Updated the graphic again with the Z'od-iacok, plus the mega particle turrets from the Argama and White Base. (I wanted to include the upgraded versions both ships were later given, but the model sheets don't really give enough context to get a precise scale.) It's amusing to realize that the Argama...

First of all, is the weapon from the YMS-18 meant to be one? I think it's just a projectile-firing machine gun. So the tradition of the projectile-firing Kaempfer continues! Regarding the Gelgoog's beam machine gun, I was wondering if the drum attached to Cima's MS-14FS' beam machine gun was meant ...

The main tradeoffs I can see with the ZZ's head cannon are that it's really, really short-range, and also that it exhausts the mobile suit's entire energy supply and basically renders it powerless for a while afterwards. Some of the Japanese publications posit that the G-Fortress form is designed fo...

Slight update to the superweapon comparison graphic: http://ultimatemark.com/gundam/images/superweapons2.jpg I've added the Zeta Gundam's hyper mega launcher, plus the Super Gundam and G-Defenser with their long rifle. These were a little tricky to scale since the size of these weapons varies tremen...

So my response to the preceding questions about beam bazookas and whatnot ended up taking the form of a massive comparison graphic of U.C. mega particle cannons and superweapons. Behold! http://ultimatemark.com/gundam/images/superweapons2.jpg Including the Nahel Argama for scale was a bit gratuitous...

Addendum to the above: It looks like the Master Grade Nu Gundam Ver.Ka has bazooka shells that are about 600mm in diameter, and this is roughly what I get from the line art of the Dom's giant bazooka from The 08th MS Team. So in general, I think there's a rough consensus that "hyper bazooka&quo...

That's not how the Jormungand works. It essentially blows up a Minovsky fusion reactor and channels the blast as a bolt of plasma, so the "150,000 kW equivalent" in the specs implies that it's basically exploding a Big Zam every time it fires a shot. Pretty ridiculous, but that's the text....

Hi all! It's been a busy year, so I've fallen way behind on my Gundam-related research projects. But I've been accumulating odd little mecha-related observations that don't quite justify their own dedicated threads. So let's have a grab-bag topic! First off, I was recently looking at the dialogue fr...

Basically they're just borrowing terminology from modern military aircraft. Unless otherwise specified, the average mobile suit is analogous to a fighter plane, but some of them are classified as attack craft, interceptors, bombers, support craft, etc.

-- Mark

Nope. See the updated development chart: http://www.gundam-the-origin.net/msd/images/flow2.jpg According to the new kit manual, the RX-78[N] Gundam Local Type was created using spare parts from the RX-78-01 - the prototype Gundam unit 1 - to test the Gundam in Earth environments. The revised RX-78-0...

I noted that they'd already used the name for G-Saviour, but the studio seemed to be okay with recycling it. Since it's labeled as the MS-04, not "YMS" as with the Waff, perhaps it's produced in slightly greater numbers. I still think it sits awkwardly in between the Waff and the Zaku, wit...

Deacon: The timeline in Entertainment Bible 1 says コロニー内部で史上初のＭＳ同士の戦闘が行なわれる ("the first battle between MS in history takes place inside the colony"), and in Gundam Officials this is condensed down to 史上初とされるＭＳ同士の実戦 ("the first battle between MS in history"), confirming that "...

The Gaza series shields are mounted in a really awkward way which seems like it would make it impossible to (intentionally) block with them. As for the Geara Doga, I recall that even back in CCA, Amuro is able to blow away a Geara Doga's shield piece by piece using the Nu Gundam's head vulcans - tha...

The cannon being projectile has always bothered me, if we assume the majority of the backpack is for ammunition storage, there seems to be no feed between the gun and the backpack. Which begs the question, where is the ammo stored, and if that's not the backpack, what is the backpack for? The ammo ...

The animation model sheet for the Zaku Cannon in Zeta Gundam has a few handwritten notes. On the cannon itself, it says "Not a beam cannon; it's projectile." There's a note that its cockpit is changed to a Hizack one. And a third note says "Space verniers are attached to the back. It ...

The only detailed info on the MS-07C-5 I can find is in the second MSV book, which says: Of the tests performed with this C-5 type, the most important were tests of the heat saber and of high-speed movement using a new type of propulsion engine. For this reason, the verniers on the backpack were enh...

I think I don't believe in this YMS-06Z. With its lack of finger beams, random Efreet head, gratuitous footlessness, and bizarre backpack bits, it just doesn't seem to relate to anything. The standard MS-06Z, on the other hand, is an interesting machine with a lot of curious resemblances. It's kind ...

Continuing! Let's consider the current state of the Dom family tree... http://www.ultimatemark.com/gundam/images/msd2.jpg This is a case where the MSD series has made things even more confusing. For starters, the MSD website and the Dom Test Type kit manual don't even agree on the development histor...

Yes, the "Mobile Worker Model 01 Final Type" from the anime takes the place of the so-called "MS-02" from the comic (I don't think it was ever explicitly identified as such in the story). So there doesn't appear to be an MS-02, or an MS-01 for that matter, in the Origin anime con...

Technically, there isn't even an MS-01 in the Origin anime - they went straight from the MW-01 to the YMS-03. The MSD web site and kit manuals, and the design features in Gundam Ace, have all been extremely skimpy on technical details, so this may never be addressed at all.

-- Mark