML revival

How did the list die?

GML revival

GML mk.II had died. GML stood for Gundam Mailing List. This blog is an attempt to revive GML, so it retains the letters GML, but obviously it's neither a mailing medium nor a list any more. So the full name is gone, it's just GML3 now.

I hope this will work out and we can attract most of the members of GML2 to join here, either as bloggers or as regular readers.

Cheers...
Dr. Core