cmwolfe.net

2019

The Mobile Suits Designs of Gundam Wing 2019-09-22

Note: For this post I am taking a different approach, one that is probably extremely inappropriate and unnecessary. It is my attempt at a pseudo-Socratic Dialogue, which I will use to discuss the mobile suit designs of Gundam Wing. I understand it is not 100% true to the idea of a Socratic Dialogue, but I found it to be a much easier way to get my thoughts down on this subject. Plus it is always fun to try something different.

Windows 10 1903 Update 2019-08-04

The last time I used Windows on my personal computer was back when Vista was still around, but since Vista was not long for this world, you would have to go all the way back to Windows XP to find the last time I dealt with a Microsoft operating system getting a major update (which would have had to been Service Pack 3).

With Windows 10, however, MS appears to be big on making a major update to the OS at least once a year. This actually makes a lot of sense - this is basically Microsoft taking the Apple route. Mac OS has been around for ages, and Apple just keeps adding and updating and tweaking it. There is nothing stopping Windows 10 from being handled the same way, and so that is exactly what they are doing.

Unfortunately, Windows 10 updates are notorious for being buggy and unstable. The situation is bad enough that for their latest update - Windows 10 Version 1903 - Microsoft added the ability for users to delay the update for several months, just in case you want to wait for the kinks to be ironed out (or come up with a solid backup plan). That sounds scary!

And yet I am kind of a sucker for these kinds of updates. I have no idea why I am. In my experience, at least on Mac OS, these kinds of updates tended to cause my Macbook Pro to get increasingly slower, and as the years went on, fewer and fewer of the new features were built to support my hardware. Common sense dictated that I should have left the OS be as long as possible, and yet I never did. I guess I am a sucker for feeling as if I am on the “latest and greatest”.

Gunpla Chronicles Local Type - Build 2019-07-15

Runners

This kit has ten runners. You only see nine in this photo because I already used up the one that holds the beam sabers. Subtract that tiny orange runner in the photo, which houses some parts for the head, and you are left with effectively eight main runners. That’s a few less than the Zaku II C6, so I expect this to be a somewhat simpler build.

Gunpla Chronicles - CMWOLFE-07/C1 S-Class Plus (Build) 2019-07-14

Let’s get the build started!

I always begin a build by putting together the weapons, but this time I decided to mix it up by building the body first. After all, if you build the weapons first, you can’t do anything with them, but if you build the body first, you can still post it or stand it up and have it hang out while you wrap up with the weapons.

Runners

We’ve got about eleven runners here, which is a decent size for a High Grade. I expect this to be a good meaty build.

Gunpla Chronicles Local Type - Intro 2019-07-01

This kit - officially known as the Gundam Local Type (North American Front) is the kit I wanted to buy, but I only did so after I let my inner child convince me to do so.

We’ll get into the history and details of this mobile suit in due time, but let’s just get one thing out of the way first - if a generation of pre-teens somehow got hooked on Gundam by watching shows set in the Universal Century, rather than by watching shows such as Gundam Wing or Gundam Seed, this is the kind of mobile suit they would be sketching in their notebooks.

Gunpla Chronicles - CMWOLFE-07/C1 S-Class Plus (Intro) 2019-07-01

Let me begin this post with a rant.

The best and worst thing about the Gundam: The Origin line of model kits is its abundance of Zaku prototypes and variants. On one hand, I love that the Origin OVA basically forced Bandai to make kits out of mobile suits such as the Waff, the Bugu, and the Zaku I. I also love how you can get so many of these kits in different colors, such as in either standard green:

Char Aznable red:

Or the black/purple scheme of the Black Tri-Stars.

In the past, these kinds of mobile suits were either too obscure or too specific to see frequent release, but in the Origin OVA’s they are, in some cases, the only suits to show up during a given episode, so Bandai had no choice but to make new models out of them.

New Model Kits 2019-06-30

I just came back from a second trip to Disney World this year. This is the first - and likely last - time I will be visiting the park twice in one year (the only reason it even happened is because I did not have to pay for the second trip, for which I am truly grateful). I was not expecting to buy any new model kits on this second trip, as I did not expect there to be any difference in stock from when I went four months ago in February.

Turns out I was wrong about that. In February there were only three kits available for purchase. This time around, there was roughly a dozen. This tosses out my earlier theory that perhaps the Japan Pavilion at Epcot was giving up on selling model kits. Rather, it appears that the paltry selection from the winter was simply the result of them being low on stock. This also heavily implies that I am not the only one who buys these things from the gift shop. That is good news, though since I do not plan on going back to the park for a few more years, there is no telling what it will look like next time I swing by.

Anyway, I ended up buying two kits - one which I really wanted, the other which I felt like I needed. Let’s start with the latter of the two. It is called, technically speaking, the Zaku II Type C-6/R6.

This is one of the many, many Zaku type kits to come out of the Gundam: The Origin line, and this appears to be one of the better ones, as it comes with a crap load of weapons and accessories.

The second one is called the Gundam Local Type (North American Front). Here’s the box:

That’s right - this is a Gundam with a sweet black and orange color scheme, and a cannon strapped to its shoulder.

I will be back with some more detailed posts later, and hopefully I will be able to complete at least one build during the month of July. Stayed tuned.