More Gundam Unicorn & Others EDITED

More photos from various sources about the recent Plamo Radicon Show 2007. MG Unicorn is making me salivating more and more :-D


The box seems to be much larger than the ones of other Ver. Ka models. I won't be surprised if this will be the largest box for models tagged with the Ver. Ka brand. Image from Apron No Hito/Hobby Shop Midori.


A very Katoki-style bazooka is included as one of Unicorn's armaments. I suppose the horn is still in one piece at the moment just for exhibition. How is that suppose to transform is still beyond my understanding. Images from Apron No Hito/Hobby Shop Midori.


Like I said, do you get how the horn splits into the V-fin from these CG illustration? Image from Apron No Hito/Hobby Shop Midori.



As my friend, Chong told me this morning, "do you know Unicorn's height will increase for 2 meters in Destroy Mode?" Images from Apron No Hito/Hobby Shop Midori.


The secret of the "lighting inner frame" is these clear red parts. I don't think I'll panel-line them when I get my hands on Unicorn. Image from Apron No Hito/Hobby Shop Midori.


The big scale 1/60 Gundam Exia coming out at the end of this year. Image from Gunpla Secret Factory.


Kind-of simple, the box art of HG 1/100 scale Exia, and again, very SEED-like as well. Image from Pam's Homepage.


HG 1/100 Dynames looks way bulkier than its appearance in Episode 1 of Gundam 00, and what're those attachments on both sides of his legs? Image from Gunpla Secret Factory.


Gundam Virtue is priced at 1,575 Yen, same as Gundam Kyrios despite his elephant legs and equally huge beam cannon. Images from Gunpla Secret Factory.


Another fatso mecha from Gundam 00 coming soon is Ground Type Tieren. Image from Pam's Homepage.


1/400 scale Ptolemaios, the carrier for the four Gundams in Gundam 00. Image from Pam's Homepage.


I wonder how much you have to spend to collect both these models? Images from Tsukurikake Mokei Dojo.


HGUC ReGZ is priced at 2,940 Yen. It's very high-priced for a model from that product line, but then again he has the BWS, plus is transformable as well. Image from Gunpla Secret Factory.


The same Gundam Fix Figuration 1/100 Metal Composite Gundam Ver. Ka + G Armor has been reused for the third time now, for the red Casval version, or I would just call it Char's Gundam.
Haman Kahn's Qubeley is coming out along with the red Qubeley Mk. III. I was so hoping it can get an individual release so the price won't be too high, but Bandai's up with their evil money-making scheme again.
Images from GA Graphic.


The rather dirty-looking Ground Type Gundam and Gundam Ez8 in HCM-Pro format. Images from Pam's Homepage.



HCM-Pro Guncannon and Char's Zaku II in their "new" Master Marking version. I wonder if there's any end to these few fellas? Images from Pam's Homepage.


HCM-Pro Hi-Nu Gundam, not quite "hot" for me, since it's so similar to the MG version. Image from Apron No Hito/Hobby Shop Midori


Lu Bu's horse-bike looks really cool when it's painted nicely. The new SD model on the right is Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮) ReGZ, the military strategist for Liu Bei, and the ultimate rival of the previously released Shima Yi (Shiba-I Sazabi). Images from Gunpla Secret Factory.


The Gundam in pink-armor is refreshingly new. I wonder if she is Xiao Qiao (小乔), Zhou Yu (周瑜)'s wife.
EDITED: the pink-armor Gundam turns out to be Sun Shangxiang (孙尚香), Sun Quan's sister who was married to Liu Bei ^^
Image from Gunpla Secret Factory.


The very vintage BB models listed for resale in December. How many do you remember? Image from Gunpla Secret Factory.


UC Hardgraph Cyclops Commando Team from UC0080: War in a Pocket. The only mecha for this kit seems to be the military jeep. How many members of the team do you recognize?
Images from Tsukurikake Mokei Dojo.

MG Destiny Special Edition Box Art

So this is the box art for MG Destiny Gundam Special Edition, or rather, "Extreme Burst Mode", which is the official name assigned to it.


Does his right hand which holds the beam sword seems upside-down to you?
For me, it's seriously not as good as the box art of Strike Freedom Full Burst, most probably because it doesn't have a shiny golden inner frame to show off. Too bad, I suppose, because the box art for the normal version isn't very impressive either.

MG Unicorn on Display

First hand photos (for my blog, it would be second hand XD) from Gunpla Secret Factory. Look at MG Unicorn's in Destroy Mode!!


Totally kick-ass!! December faster come XD


The Ver. Ka box cover follows the precedence of Gundam Ver. Ka, Wing Ver. Ka, Ball Ver. Ka, and Crossbone X-1 Ver. Ka.
The photos are from Plamo Radicon Show 2007, one of the many annual hobby exhibition in Japan. Last year's event unveiled many sweet Gunpla such as MG Strike Freedom, HG 1/144 Stargazer, SD Strike Noir, Ex-Model Hildolfr and many more. I believe this year's event will continue such "tradition" as well, and Gundam fans will get to see more interesting stuff coming out from more reports. Just stay tuned!

Here are some more goodies (images from Run Chicken S):


Looks like Sazabi isn't the only one who will get the metallic coating treatment, his arch-rival Nu Gundam will get the same release as well. Can't really see the price tag in this photo ^^;
After HGUC Jagd Doga, the next Char's Counterattack mecha to be out is ReGZ. I can see that the wings of the Backpack Weapon System (BWS) has been redesigned from the MG version.


Here's a sign that tells you to anticipate more CCA mecha from the HGUC line right into next year.

PLAMO Review 25: MG Strike Noir Part 1

My current Gunpla work is MG Strike Noir, and like what I did to my previous work, MG Gundam Ver. OYW, I'm going to split the review so that it can cover as much details as possible about this kit. At the moment I'm thinking of three:
Part 1: (today) Panel-lining
Part 2: Assembly and action poses
Part 3: Comparison with MG Strike
Any other suggestion on how you would like me to review this Gunpla is very welcomed! Please give your precious suggestion in the comment section. Thanks in advance ^^


All the empty part trees after removing the parts for Strike Noir. Only three part trees are directly inherited from MG Strike: the inner frame for the thighs, body and waist, elbows, ankles, manipulators, Strike's beam rifle, and the polycaps.


Starting with HGUC Advanced Hazel, I cut out all the parts first and categorized them according to their components of the model, and then panel-line and apply painting onto them if necessary. In the past, I used to panel-line the parts on the part tree before cutting them out, a method I practiced for the past 10 years.
Now, onto my current progress. For the last few days, I was frantically panel-lining this kit so that I can start assembling it during the Hari Raya holidays this coming weekends. As compared to MG Gundam Ver. OYW, Strike Noir has more parts, but surprisingly easy to panel-line. The main reason being there's not many fancy hydraulic pipes to show off, so there's less need to play around with painting silver on this kit. Also, unlike Gundam Ver. OYW, there are less lines and details on the surface of the armors. Plus, the details are spread over on the many parts, so less work is needed for each part.


There are however, "static" hydraulic pipes for the legs, which are much easier to paint than the ones for Gundam Ver. OYW anyway.


Also, gold and silver paints are applied to certain parts in the shoulders' frame, as well as the mecha component of the backpack.
Parts that need such painting are treated first, so that they will have more time to dry off before the final assembly.
I really like the design of this model. Technically, it's just a variation of the original Strike, but Bandai put in quite a bit of effort so that you won't feel like buying a second Strike and repeat the same assembly process again if you had assembled Strike before. Except for the body, the inner frame of Strike Noir is revamped, while the armors are completely different. I used to think that this is just a color variation of Strike from white to black plus a different backpack equipment, but apparently, it's not.


I think the feet of Strike Noir (the two pairs on the left) are most interesting among the many "seemingly" similar parts with Strike. The first visible difference is the holes where the cables are supposed to come out. But upon careful scrutiny, you will find that the the feet are actually narrower than Strike's.


I like the collar of Strike Noir as well. It's much higher than Strike's, plus, it's black. I bet it will make Strike Noir looks much more evil and menacing when viewed from certain angle. I can very much visualize that angle in my head right now ^^
There are many tiny-biny parts for this model. The triangular yellow parts for the sharp shoulder armors really give me a lot of suspense all these day ^^ since I was so afraid of losing any of them when working on them. To prevent crying my eyes out ^^ if any of them went missing XD I counted the total parts at the end of the day before cleaning my table, just in case.


Smaller than the 1 cent coin, you better be careful when dealing with these small parts.
I painted the pilot, Sven Cal Bayang in red and black instead of his official color of purple and black, because I think red is much easier to spot when he's in his cockpit. It's very much up to you actually.
On the contrary, there are also a few larger parts as well, most notably the wing units and the beam swords. For the earlier, I'm really pleased that there are details within the wings, so that when the swords are drawn, the wings are not completely empty. The beam swords are my favorite components out for this kit but I always think that the beam parts are too short ^^;


The wings of Strike Noir's backpack, which by the way, is officially called AQM/E-X09S Noir Striker pack. Aile Striker pack's designated code is AQM/E-X01, which shows how close these two MS are.


The huge beam swords. I have no intention of painting them in silver though ^^


Not to forget the two 57mm high-energy beam rifles with 175mm grenade launcher, which I would rather call Duel Gundam's rifle instead :-D
Parts yet to be panel-lined include the wing unit, the legs and the head. Hopefully I can finish all of them and review on the assembly of Strike Noir this weekend.

1/72 Full Armor Gundam

G System Shop, the resin kit manufacturer based in Hong Kong always come up with some lovely masterpieces ahead of the industry they are in. I'm a huge fan of their work, including the 1/72 scale Sazabi Evolved Ver. and PG Zaku II's conversion kit for Jadg Doga. However, the price for their models, as well as all resin kits, are way too expensive for me. Plus, one needs some serious skills in painting in order to produce the same quality of Gunplas done by the company, so I'm just a window-shopper really ^^

The company's recent completed project is 1/72 scale Full Armor Gundam (Gundam Sentinel's Version). Although technically, there is no FA Gundam in Gundam Sentinel's era, I believe the designer applied many elements from Gundam Sentinel into this model, thus giving it such version specification.




It's just plain awesome no matter from which angle viewed.
And indeed, components such as the huge backpack thrusters and the targeting sensor on the left shoulder looks very similar to that of Ex-S Gundam, while the long knee armor, front skirt armor and the extra thrusters on the side of the legs seems that they are designed after EFSF's FAZZ Gundam.

However, don't get me wrong, even though the designs are based heavily on Gundam Sentinel, I still like this completed kit very much. The details are gorgeous, and there's no feeling of awkwardness seeing Gundam clad in armors that belong to another timeline. Also, I'm so glad that G System Shop dumped the traditional blue-red-yellow color scheme of Gundam for the armor and adopted mainly blue and grey instead.


The armors can be removed to review the Gundam beneath it. Although it's incomplete, it's still an interesting feature for a resin kit.
Also, G System Shop went one step forward in altering the usual "for-display-only" concept of resin kit and design a movable and posable frame for this kit. It even has sliding armors for the thighs and a complete inner frame for the arms! Even though the kit is expensive, I believe all these details is well worth the money spent, which is by the way, a whopping $355 (around RM1,200).


Some limited actions for the legs.


Some simple details for the inner frame of the arms.
The company's future plan include Conversion pack for 1/72 scale Hi-Nu Gundam. The extremely elegant design of Hi-Nu Gundam combined with the rich articulation of PG Strike's inner frame. That's definitely something to look out for in the future. No information yet on the exact release date, so stay tuned for more updates.


Can't wait to see the completed model of this giant :-)

Gundam 00: My First Impression

I watched the first episode of Gundam 00 on Youtube the other day, and even though I had no way of understanding the Japanese narration and dialogue since my understanding of that language is close to nil, I must say that I'm really pleased with it. The demonstration of how Celestial Being opposes all weapons and war by wrecking havoc at Enact's party is easy to understand, and how first blood drawn by Gundam Exia is going to escalate into future battles is highly anticipate-able.

In short, the First Episode really laid a great foundation for the whole story of Gundam 00 to move on.

Some of my friends discussed it today, and they missed the large scale battles between nations, such as the war between ZAFT and Earth Alliance in SEED, or the war between AEUG and the Titans in Zeta Gundam. On the other hand, I like the idea of shifting the battle sequences to guerrilla warfare, or smaller scale sorties which allows the audience to focus more on each of the Gundams, as well the other enemy MSs. Plus, the animation team won't have much excuse to "recycle" scenes (as seen throughout SEED Destiny) and cook up an episode with reused sequences. As the number of MSs involved in each battle is fewer for Gundam 00, they will have to provide more details.

I do have some of my own opinions though:
(1) The helmet design - I believe most of you will agree if I say the helmets worn by the four Gundam pilots in Gundam 00 are more natural-looking than the ones used in SEED or SEED Destiny ^^ Also, I particularly like the idea of how the helmet of Setsuna is designed closely to resemble the head of Exia. This most certainly pushes the relationship between him and that Gundam even closer than any other in the past.


The helmet is much easier to accept than the huge-awkward ones in SEED.
By the way, note that there's no more split on the mask/face of Exia, which is a characteristic shared by all the Gundams in Gundam 00 actually.
(2) Cockpit design - I just love the cockpit of Gundam Dynames. It looks more spacious and relaxing ^^ as compared to most other MSs' cockpits I saw in the past. Lockon Stratos sure looks relaxed in there before starting his mission of shooting down Helions in pursuit of Exia. And the way the sniper camera is positioned in the cockpit, like a huge revolver cannon really makes it looks extremely fun as well.

Imagine sitting in a Lamborghini playing Counterstrike :-D


A grown-up who keeps a Haro. Hem... that sure reminds me of how many people think about me in the past when they know about my interest in Gunpla XD
(3) Character design: Tieria Erde - Now here's something I don't get it: why would they design a fella who looks so feminine, with a near girlish name as well, but give him the opposite gender instead. I remembered how embarrassed I was once, when reporting the announcement of the characters for Gundam 00, mistaken him as a her, only to be corrected by a reader via the comment section.

Everytime Tieria speaks, which isn't much actually, since he appeared last among the four Gundam Meisters in Episode One, I wanted to laugh. I was imagining how well it would be if Tieria was given a female voice-actor instead. No offense if you're a fan of his now, but I sure hope for at least one female Gundam pilots instead of an all-boys-gang.


I used to mistaken Heine Westenfluss in SEED Destiny as a girl, before he started talking and "shocked" me completely XD But Tieria's "gender confusion" is even worse!
(4) Who's that Gundam? - This is the biggest question I had about Episode 1 actually: who's that Gundam Setsuna saw when he was a kid about to be killed. It's definitely not Exia, and more troubling, many of its parts looks suggestive to RX-78-2, the first Gundam, which is not supposed to exist in the time line of Gundam 00.


Chest design, pistol and shield similar to those of Exia, shoulder and waist armors and beam sabers (I'm guessing those are) from RX-78-2, and head of Gundam Mk. II.
Seriously, if they can't find a good reason for introducing this Gundam in the series, they can always say it's Setsuna's hallucination :-D
Is this just a gesture of respect to the Gundam franchise? or maybe this "predecessor" to Exia will have some significance in future episodes? Hopefully there'll be some answers as the series move on.

Gundam 00 Breaks Loose

Episode 1 of Gundam 00 aired yesterday evening on Japanese TVs. Fans in Malaysia will have to wait for months to see it, but with the Internet, the wait is cut short. You can now watch it on Youtube.



Embedding the Flash player object is disabled for these clips, but you can follow the links below to Youtube anyway:
Episode 1 Part 1
Episode 1 Part 2
Episode 1 Part 3

Now I'm off to watch them myself ^^