u/Toa_Malafe

While this probably would have fit better yesterday, I feel like mentioning that there is a LOT of missed potential with hank. While I could list a few examples (his basis, the difference between British and American railroad practice causing issues as hank is versed in the latter, etc.) There is one interaction that we never got, and that is between Hank and Gordon.

Why Gordon and not, say, Rosie or another American character?

The answer lies in the strange relationship the Pennsylvania K4 class has with the A1. While calling it a direct inspiration is a stretch, there were multiple elements of the K4 that Gresley integrated into the A1, most notably the tapered boiler. (even if Gordon does not have one on the model, you get the point) One could then argue that, depending on how interpret it, Hank's class is part of what led to Gordon's existence. The parallels are even noticeable in their other attributes: Both are large, blue pacific with red accents that are best known for express work. Granted, this may be more of a coincidence (Hank's colors are Blue, with red and white , similar to the colors of the American flag, While Gordon is the same shade of blue as Thomas and Edward with yellow instead of white) One could even argue that the two share a few personality traits (both are good at heart, though Gordon is far more boastful while Hank is far more jovial.)

I could also 100% see Hank thinking Gordon is smaller than him (because he is, even in the model Hank's is a little larger) And Gordon taking that more as a jab than as a want to help.

Though this DID give me a dumb idea for a story: Gordon and Hank swapping stories of their respective express work, with the conversation eventually changing to talking about their classes. Hank would mention how he and his brothers were the basis for a lot of other engines (Which is technically true, as outside of the A1, the PRR created multiple loco designs that trace their heritage back to the K4) While Gordon would list his creator and siblings, with the former catching Hank's attention. When asked, Hank recalls meeting a "Nigel" before back in the states (This is not entirely outside of the realm of possibility, as the information I could find never listed which K4 Gresley saw, so in this case, it could very well HAVE been Hank.) and how the man was impressed with his power. Gordon does not catch the fact that they are the same person, though at least one other engine does (I would say Thomas, and the reason for using Thomas would be that he has worked with hank before and sees Gordon as a close friend, as seen by their alliance. Thomas would be the only one with enough of an understanding of both engines to really have to think about if they should tell Gordon.) The story would revolve around the character debating on how or even if they should tell Gordon. Thomas would be unsure if they even were the same person and was unsure how Gordon would handle it. Ironically, Thomas would decide to tell Gordon and would meet with the pair right as either Flying Scotsman or Spencer would be telling them the exact same thing (At least with Scotsman, he has been stateside so he may have picked up the connection to the K4s during his American tour, or from an American trainspotter.) In the end Gordon would still claim to be the best, having been an improvement on the innovations Hank pioneered. Hank would actually affirm this and state that he was so famous, that they named a hill after him (HE probably would have heard that it was called Gordons hill but not why it was called that) The story ends with Gordon spluttering and Thomas and Spencer/Flying Scotsman laughing while Hank tries to figure out what is so funny.

Idk, at the end of the day it is a fun interaction that we never got and some potential for stories for fan creators.

So, story time: The gun the MK II is holding is a modded version of the Gatling kit that I made easier for an HG to carry, and the idea was inspired by a Russian badger video (hence the paraphrased quote)

I was taking photos for a trio of models and when I put this in the hands of the MK II, the quote came to mind.

And no, the EZ8 is not titans (the color was something between a personal choice on my part and a reference to blue destiny)

Artwork by @takekawasin (source tweet: https://x.com/takekawasin/status/1512754005235355648 )

Please tell me I am not the only one seeing it.

Reference Art by Dairi https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/50268144

I was not sure which tag to put this under and apologize in advance if I mistagged it.

I was inspired to honor a truly ancient meme regarding Kanako and her similarities to the RX-77 Guncannon (similar color, large gun-like things on the shoulders and back, etc.)

So I tried this! I need to paint the rear guns to better fit her color scheme, but I have finished the head painting.

I had wanted a Gyan of some sort for a while and was able to FINALLY find one, albeit the Gquux version. I tried to use the stickers, but the ones from this series are small and finicky, so I said "screw it" and decided to try my hand at painting parts of the armor and the shield. For color I used a "Mocha Gold" Chrome marker (it looks more like bronze, but idk) and Metallic green from a Uni Posca marker. I also used some of the larger stickers and the base colors of white and grey.

How different would the UC be if, rather than the first alien contact being Angel Call, something like the specimen on image 2?

Like imagine, for a moment, what the various factions (The Jupiter republic, Zanscare, the federation, The cross-bone vanguard etc...) would handle a living, breathing, psychically powerful monster appearing in the outer edges of the solar system.

Like Gundam aliens tend to all be in the camp of "all consuming horde/ potential destroyer of humanity as a species" (the latest game notwithstanding) So how would something that showed genuine intelligence shake things up?

Also, I am fully aware that, in all likely hood, SOMEONE would stick it in a mobile suit and things would go pear shaped really quickly.

I want to point out that, at least looks wise, Gundam as a franchise has a large amount of variation and there are many MS that do not fit the mold for different reasons, such as the Aerial's more feminine physique, the EVA-like styling of the GQuux, the bestial form of the Barbatos, almost everything about the Turn A, and I would argue even the unicorn gundam does not fall into what some would define as the gundam look, largely because of it's two-tone (White and either red or green) color scheme and exaggerated V-fin.

This also kinda comes back to the bugbear I have had with the discussion being: what makes something Gundam (or A gundam, take your pick) is inherently vague because gundams have variation to an insane degree: The Original, the Zeta, the Nu and the f91 are all considered gundams despite looking different in size, shape, color and even the shape of their heads.

My point is that we have seen relatively little of this new machine and judging it off that feels like jumping to conclusions. Recall that, in the case of the turn A at least, a design lambasted upon first appearance becomes well loved and well respected with time.

You could also add optimus prime to this list, but I have always kinda loved Axe wielding mechs. Something about the choice of weapon speaks to me. Like your going in for melee and rather than pulling out some sort of sword, you pull out a big ****-off axe and try to lob their head off.

Something about the axe feels more... personal. Like a sword on a mech is still a sword: something elegant, mythologized, refined.

By contrast, the axe is a more brutal, pragmatic weapon, and most that are mech sized lack ornamentation for the most part with both the Zaku's heat hawk and Hatchetman's... hatchet. Something about cutting an enemy to pieces with an axe screams "I am not here to show honor or mercy, I am here to kill you and it will not be pretty.

Idk, What are y'alls thoughts on melee weapons on mechs?

Going to be honest about this: the version we got was good, but the drafts are all kinda solid in my opinion. So I wanna point out what I have to say about each of the draft sets. (got these on the wiki)

Image one: Why the hell do we not have another MS like this? I mean, it looks like a gundam with a massive hat with a monoeye in it, the colors are all sick (in a good way), the weapon looks good. If anyone knows of some mad lad who made a gunpla of this, let me know.

Image two: Going to be honest I am glad they went with the visor look, as, while I am looking at the design in the top left for when I make a dom custom, the monoeye look just does not fit.

Image three: I notice that the fin nozzles on the back were a relatively late design choice given how absent they are on many of these. Yes there is a joke I could make about the one with the monoeye, no, I am not going to say it.

Image four: Interesting to see how the fin nozzles developed from more traditional thruster designs.

Idk, what are y'all s thoughts on this stuff?

Having red crossbone ghost, I will say this much: Font Bow is a fucking madman in the best way.

For context, the Zaku in question is (correct me if I am wrong) an early production type and is, as of the fight shown, 70 years old. It is so old that the Delphys has trouble hitting it because miniaturized MS were the standard and even for non-minaturized MS, The Zaku is a relic by the time of the fight, being kept operational as a parade piece. As a parade piece, it naturally does not have a gun or it's heat hawk, so it resorts to a different tactic: using the static display MS as weapons. And this thing survives over half the manga in the era of the zanscare war.

How are Murdoch and Rebecca different in regards to appearance? To be more specific, both of them differ from their standard livery greatly, with Murdoch having a more "toy-like" livery than the others introduced in the 7th season (comparing to Emily, Arthur, Spencer and Fergus) And yet you never hear the same derision regarding appearance when speaking of Murdoch. Granted, Murdoch is not the first to have a massive deviation from the standard. (that honor would go to James in the books, being painted red when the standard was blue or green.)

Now to be clear, I both understand why folks dislike Rebecca and am not the biggest fan of the paint schemes in the BWBA Era, but I feel like the argument that she does not look authentic falls flat on it's face if we give others a pass. Honestly, a lot of it may lie in factors beyond how they look and more what they do: Rebecca replaces Henry as a member of the "steam team" while Murdoch kinda just exists. I can recall back to the old "Emily replaced Duck" argument and this would not be the first time a newer character was hated for replacing an old one. (though it felt less explicit with duck, to be frank)

My guess as to why the two may differ is in how their respective paint schemes are laid out. Murdoch's colors are off, but the lining and strict adherence to a set of colors (Orange with a black smoke box, green lining on the body and green and red lining on the tender ) looks more like a conventional British paint scheme, albeit with odd colors. In contrast, Rebecca's pain scheme is kind of all over the place.

I very well may be seeing trouble where there is none, but after watching Tug's latest video, the notion that some characters are OK with odd paint schemes and others aren't stuck in a way I cannot really explain. Idk, What do Y'all think about the livieries of characters

Pour one out for the Zanny

So the story behind this is a little interesting: I had originally gotten the big arms and gun parts kit for my birthday (the gun is on a kit I lovingly call the GM FAFO) and had the arms and head left over. Cut to several months later when I got the leg parts kit and realized I had no idea what to do with it. Originally it had been the "hound" to the huntress gundam custom I built, but that felt like it really didn't work, so I decided to combine the pair and do something a little different.

I see that most 30mm are built for battle, so I wanted to try making something that was more logistics and support based.

When I post these photos on places like DA, I normally give a little bit of lore for them, so here is the basic lore: Built from spares and designed to support more combat based bots, it is built for repairs and construction. The weapon on it's right arm (the thing with the nozzle) is an adhesive hose/gun. It can be used in support to give repairs to other bots to get them moving again, or could be used to immobilize enemies or disable weapon systems. on it's other arm is the only offensive weapon it has: a needle shooter. IT fires basic metal needles with hardened tips to pierce enemies and bend after doing so. This is again, used to immobilize or disable enemies. On it's shoulders are a pair of massive lifter arms tipped with grabbing claws. These are used to carry cargo while keeping it's hands free.

TO BE CLEAR: this is not me hating on the Acguy. After seeing it decapacitate a gundam ground type, I have nothing but respect for it as one of the two best amphibious mobile suits Zeon built. My Question more is in the fact that several suits (and gunplay) based off of it all have varying shades of "why" to them.

Starting with the Agguguy and Juaggu: Both get a pass in the weirdness department from me for the simple reason of being specialized machines built off of a proven design. That said, the family resemblance is... interesting.

Next, the Aggjin (from moon gundam): Specs-wise, it looks like a solid development. Looks wise, it looks like it was either extremely inbred and has a horrific genetic disorder.

Lastly, and I feel I should at least mention it, the Bearguy and the SEVERAL developments from it: I get it. Given the size of the base MS and the color I get why this would be a common Gunpla, but you cannot look me in the eye and tell me plainly that this is not the single strangest development in regards to deviation from the original. I nominally should not even be mentioning it here, but when else would this comparison come up?

In summation: The Acguy is a solid MS with a very, VERY interesting family.