Albion's use of laser turrets

[Tezcatli]

Has there been any references as to why the Albion uses laser turrets instead of mega particle weapons? They do seem to have a good rate of fire if the animation is anything to go by. Though technically lasers shouldn't be visible?

[MythSearcher]

Has there been any references as to why the Albion uses laser turrets instead of mega particle weapons? They do seem to have a good rate of fire if the animation is anything to go by. Though technically lasers shouldn't be visible?

The laser turrets are for AA guns, which in older OYW ships are not mega particle weapons but non-beam/solid rounds shooting weapons.
The switch is because of a main change in warfare, the mega particle cannon's minimization into the beam rifles/guns. This lead to the defense technology update of the beam resistive coating(BRC) being used on the MS after MS-07B-3.
Prior to that, MS had the perfect anti-laser defense, a coating that can 100% reflect light, which is also used in the colony laser.(don't know the English translation of that, something like Critical semi-transparent medium? 臨界半透体)
Don't exactly know the UC year of the invention of it, but this led to the military dropping the use of laser weaponry they were using in the beginning of UC.(Notice the UC0001 Salamis class had laser guns)
Obviously laser AA guns aren't really useful against anything with that kind of coating no matter how fast your rate of fire is if all of it is being reflected.
This anti-laser coating had no effect against mega particle weapons, so Zeon created the BRC, which is developed from the anti-laser coating technology of coating multi-layer on the armour, but rendering the reflective properties nil.
The BRC defend against beam weapons by ablating, and is still effective against laser in the same way, but since it is no longer a perfect defense, laser can now be used again since hitting multiple times works.

And yes, laser technically shouldn't be visible, but if it is not, audiences cannot see a thing and will not know it is there, so shows have to show something even when they are trying to be more technically accurate. It'd also be too high of a budget to make in the hand drawn days if you do not have a more solid line but a fluctuating line only when some kind of dust comes through.
The Albion also had an Air shield barrier to generate a thin layer of air around it for dispersing beam weaponry, so there is particles for the laser to ionize and lit up, so be a bit lenient on that visibility problem.

[Seto Kaiba]

Though technically lasers shouldn't be visible?

When has fiction ever done THAT correctly, though?

[Tezcatli]

That's interesting.

However I was under the impression that the anti-beam coating was only really applied to shields and only late in the war. The Gelgoog's shield notably having it. One of the stand out facts about the Hyaku shiki is that it is one of the few mechs to be entirely coated in it. So it seems weird they would assume the enemy would begin coating their mechs entirely in anti beam coating instead of reflective.

[Seto Kaiba]

However I was under the impression that the anti-beam coating was only really applied to shields and only late in the war.

Could you maybe be thinking of the Cosmic Era, where anti-beam coatings were applied to shields only because it'd mess up the phase shift armor? IIRC the first UC-era Zeon MS to have a beam-resistant coating was the MS-07B-3 Gouf.

One of the stand out facts about the Hyaku shiki is that it is one of the few mechs to be entirely coated in it. So it seems weird they would assume the enemy would begin coating their mechs entirely in anti beam coating instead of reflective.

The Beam Resistant Coating of the One Year War and the Anti-Beam Coating the Hyaku Shiki used in the Gryps Conflict are different.

Zeon's beam resistant coating was an ablative paint layer over the armor that would vaporize as it absorbed the energy from a beam weapon and partially reduce the impact of the shot. The Hyaku Shiki's anti-beam coating was a superior version of the technology that could absorb and dissipate enough energy by ablation that it could protect the MS from several direct hits before failing.

[MythSearcher]

Could you maybe be thinking of the Cosmic Era, where anti-beam coatings were applied to shields only because it'd mess up the phase shift armor?

Not mess up the PS armour, but increased the metal fatigue rate. Most of the MS using ABC in CE don't have PS armour.

Also, I believe the main culprit to confuse people about UC and CE ABC is SRW, which mixes almost every show's similar coatings including L-Gaim and just make it one ability, ABC.
Just like Nu Gundam's FF Field is often mistaken to be an I-Field because SRW called it so.(Some incarnations of SRW the descriptions of the unit did state specifically it is a misnomer and it is actually a predecessor of the beam shield, but they used it anyway)

[Tezcatli]

However I was under the impression that the anti-beam coating was only really applied to shields and only late in the war.

Could you maybe be thinking of the Cosmic Era, where anti-beam coatings were applied to shields only because it'd mess up the phase shift armor? IIRC the first UC-era Zeon MS to have a beam-resistant coating was the MS-07B-3 Gouf.

One of the stand out facts about the Hyaku shiki is that it is one of the few mechs to be entirely coated in it. So it seems weird they would assume the enemy would begin coating their mechs entirely in anti beam coating instead of reflective.

The Beam Resistant Coating of the One Year War and the Anti-Beam Coating the Hyaku Shiki used in the Gryps Conflict are different.

Zeon's beam resistant coating was an ablative paint layer over the armor that would vaporize as it absorbed the energy from a beam weapon and partially reduce the impact of the shot. The Hyaku Shiki's anti-beam coating was a superior version of the technology that could absorb and dissipate enough energy by ablation that it could protect the MS from several direct hits before failing.

I'm pretty sure it was UC. But if Beam Resistant Coating is different than the Anti-Beam Coating of the Hyaku Shiki. It's possible that it's simply something they've added more recently, I haven't been keeping up with Gundam in recent years.

Were there other confirmed MS as having it? The Gouf Custom is never shown eating a beam weapon, so it's hard to gage the effectiveness of beam resistant coating.

[Seto Kaiba]

I'm pretty sure it was UC. But if Beam Resistant Coating is different than the Anti-Beam Coating of the Hyaku Shiki. It's possible that it's simply something they've added more recently, I haven't been keeping up with Gundam in recent years.

The source that mentions it is apparently Gundam Officials.

Were there other confirmed MS as having it? The Gouf Custom is never shown eating a beam weapon, so it's hard to gage the effectiveness of beam resistant coating.

They refer to it as being standard after the MS-07B-3.

[MythSearcher]

I'm pretty sure it was UC. But if Beam Resistant Coating is different than the Anti-Beam Coating of the Hyaku Shiki. It's possible that it's simply something they've added more recently, I haven't been keeping up with Gundam in recent years.

You are not entirely wrong.
While the coating is first used in Gouf Custom, which is specifically mentioned in the description of the coating page in Gundam Officials, Ver. 1.5 gave another example of the use on Gelgoog's shield.
However, they applied it to both the MS and the shield, not just the shield.

The idea is nothing but old. While it was not named as BRC, Gundam Century already mentioned a setting they omitted in the anime where a polymer gel they apply on the MS armour to be vapourized when hit by a beam weapon to reduce the damage. It cannot block a direct hit but can take a long distance shot with a shallower incoming angle. Both Gundam Officials and Ver. 1.5 has pretty much the same description for the tech, only placing the timeline specifically on the MS-07B-3, which didn't exists at the time of Gundam Century, which is published in 1980.

The production team kept to the polymer idea in both Zeta and ZZ.
Hyaku Shiki's gold coating is a "special plastic coating" and ZZ coating is mentioned in show that fits the description of teflon, a flourine based nematic liquid crystal paint.