Gunpla: The PFF-X7/J5 Jupitive Gundam (HG BD:RR)

 

 

As previously stated, I was rather impressed with Build Divers Re:Rise. So much so that, yes, I got a version of the protagonist's customised gunpla. Making this model of it both 1/144 and 1/1 scale. And also the most modern gunpla I've attempted, and possibly my favourite. In terms of build quality, engineering, and the process of assembly, the kit was almost flawless. Bandai went all out with this one.

The "Jupitive Gundam" is the Space combat loadout for the otherwise tiny Core Gundam, a suit which prompted some confusion when revealed. Unlike the vast majority of Build, there was no clear inspiration for it, and wasn't obviously a retool in waiting. No, the Core Gundam is "based" on a 1/200 scale version of the old RX78-2, with a selection of planet themed equipment designed by a boy that wanted to be prepared for anything. I suppose I'd personally describe it as not a mere custom so much as a highly ambitious scratchbuild, and/or a toyetic concept Bandai had been itching to try again. This means I should probably break things down a bit. 

 

 

So, the "Core Gundam" is a small and compact mecha, perhaps a third smaller than most gunpla. You build it first, and while construction offers few surprises, it's a pleasant process. Stickers are used for eyes and sensors, but colour separation is otherwise ideal. Joints are a mix of plastic and polycaps, but everything feels fine. I used a grey gundam marker here, and I'm quite pleased with the results. There's limitations around the waist, but otherwise it moves well. The Core Gundam has slightly awkward proportions, like a teen mid-growth-spurt, but it's an entirely satisfactory project by itself. Minor complaint: you only get two hands which like to come apart, but you do get a stand, and small beam blades just for this form. There's an awful lot of beam effects, actually. Bandai must have wanted this to be a show-piece release. 

 

The Jupiter Armour is, as mentioned, rather toyetic. Its a storage rack crossed with a drone, and on those terms, it's OK. It has its own little stand, and the Core Gundam can happily ride it. It however pales in comparison to the Jupitive Gundam, which I did not attempt until after I'd finished photography for the other modes. The armour segments can be *carefully* removed and attached to the little guy, increasing its size/bulk, but with no real loss of mobility. The resulting creation is a space combat behemoth, evoking the RX-78GP01Fb, or perhaps something the Crossbone Vanguard made. There is just an appearance of lithe speed, while still carrying a notably large gun. It's also got its own spin on "bits" remote control drones, which are pretty cool given the beam effects, but you'll need additional stands for best results. 

 

 

This was almost too good.

Plamo: The 30 Minute Missions Cielnova (Dark Grey, + add-ons)

OK, you know how it is. You get money for your birthday, so you indulge in something you wanted without thinking too hard. Hence, a new 30 Minute Mission kit.

 

There's no getting around it, the Cielnova is unusual, or as one mutual commented “baggy trousers”. The top half and bottom half seem to come from different machines, and the accessories are a pistol and a radar disk. All conspire to make for a somewhat awkward look, and possibly my choice of colours don't help. The influence of the Portanova comes mainly in the legs, these taking "interlocking plates" motif to greater extremes. The arms by comparison are long and thin, with offset elbows. It's head and torso are also simpler and proportionally smaller than the Portanova. It's still an easy a build as 30MM kits are, although I found myself having minor issues with polycaps that hold things together. That said, a good pose comes very easily to this thing, as the arms are quite unrestricted, so you can do the James Bond pistol thing. The armour sets for these both add and detract from the unusual proportions. These bulk out the upper body, but add a really big hand for asymmetry. That's both more and less conventional than the Rabiot. I went for the "defensive operations" set as it has a knightly motif going on, with an opening visor. Beyond that, I didn't I have a plan for that beyond complementing colours.

What I ended up doing was more-or-less the same approach I took with my first Alto, using black paint to smooth the differences between parts. I realised that it was possible to bodge some adapter pegs from sprue leftovers, thus allowing me to stow the pistol on the lower leg. After playing around for a bit, I decided to dump the pronged section of the shoulders, and glued the sensor gubbins in their place. Feeling that dakka was needed, I applied a spare weapon from the Loto kit. Detailing was then applied with grey and sepia markers. I seem to have inadvertently created Gundam Seltsam in monochrome, but that's got some style. If something is strange, you lean into it. You don't try and make it normal.

WIP pictures for reference

 

Gunpla: The O Gundam Type A.C.D (Gundam 00)

For the most part, I can take or leave Gundam anime. Sometimes it because the anime is pants, but others it's just me. Gundam 00 hit when I was preoccupied with other stuff, and was neither interesting nor terrible enough to hold my attention. In so far as I have gathered, 00 sounds a fair bit like the core concept of Gundam Wing, except they swapped out the romanticism for real politik, and brought back some of the Genetic Engineering stuff from Seed. That said, I could be wrong, and I'm mainly here for the robots. And the 0 Gundam is that robot, something I got for purely superficial reasons, only to find there was an in-joke at play. Also: photography was a pain in the arse.

The 0 Gundam is noted for being the first of its kind in its universe, and serves as a callback to the original RX78-2 Gundam. This wasn't immediately obvious with its original colour scheme, a rather boring all grey job, but a refit and change of pilot saw it sport parade colours and it became inescapable. This makes it an interesting mix of styles, the overall form evoking the simplicity of the 1979 version, but you also have 00 elements like the chest, and the optional GN drive. There's also a chunk of GM in there too, given its weapon loadout. To hammer the effect home, the 0 Gundam is most famously piloted by a character actually voiced by Tōru Furuya, aka the original Gundam pilot. As that character is the the main antagonist of the show, and uses it in the finale, its hard not to see it all as a meta joke or subversion. This is the sort of trivia that fascinates me. 

 

As kits go, the O Gundam is quite satisfactory but perhaps flimsy. I finished primary construction in an afternoon, and was pleasantly surprised by the joint design, which I felt was better than it needed to be. I do like how some armour segments are cast as one piece, sliding around joint assemblies. The separation of colours is generally good too, with only a modest sticker sheet. There's several places where you'll need to go in with grey or black to offset the sea of white, which I attempted to mixed success, but nothing was really a nuisance. I was actually trying out a new type of marker with this one a “0.05 Unipin Fineline”, which makes a reasonable stand-in for Gundam Marker, but I think I should try it on a less white gunpla. Meanwhile, those long limbs have a good range of motion, and the plastic colours pop. However, the skinny portions and relative simplicity of things mean that the model feels light, with the gun being loose enough in the hand to prompt some irritation. Also, and I mention this as a curiosity, not a criticism, there's two different ports for a flight stand. One actual criticism easily made is that the kit has relatively few accessories for what amounts to a final boss. This is true to the source, but some dynamic hands wouldn't have hurt.

 

In many ways, I didn't appreciate what the O Gundam was. I mean, I got visuals, but I didn't get the history, and I didn't get Bandai was going for with the kit. Its essentially a no-nonsense kit for beginners, where they went simple, but not cheap. The colour separation and engineering is too good to have been phoned in. As such, I can honestly recommend it on those terms. I kinda want to build another as a custom project...

 

 

Remembering: Gunstar Heroes

Gunstar Heroes is amongst the most highly-regarded games of the 16 bit era. Easily a top ten contender on the Genesis/Mega Drive platform, and undoubtedly a must-play for the retrogaming scene. This is mainly due to its creators, the somewhat legendary programming team Treasure, whom broke off from Konami to make some serious games. Games that arguably helped sell a console, or would be discovered as genre classics later on. And the odds are, you've ready played it. Sega published the title and has made it a regular feature of its retro Compilations. The merit of Gunstar Heroes as a run and gun shooter is unassailable at this point, but I want to talk about why I found it awesome. 

 

The game boots up with immediate cutscenes. What's the plot? That's complicated as somebody rewrote it for English speakers, and it's presented in media res, which is a bit high brow for a game mainly about blowing shit up. You get the impression that some bad stuff is going down, only for THAT title screen to hit like a comet, and if you wait a bit you get more exposition, but you're probably none the wiser. Basically, everyone is named after a colour, and bad guys want gems to repair some kind of doomsday robot, so stop them. Cool. So, you press start, choose your control scheme, your starting gun, and 1 of 4 levels, while two characters natter flavour text and tips. You go for the leftmost level, and immediately you have to stop robots from destroying a jungle village. Then you fight a killer plant. Then you climb a pyramid. Then you fight a boss made of boxes. Then you slide down the pyramid. Then you fight a construction robot boss, with a dramatic end of level announcement. Then there's a comedy cutscene where its crew fly off, Team Rocket Style, and your character strikes a pose. Then you're back at the level select screen. Phew.

All the above happens in under 7 minutes. By 16 bit standards, you have what amounts to an entire games worth of action set-pieces, and several games worth of "narrative" in what is the first and least impressive level, plus skippable text. It only gets better from there. This is awesome.

Gunstar Heroes is a game that is at once an easily assessable spectacular, and a mechanically nuanced system for experts. Unlike a majority of its genre, it actually provides numerical health meters for characters and bosses, thus avoiding one-hit kills. This should make the game easier, but it doesn't feel easier. Rather it means that mistakes are yours, and the game is kicking your arse fair and square. Play is more a matter of learning and skill, finding what works for you, rather than rote memorisation and twitch reflexes. You get a huge amount of freedom, from your characters firing stance, the starting weapon, the way weapons combine, and a surprisingly complex melee system. Body-slams, sliding kicks, throws, and an easily missed block, are there if you need them. The game won't punish you for experimenting, but also takes terms like "hard mode" very seriously. It's not cheap, in other words, and the creators clearly wanted you to play this repeatedly because you want to, not because it's so difficult to complete you couldn't do it in a weekend rental. R-Type, I'm looking in your general direction. Everybody can enjoy this, and it's two player co-op, where you can throw your mate as an improvised weapon. 

As a final note: while it does not shine by modern standards, Gunstar Heroes was a significant technical achievement for its day. This is best represented by sprite-scaling masterpiece that was Seven Force, possibly the single greatest boss fight of the 90's. This 7 form monster was almost unreal by Mega Drive standards, and it's obvious how proud they were with it. It's in level 2, where everybody could see it.

Go play Gunstar Heroes, you muppet.