Revisiting the Past for the First Time.

I have been offline for quite a while now, had to focus on the exams that I was about to face this year. Anyway, the test has been set for and therefore, although it took a while, I decided to go back to updating my blog, it has been more than 6 months since my last post so a really long break for me.So, back to the title, revisiting the past. Well, there have been a few games I have yet to try for the Playstation 2(PS2) and after hours of searching and coming up with decisions, managed to get my hands on that console, not permanently but for a period enough to try the games that I have wanted to try. The games that I wanted to try were Armored Core and Virtual On.

About Armored Core, I have heard of it, and I have seen a few models in the stores that I visit often, so I was curious about it for a little while back. With the help of Wikipedia, I managed to find out a little about it, and sadly most of the games were for the Playstation console. But, I had finally managed to try the game out and came to the definite conclusion that the game was, well to put it in my terms, SO DANG HARD!!! Seriously, if there was ever a mech game that would make you cry and sweat through its missions, one of them would be Armored Core. The one I'm playing (I'm still playing it) is Armored Core Nexus. The game comes with 2 discs, Evolution and Revolution. After playing a couple of missions, all that happened was defeat after defeat and I

almost gave up on it, but surprisingly, as hard as the game gets, it has a kind of pull that keeps me going back to the controller and saying "Maybe I'll try that mission again." I know the game was released about 7 years ago, but I never got to try it for personal reasons. So, more about the game, I only managed to win the difficult missions thanks to a few walkthrough I read up on a few sites, and getting used to the analog was very hard, I am a PC gamer, so very used to the mouse, no experience at all on using analogs, when I played Medal of Honour with a friend, let's just say I was moving the character to aim, not the cross-hairs. But, the main attracting factor that the game had was you were able to customize your Armored Core or AC, from the colour to the generators or radiators and each one, except colour that is, plays a role in you winning or

losing missions. For example, you need a good radiator or you AC will overheat just by boosting or after being attacked. And you need a generator if you want to ensure you can boost long enough or use energy weapons. But all this is really old stuff I brought up now. Hehehe. By the way, I spent almost 2 hours on customizing my AC one night....

Now, for Virtual On Marz. I have been very familiar with the Virtual On universe since I actually even played computer games, and I still have the first game on the PC. Sadly, Marz is pretty much a let down compared to the previous Virtual On series. The main pulling factor for Virtual On is its arcade style, fast-paced action, but this was also the main let down in the latest series, Marz. The first game, Virtual On Operation Moongate, was actually very successful and receive many good reviews, I spent quite a lot of time reading them too. The second game, Virtual On Oratorio Tangram, received even better reviews for its steady frame rate and also its even faster speed, in my opinion the fastest mech game ever. But sadly, the other 2 Virtual On Force and Virtual On Marz, had a decrease in game speed, maybe because they introduced 2 vs 2 in the game, meaning 4 players get to beat each other up in a single match, but not many reviews on this game was release because most arcades were released in Japan, so Marz was the only one that actually made it outside of Japan. I can imagine the disappointment faced by fans, you have a good game, and even better sequel and then suddenly the speed is worse then the original one. However, I did not regret buying this game, I couldn't find it online for download, nor could I buy it locally, so I purchased a copy on ebay. I was very comfortable with the game controls, I have been playing it almost my entire life anyway, but I will say that a story mode doesn't really suit this game because it was made for arcade style gaming. But I had fun challenging my younger bro and my cousin to a few matches, since both didn't dare try versus mode in Armored Core...

Aside from all this, I build Gundam models, watch anime and play MapleStory. Well, that's it for the first post after a long time, after I finish the model, might post it here, the model I'm working on currently is Beginning Gundam. Ba bye!!!

Farid

RGM-79FP GM Striker and RX-78GP03 Dendrobium Stamen!!

During the long period in which I hardly updated my blog, I actually finished 2 HG Gundam Model Kits. They were, as I have written for the title of my post GM Striker and Dendrobium Stamen or GP03. I bought them mainly because these 2 kits appealed to me in some way. I just liked the design of the models and so I purchased them. I started on my RX-78GP03 Dendrobium Stamen first before moving on to my RGM-79FP GM Striker.

So first my Stamen. I the only parts I painted were the blue parts, meaning all the blue even the ones which were already blue to make sure the colours for each part was the same. I also painted the red on the inside of the thrusters. The mixture used was 1 part blue and 2 parts flat white. I was pleased with the blue colour I had, not so dark yet not that bright as well. Originally the blue was very dark, so I had to mix the colours. I have also tried something I have never done before on this kit, that is gluing clear green parts for the Sensors on the head and the 2 light on the legs. Had some problems at first but, yeah, managed to fix it. The legs however had scratches on them because maybe I was sanding them too hard to get rid of the excess dark grey paint for the legs. But nothing much I could do about it. So there you have in my RX-78GP03 Gundam GP03 or Dendrobium Stamen!!!



(Above) Here you can see the clear parts I glued on using Tamiya Plastic Cement. For the eyes however I didn't really want to go to all the trouble so just coloured them Metallic Green using the Gundam Marker.


(Above) The inside of the thruster, but you can't really see the red colour...

(Above) Articulation for the Arm and Leg. Not very good though, slightly more than 90 degrees. Now this limits the poses I was able to make with this model.

(Above) The weapons and shield for this model, it has the XBR-BOWA M-82A Beam Rifle , Folding Bazooka, Beam Sabre and the Folding Shield.

(Above) The model came with 2 different hands for each side, gripped and open. The model also came with a core fighter. Unfortunately, the core fighter can't be folded or be placed in the torso.

(Above) With Beam Rifle and Folding Shield mounted on. Also with the Folding Bazooka, for that however I folded the shield, to make it easier to mount the bazooka.


Now for my RGM-79FP GM Striker. I actually only started this model 2 weeks ago, the GP03 was earlier this year I think. But the gap between these 2 was, maybe, 4 months. Anyway, I actually put in a lot of thinking into this model. I thought of whether I should paint all the yellow parts but I ended up deciding on trying to mix the paints so that I get a colour as similar as possible to the yellow parts, the yellow parts were more orange actually. The mixture used was 1 part orange 3 parts flat white. The colour is very close, I had to continuously add the flat white and see how close the colour was to the plastic. Carrying on, I ended up painting all the parts which were supposed to be white, a kind of greenish greyish white, with a mix not following the manual at all. I looked at the ready made pictures that they usually give in the manual and the white used was quite white. I don't think you understood that... Anyway, I mixed 2 parts dark grey, 1 part light green and 13 parts flat white. This actually took a long time, I added white bit by bit until I got the colour I wanted. For the cockpit hatch and all the other red parts, I used 1 part red, 2 parts orange. Oh, I also painted all the parts in need of painting the base colour flat white for the best results. And I am very pleased with this model. The paint got scratched however at the knee joint and mixing the paint is a real pain, so I just leaving it for now. Should have sand the parts first to leave a small gap. Luckily this happened after taking the photos so not much of a problem.

(Above) Standard Front back view, equipped with weapons and shield. What appealed the most about this suit was that it is mainly used for close combat, the spear was replicated from RX-78-2's Beam Javelin.

(Above) The Weapons and shield, I did not include its optional ranged weapon, the 100mm Machine Gun, which I will show later on. The shield has 2 extend-able spikes which is also used in close combat.

(Above) The insides of the thrusters and the joints, the small part inside were all painted flat white. I painted the weapons a different mix, 1 part dark grey and 5 parts flat white. I also did the same thing with the sensor, cut out a clear part and glued it there.

(Above) The articulation for the arms and leg. I am actually very pleased with the arm's articulation, enabling it to grab its beam sabre. For the leg, not so pleased however...

(Above) I really like the 100mm Machine Gun, kinda reminds me of the MAT 49 sub-machinegun which I use in the game BlackShot!!! The left hand can be changed to make it hold the gun, with the articulation of the hand itself. I took off the shield to make it easier to the action poses.

(Above) Last of all ATTACK!!! with the spear. The beam sabre can also be bent down to look like a scythe. Well something like that. And I just realized, my GM Striker is missing a part!!! Wahahahaah!!! Can't believe I didn't realize that...

Well, there you have it one long post to fill the spaces. I can't really post stuff nowadays, much to do so little time. Well that's all then, FINISH!!!! Ba bye!!!





Farid