Boaz wrote:
SF3D & Shirow are more on the cyberpunk style, which is quite
different to Gasaraki's design principle. Votoms... that's closer.
hmm SF3D is about as un-cyber as you get, seems to me. If Shirow is
cyberpunk and Miyazaki is steampunk, then SF3D is dieselpunk. But I
digress...
I guess you are dividing these small mechas into something like
powersuit (closer to BGC) and something like small Gundam (with
airplane/tank like cockpit).
Another way, more superficially... I group some of them together
because they are headless: Raiden, SF3D, Sakura War, some Shirow. And
Votoms are nearly headless. It may seems silly to pick on one
feature, but old school mecha designers (and fans) have a hard time
parting with the head. No place to pin the V-fins, trouble...
I wouldn't downright say there's no new good humanoid mecha design in
10 years, but I agree there's no good Real Robot humanoid design for
10 years... actually, no good MAIN RR humanoid design. I think some
of the Turn A & King Gainer support RR mecha are actually very good.
Perhaps... but I could argue that TA support mechs (don't know about
KG) don't seem so different from the old Macross support mechs.
Ahh... I forgot one thing. Shirow's human-like robots and the new
Cylons. Ok maybe that's not new (Blade Runner), but ... hmm what's my
point... well as real life robot scientists are building "life-like"
robots, mainly in Japan. I think there will be more interesting
movies/stories about robots that look like humans.
Wow! I couldn't imagine having a Sodon in anything 1/144 scale or
above... esp. seems like Sodon is not a small vehicle?
My bad... I keep forgetting Sodon is as wide as a Zaku. The huge
canopy threw me.
I think the UCHG line will probably stick with something that's more
diorama-capable, so probably more ground-use items first... but the
choice is sooo little.
I listed Core FIghter because of it high popularity given it's
produce-able in 1/35 scale. A Fanfan or a Dopp is the max I can
imagine for 1/35 scale with Bandai's level of bravery (vs.
stockholder responsibility).
You are right, there aren't many popular choice at 1/35. Zaku head
and Core Fighter, perhaps Dopp and Fanfan like you said. But so far,
more than half of UCHG choice seem to be of the "not obvious" kind.
The scout thing (is it called Mosquito??) didn't even have a name (nor
a page in MAHQ).
I suspect UCHG isn't aimed at us: Gundam fans who want to venture away
from HG/MG, but military fans who have to bribed into trying something
from "that kiddie anime". So I don't necessarily think CF is a sure
bet. I even lean towards the Tin Cod over the CF for a 20+cm fighter
in UCHG.
btw, there's no dimension for the 08mst hover truck on MAHQ; do you
know its size? basically I think Bandai wouldn't risk the UCHG line
for anything higher than 8000yen worth, so at most we probably will
see something 20% bigger than the hover truck.
The Hover Truck came out in MSIA and 1/144 B-Club already. So there
is a known dimension (but I don't know it). From the lineart, it's
about 6 doors long. The door should be about 1.2-1.8m tall... So
about 7-10m long making the model 20-29cm long. Anyhow... I wouldn't
hold my breath UCHG last more than 5 kits.
Hmm... how about those nameless dune buggies in the Ranba Ral arc?
--
Dr. Core
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