Swinburne Orientation for March Intake, Take Final

For the final part, be prepared for a bit of problems as it has been a week since then and I'm a person with a rather bad memory. XP

Okay, let's begin~

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Filler Post; Some Stuff to Say

Like one of my blog entries earlier. Busy, busy life currently. I come back home like, in the evening! o.o

Ah well, I cannot complain much, since we are all gonna get a job that might go from morning until evening sooner or later(unless you're a lucky person to get a job with shifts and non-fixed/non-standard working hours). XP

Anyways, last weekend my mother was okay with me buying a laptop. It was meant for my studies while at Swinburne. Being a money minded person and not wanting to spend too much money on another laptop, I decided to budget my next one to be small and around RM2k. There were only 2 choices at that point, both being Acer.

The good thing about that day was that there was a PC Fair at One TJ(computer outlet in BDC). It was also the reason we bought the laptop then instead of later. Much to my disappointment, it wasn't much of a PC Fair. I mean, seriously, there wasn't much of any good offers except at PC Image... You know? This company must be happy to see us again, back for another PC Fair~ >_>; Since we bought our computer related stuff mostly from them(except last year items).

Like I said before, two options. one about RM2.5k and another being RM1.5k. The difference? RM1k, one is a netbook and another is a semi-lightweight laptop. But of course, the RM1.5k won, it was the Acer Aspire One! Why did I pick it? Why this? A slow "laptop" with only a single core CPU with a small ass screen? It was because of its light weight(not really that light though), small body and the 6-cell battery! It also comes with a newer CPU, the Intel Atom N280.

For some of you, you would say, "WTF is Atom?" or maybe "Is it better that dual core?" or "I heard it sucks.". Nay I say! This is PERFECT! It is also faster from its predecessor, being 0.06GHz faster... You can, "That's it?". OF COURSE NOT! It has an increased front side bus and thus a faster RAM/memory can be used! Overall, it should have a good enough see-able/feel-able difference against its predecessor, the N270(1.6GHz). Then again, I bought this for light tasks and not for mobile gaming which should be done at home, not at a learning institution.

The overall specs are not that much different from its predecessor though, same hard drive size of 160GB and RAM is stuck at 1GB(gee thanks Microsoft in limiting the XP Home license to a netbook to a amx memory of 1GB, **** you). But the best parts are the 6-cell battery and 10.1" screen! Furthermore, the touchpad does not have side buttons anymore but it has a touchpad much like most larger laptops. Yay~

Some pics from this review. Don't worry about the low score, I didn't even see those other two netbooks it was compared to over here(seriously, where's the MSI Wind?). You can read up on the specs through that link also, since I'm not gonna review this, as I have no time. >_>;;; I could be wrong about the unavailability of the other two netbooks...

BTW, mine has a black outer and a silver inner. I hope you understand that. XP

Because I normally put my computer screens at low brightness levels, the Aspire One really last me a good while. The only complaint can be its glossy screen, I can seriously see reflections with it. Sigh~ Why can't laptops come with no gloss? Just matt? Is shiny things all that more attractive than non-shiny things? Well, I should buy a screen protector like a friend of mine advised me to, soon.

It is very useful, especially since it is quite small and easy to bring around. It's like as big as a regular textbook but as thick as 3~5 exercise books though. >>

At any rate, this netbook will be my aibou/partner for a good few years by the least. Hopefully a great low power dual core Atom at 40nm process will come out soon. XD

On another note, on the night before, something totally bizzare and out of this world happened.

While I was fixing up one of my earlier Gunplas(nubs are annoying to see), the V-fin disappeared! I was like, no way, impossible! It was really impossible since I just put it on. Another point is that it fell down facing towards the bed(I was doing it before I slept).

After an hour worth of sleepy searching, I only found 2 of the 3 parts of the V-fin. Ah ****. The weird thing is that I found it within a nearby plastic bag, inside a plastic bag. ...

Note to self, do do any Gunplay after midnight, seriously. o.o

Oh well, Swinburne Orientation Part 2 up next time... when I have some more free time and less tiredness in my system. XD

Swinburne Orientation for March Intake, Part 1

After a few days full of busy, chance meetings and making new friends in real life, I finally decided/able to post a blog post, though probably not within too much detail.

*ahem*

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MG 1/100 Force Impulse Mini-Review

Image courtesy of Dalong.net, once again.

Price: 4500 Yen! o.o

This is a mini-review for the Force Impulse, a full on review will come in the near future(hopefully) after panel lining, making some obvious nubs disappear and higher quality photos are taken.

The Impulse Gundam is a mobile suit which can change its equipment much like the Strike that I have reviewed earlier on. In a sense, it is a Strike V2. But, there are a few key differences. The Impulse is split into 3 main parts, the Core Splendor(jet flyer), Chest Flyer(the main body, arms, head, beam rifle, shield) and the Leg Flyer(well legs and waist, plus its own armor schneiders). It also runs on a "battery" much like the Strike and is frequently seen to run out of power in the anime(too much power?) but can be charged on the fly by the Minerva(battleship housing the Impulse) though the helmet sensor(is that really logical?). The pilot of this Gundam is non other than Shinn Asuka, later on Lunamaria when Shinn gets the very beautiful Destiny Gundam.

The Force Impulse Gundam is the Impulse equipped with the Force Silhouette which is similar to the Ailse Strike. It is equipped with 2 beam sabers for weapons and is mostly used for quick versatile movements, making the Impulse more agile in flight battles.

It is also famous for destroying the Freedom Gundam as well(using the big sword in the boxart)!

The best part of this MG model kit is that it comes with the anti-ship sword which belongs on the Sword Silhouette(MG Sword Impulse is coming out in April!). Its freaking long as evident in the following pictures.

There are a few things I did not snap(since I took them a while ago), like the individual parts of the Impulse(Core Splendor, Chest Flyer and Leg Flyer). Very sorry, I'll do this in the full review later on, once I have the mood and lots of free time to continue tinkering with the Impulse.

For now, enjoy the low res pictures taken with my 2.0MP camera phone and some notes on the Impulse. ^^

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HG 1/144 0 Raiser Review and HG 1/144 00 Raiser 70% Painted

Yes, you read the title right folks, a 70% painted 00 Raiser. But first, I'll give a bit on the HG 1/144 0 Raiser. At this point, due to budgeting reasons(it should be very obvious), I might not get the NG 1/100 0 Raiser(hence finish the NG 1/100 00 Raiser) anytime soon.

As of now, I'll mostly collect Gundam 00 HG and probably some cheaper MGs on the side(if possible). Damn you rising Yen~ >>;

EDIT(18/03/09): Just in case anyone misunderstands, the "70%" means that it has been painted at necessary parts, not the entire body, which I cannot do currently. So, it is not painted entirely, just in the necessary places to give a bit more detail. ^^

Early note: Beware, the following pictures are taken with a 7MP camera with macro function on(though not so great when too close) and has been resized by 25%. However, the file sizes are about 400kb and above, each. You have been warned(especially those who are suffering from Streamyx slowdowns).

Before we begin the review/long post, I recently bought the BB Sangokuden Marker Set. All the markers are in metallic colors. The silver is slightly different from the one I bought earlier... though not so much. I decided to buy it since I got some ang-pau recently. >_> Seriously, I boughtit for the green marker, so sue me. The panel lining marker(ther ufrthest to the right) is a pretty great panel lining marker, not too light(like the Gundam 00 Second one) nor not too dark. Perfect and very easy to use since it is wet one(easy to wipe off).

The markers, if you buy the BB Sangokuden Gunplas, you'll highly need this to make them look better as their detailing is not much.

Now, onto the review.

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Driving, Finale! School Starts Next Week...

*dances*
*twirls*
*builds a free gift Gundam from recently bought magazine(it was really simple to build, can't even pose...)*

So, I passed my JPJ driving test today(nearly full marks, but whatever...) and now eligible to get a P license(hafta wait for the card for now...)! Yay~! I now can drive! Well, maybe not as good as my father or mother, but I can~ I might drive a bit fast though, blame those racing games I played since primary school. XD

Also, today, I'm officially registered to Swinburne, taking the Swinburne Foundation Studies(Business) course... Though, I wish there was something like "double foundation" because I would like to take Engineering as well. XD But I guess that's impossible, time-wise and money-wise, since one course is already oh so expensive.

Anyways, there's orientation at Swinburne this Friday and Saturday, with a telematch on Saturday. My father says I should do something during that time, though I probably won't... but who knows? It may be very fun. >.>

Looks like tomorrow and the day after may be my only really free time left for a while, unless homework is not that many in Foundation(as if, I must be dreaming...). =/

Ah well, that's all for now. If possible, I might put up a little smidget on the Gunpla I have built and well, painted(only one is painted so far, experimentation mostly). Hehe.

Busy Life Now and Ahead

So, after the SPM results came out, it was time, to go look for a higher learning institute, either a college or university(WTF is the difference anyways?).

I had four options. Swinburne(close by), UiTM(Universiti Teknologi MARA), Matrix or Form 6. I threw Form 6 out the window since last year, since I do not want to go back to my previous school again. No I don't hate it, I just feel reluctant to continue my studies there.

Matrix is an oddball, not wanting to wait until the government give out a proper invitation(already registered BTW) which may never come or come but may not be able to get a proper course later on, so I threw it out also. But it is still an option, just that, well continue reading.

UiTM... well I kinda okay with this place, even though it is a Bumiputera only place. I already registered for this place through the online IPTA registration and left it as a secondary option if the following option fails.

Swinburne, my mother picked this place, well preferred. I also like it, though feeling a bit expensive, being a private institution after all. Well, if I go to MARA for example, I'll still have to pay a hefty price, especially some of my ideal courses have to be take outside my hometown. Home rental isn't cheap ya know. Best of all, most of our SMK Batu Lintang buddies are going here! OMG! Looks like I'll be seeing my friends, like, throughout my studies. Yay~ ^^

Well, I have two courses in mind, Foundation in Business or Foundation in Engineering. In the end, I picked Accountancy, because the best engineering course with a good job opportunity is Civil, and I do not want it(probably suffer afterward if take this one). For engineering, I would much prefer Mechanical, Robotics/Mechatronics or Electrical as I have fond interests in them, being a Gundam/tech obsessed person after all. =/

There are also Diploma courses which is more "straight" and less stressful looking as compared to Foundation, but it take 2 more years of my life, but of course, it's less stressful. In the end, my mother "persuaded"(not really, just gave some tips) me and taking Foundation is a better option(UiTM does not have Foundation BTW).

But of course, it seems like I can go for almost anything because my interests can broaden so much more than an average Joe(I think), I just don't seem to hate anything(I don't hate Bio subjects(or anything requiring mostly memorizing), it's just that I can't remember so many things, so I "crap" at it. I do like them in small amounts for some bits of general knowledge especially.).

Behold! The wide variety of interests in me~! Sorry my artistic is a bit weaker than the rest, because most of the artistic questions were related to music playing and performing, which I don't do and don't plan to do. =X

Of course, it is a computer generated test, so it may be wrong. XP But, who knows, eh?

Well, at any rate, registration and orientation will start this very week at Swinburne, so I'll be very busy this week. Furthermore, next week, school starts in Swinburne, so there goes my free time and most of my time to "play around"(as in build, pose, paint, photo shooting) with my Gunpla... damnit. Oh well, studies before hobbies.

Very sorry if this post is a bit jumbled up because I'm just typing it out without thinking much. More over, I have my JPJ driving test tomorrow, so I'll have to try my best to sleep early and during the exam tomorrow. Damn my insomniac-ness. Wish me luck!

PS: So, my Batu Lintang school buddies, where are you going? IPTA, IPTS, Matrix or Form 6? Maybe even overseas(BK don't have to say, I already know. =P)?

SPM Results Are Today!

OMG, OMG, OMG!

I was quite happy today, since the SPM results I got were kinda out of my initial prediction of 6As. I even got an A for BM! OMG! All in all, I got 5 1As, 3 2As and 3 3Bs. Hope you all can read that right.

1As for; English(but 3B International...), Maths, Add Maths, Prinsip Perakaunan(additional subject) and Physics

2As for; Bahasa Malaysia, Chemistry and English for Science and Technology(EST)

3Bs for; Moral, History and Biology(my 3 worst subjects actually)

Pretty satisfying but the 3Bs are sooooooooooo close to an A. Bleh. >>

*the rest of the paragraph here mysteriously disappeared...* WTF?

HG 1/144 GN-X Review

Yes, lotsa posts lately. I just felt like it. ^^;

Anyways, here's a simple review of the GN-X or GNX-603T.

Image courtesy of Dalong.net, again.

Price: 1200 Yen

Before that, a short summary of the Gundam 00 Universe. I'll try my best not to spoil the story for you all.

In the year AD2307, Celestial Being began their armed intervention with armed forces(to eradicate war), the mobile suits(mechs, robots, etc) Gundam(Exia, Dynames, Kyrios and Virtue). These Gundams are like nothing the world have seen, trashing most, if not all, of the mobile suits that the governments can dish out. This is because of the mysterious power source of the Gundams which spew out green particles as they move, the GN Drive(also known as solar furnaces). These GN Drives are capable of long operation as stated by the anime, it has a seemingly infinite power supply.

Later on, three new Gundams(Throne Eins, Drei and Zwei) appeared which are not within the original plan, equipped with fake GN Drives, known as the GN Tau Drives. Unlike real GN Drives, these require to be charged frequently like a normal engine, except the mobile suit equipped with it will be stronger than your run of the mill mobile suit.

Near the end of the first season, a traitor among Celestial Being gave out 30 GN Tau Drives to the Unified World Goverment(after being based around by a common enemy, what should multiple nations do?) and with it, 30 GN-Xs were born... These GN-Xs are strong as they have been shown to totally be able to pwn the Gundams...

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Driving Experience, Intermission?

So, today I went driving, and decided to take the "Pra-Test". Luckily, I manage to drive a bit first with my instructor's car as a warm up... but, to my dismay, when I went and used the institute provided car, I suddenly lost my touch. I was like "newb-ing" the whole course. Very weird(the person in charge of watching my performance gave quite a number of comments). I guess it was alright in the end, since I'll still be taking the real test next week...

But, I guess it was because the felt totally different to me, yes, even though the instructor's car and the institute's car were Perodua Kancils, the feel of the car was different. The institute's car has an engine rated at 660cc while the instructor's one is at 850cc. Sure, at first I thought more power will be needed for the institute's car... WRONG! It was smooth, it was soft, and the engine was barely audible.

To me, it became a challenge, since I could barely feel any feedback from the car as well as not being able to time myself right because the car was too silent for me(as well as it was like a totally different car to me). Luckily, I'll be able to drive one of these cars again before the true exam, for which will be held on the 17th of this month. To me, I must conquer the car, or else I would waste my parents money, unable to drive AND have to go for the hours of lessons again, which to me, feels like a chore after a while instead of an interest at first, since I got used to my intructor's car, but not the institute's car(as of yet).

To those who say "wha?" to the instructor's car and institute's car thing. Well, the driving institute does not provide the cars to the driving instructors, they have to buy their own(that's why you see different cars at the institute >>). The institute also have its own set of cars, just that the student can only use it during the "Pra-Test" and after for practice before the real exam, bummer.

You'll drive together with a different person during "Pra-Test" which to me gave a tension and made me nervous or some sort, I'm not so sure, I just wasn't able to focus really well today, maybe I just need more sleep... hopefully all will be well in the end. Wish me luck! ^^;

Price Drop: ATI Radeon HD4850 and HD4870, Enter the HD4890

Read it here and here for an older one(both Lowyat forum posts).

I already know this for a while but before I sleep for today, I should put this up, especially for those who manage to go to the PC Fair soon or thinking of getting a high end/semi-high end graphics card. ^_^

Driving Experience, Part 1?

This is requested by one of my friends, so I'll try to type out an ESSAY on my driving experience, sorry no pictures, since I took none, no scans of my L license or anything even.

So, since last year, I have decided to take my driving lessons AFTER SPM so that could give better concentration during my important examination. It took a while to find the instructor because my father lost the contact number... >_>;

But, through the course of fate or maybe destiny, my father met an old friend on our way back home fetching my sister from school who knew the instructor that my father was looking for. So, sometime around late January, on a Saturday morning(24/1/09), I met the instructor who was my father's colleague in the army before. No, I won't say names, since I'm a very keep others' and my own privacy secure type of person.

On that Saturday morning, he came together with two other girls/students that I didn't really interact much with, since I didn't felt like it. So, I was seriously "blur" and tired that day since I haven't been doing much brain inducing tasks as of late(blame the holiday mood). The driving institute is situationed some at Pending, Kuching near many factories. To be exact, if you take "Jalan Tekad", you can reach the place with a few turns. Err, yeah, I didn't really memorize the exact location of the place, my bad.

The thing I had to do on that Saturday morning was take a color blind test(there was one frickin' annoying one that can be very tricky there) and sit through a 5-hour lecture on driving. I got really tired during the second half because the second person giving the talk was... boring, seriously(the first guy was brilliant though). Luckily there were some interesting videos. After that, I went home. OH, and yes, they provided us with two books, the basic "Panduan Memandu" and a exercise book with 500 questions and answers, which I have to say, not all that correct for some Q&As...

So, after that, I have to take the paper/computer exam. I took the computer exam. This was done just the week after that, on the 1st of February. Yes, 1st of February. I was thinking of doing it the day before, but my gut instincts were telling me, not yet. The test, I really have to say it, was really easy, easier than I thought. But I guess that was all thanks to the exercise book they provided which was spot on(they even said it has the same Q&As). Though, since the exercise books has its flaws, I did not score full(yes, I practically memorized it somehow). I only scored 48/50. My instructor was pretty impressed, but not me, since I wanted a 50/50(no, don't look at me like that).

Anyways, after that, I can finally drive~ not. I have to take another 3-hour lecture(I thought it was 6 at first, but it's only 3, phew) and wait for my L license. No biggie. The instructor sent me for the next lecture on the following Saturday(7/2/09). I hought the lecture was going to be boring. But, it wasn't! OMG. He showed us crash videos, lots of them. The best was when he showed the opening clip of Final Destination 2 where err, how should I say it, deaths occur(if you went to the same school as me during primary school, I know you should've seen it already). What did this lecture tell me? The Avanza is durable and out Malaysian cars sucks during crash collisions(specifically the Waja). Other than the videos, the lecture was rather normal and nearly made me fall asleep... >_>;

So, after that, I had to do my L license picture first or else I can get down to the driving basics. I took a quick not so satisfying passport sized picture later that day and gave it to my instructor on the next day.

I had to wait a few days, then on Wednesday(11/2/09), I think, I was able to go driving! Whoo~... Not really. Since I never really drove before, I had to go through the boring basics, shifting gear(easy) and so on. I have to be truthful here, I did not understand the clutch until a while later. I accelerate too much because of this lack of understanding since I'll mostly do quick shifts and let go of the clutch wrongly. So normally the car would hiccup a little when I'm in gear 1. However, in gear 2 and above, it's pretty much smooth sailing. On the first day, he let me drive to the outside, around the pre-determine route by the institute. Pretty fun, just like I said, hiccups on gear 1... I think I sped too much since I went until 60KM/H. Hehe.

The next lesson was on Friday(13/2/09), I think. We did basically the same thing, but this time we went to all the 3 pre-determine routes. IT went by quickly because I max at 60KM/H. >_>
I have yet to understand the clutch and turning properly though... but it was okay.

There was an almost lesson on the next day. But family troubles came towards the intructor and I had to spend the morning at BDC KFC. It was so long. Sadly, if I knew it would've been long, I should had ordered a full meal instead of just a small KFC burger... I know what the crisis is, but it should be kept secret from the world since it's rather annoying.

The next lessons are sorted out rather nicely on the time-table, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. But for the following week, I also went on a Tuesday, but only for on road since the institute course was reserved for the JPJ driving test.

Over the course of the lessons, I learned how to part, go up the hill and understand the clutch better. I accidentally hit one of the poles and it dropped down during parking because I suddenly lost focus, pretty annoying... Hill was fun, but I think my hill skillz are not good for the car to widthstand since I might burnout the flower of the tires since I let the wheels spin while the handbrake is still up(brake). I wonder if I can do a burnout... >_> I also became a bit better with turning lately as I don't need to think/calculate so much when turning the steering wheel, feel a bit more instinctive now. It was rather discouraging when your instructor has to pull/push your steering wheel when you do "bad turns". Gears are easy to understand and use. Shifting up and down is really easy, just listen to the engine and you'll be fine with it.

Hills can be a miss or pass. Sometimes you overshoot, that's fine, just go down a little. Sometimes you premature, sucks. My driving partner liked my hill-braking style since it does not stop suddenly like his at the time(he later kinda fix this problem).

Though, now, the instructor says I'm ready to go for the test, I want to do some "timing adjustments" for myself so that it can be "perfect"(not, perfect perfect but for me to feel satisfied enough for myself).

Well, I'll most probably take the driving test next week, so wish me luck in my driving!
Oh, if by any chance this "essay" is a bit poorly written... It is because I wrote it half-assed late at night when I should be trying to sleep instead. XP

A Small Change...

Change is good, well not always, so I decided to put a "banner" for this blog of mine. Hopefully the words can be read easily as this was done simply without doing much of anything or thinking much. I'll probably make a better one later on when a cleaner picture or a more suitable picture can be used. Yes, that's all for now. Maybe I'll add a few more stuff later, or even today. ^^

This Month's Haul(March 2009)...

Ah, yes, I decided to show you all what I've bought LATE last month and just today. No, I AM NOT rich, is just that is part of my savings since primary school(mixed with some current allowance, I cut down on other things...) that I've been saving up for when I'm older and have something I want to buy. Well, maybe not the late February one though... ^^;

Anyways, late February I decided to try to buy things online through the Lowyat forums, the Garage Sales forum. Of course, when you do such a thing, you need to check the seller's history and reliability beforehand, which I did for about a week before deciding to buy something from a certain nice seller. I only bought two Gunpla, a limited edition/special edition HG 1/144 Gundam Exia Expo Edition(metallic colors) and the somehow suddenly liked MG 1/100 Force Impulse Gundam. Woo~

It took a while to reach me since the seller lived in Peninsular Malaysia after all. It took longer than it was supposed to because somehow Pos Malaysia didn't really like my vague house address so I had to go there personally(on the 1st of March)... they did not have problems with my mail though, it was weird, but problem solved anyways. All in all, the Gunpla came in good condition and nothing was broken. Satisfied here.

On the way back, I decided to go to a local shop to buy a dedicated Gunpla cutter because I felt my current tools are not suitable and may cause unnecessary damage to my Gunpla during building. Sadly, they ran out of cutters and I have to buy a tool set instead which made it go slightly above budget... x.x At the same time, I bought a HG 1/144 GN-X too, since I felt I needed something not too expensive like the two Gunplas I just received through post to try on as well as GN-Xs are cool. Reviews for these to come later though, haven't took enough review material pictures of them, though I already finished building them with satisfying results due to the better tools in hand.

My hands were itchy that day and I built the GN-X AND Gundam Exia. The metallic silver plating of the Exia was not a fun place to cut FYI. I built the Force Impulse later on...

My current tools. Gundam 00 Second Marker Set, Gunpla tool set, a cheap knife and a CD label marker which I used for some lining experimentation on one of my model kits...(might tell you which and how it looks like later, but I don't think it will be liked very much as the lines look quite thick)

Today, while fetching my sister back from school, I decided to go to the local shop once again to buy three HG Gunplas. Yes, all HG, since buying these Gunpla were slightly out of planned budget also. But I digress, there were being sold at the old price, which is very attractive due to the current Yen to Ringgit exchange rates. Let's say the new price, it would have been RM10 more, EACH. That would hurt me a lot in the future(the proper budget plan to buy them actually). Due to the increasing Yen to Ringgit exchange rate, I wonder if I picked a terrible time to get into Gunpla? Of course, if I can get some of my next Gunplas at their old prices, maybe it would not be so bad, but it totally depends on my future budget, since education must come first... For now...

Today's haul, I wonder if I should hit myself on the head for not getting the Dynames while I was in KL with the 20% discount and all(but then again, we did not have much space to bring any more Gunpla at that time, so...)

A Gundam Marker, Metallic Silver. I bought this for the Gundam Exia Expo Edition, to throw away the white nub marks of the metallic plating. Hopefully it works out and then maybe I'll type out a proper review for it. ^^;

I bought the GN-X III A-Laws Type since my sister wanted it, since she likes red. >>
Dynames, well, it is a sniping mobile suit that can 1-hit KO a standard mobile suite from afar, what is there not to like?
For the AHEAD, I already built it, took me about 2 hours, with some distractions in between(I made some small mistakes during assembling, nothing too serious though, phew). I will type out a review on it later or tomorrow, depends if I'll have the time to do so(I already took some pictures, so yeah).

Well, that's all for now. Hope for the best to all who sat for SPM last year for the 12th of this month(2 more days >>) of when the results will be posted. ^^

EDIT; For those who do not buy Gunpla, you may get confused reading some of my reviews, so here's some notes(some I already typed earlier, but for convenience's sake, I'll just type a new one).

Gunpla(Gundam Plastic Models) comes in various grades and scales. The quality, detail, pose-ability/articulation and sturdiness depends on the grade, not the scale, normally. So, don't think the bigger it is, the better, it all depends on the grade. I typed the following according to grade as it goes up.

FG(First Grade) - 1/144 scale(basic poses, but better than NG 1/144s)
NG(No Grade) - 1/144 scale(mostly SEED series had this, very basic poses), 1/100 scale(common), 1/60 scale(quite uncommon, limited to main character suits, can also be considered as limited editions)
HG(High Grade) - 1/144 scale(most of them come in this scale), there were some 1/100 scales before...(rare, I think Wing only had it)
MG(Master Grade) - 1/100 scale, comes with inner skeleton
PG(Perfect Grade) - 1/60 scale, very expensive and detailed, you better be skilled before you ever think of touching this one...

Scale notes: 1/144 is about 12cm, 1/100 is about 18cm and 1/60 is about 30cm. The heights differs from Gundam to Gundam depending on their set height in the story/profile. That's about it. Yeah, 1/144s are pretty small and cute. XD

MG 1/100 Launcher/Sword Strike Gundam Review and...

Image courtesy of Dalong.net.

If you read my previous posts, you should know that I've bought this fine piece of plastic last month(February)(or was it late January? @_@). I'm pretty satisfied with it, but not with the price I payed for it(since I COULD had gotten it for cheaper from a certain place). HOWEVER, looking at the current Yen to Ringgit exchange rates currently, it was really not as bad as I thought, since the one I saw at a cheaper price was at old stock prices(which already ran out by the time I checked).

This Gunpla happens to be my first MG(Master Grade). I bought it due to have read some forum posts on a Gundam related forum about it being an easy MG for beginners, which I am then(now, maybe a little better... =P). Other than that, I "fell in love" with the simplistic design of the Strike when I was watching Gundam SEED in January this year. ^^;

The GAT-X105-Strike is the main Gundam used by the main protagonist, Kira Yamato, throughout the first season of Gundam SEED. The Strike is a special mobile suit as is has a "phase-shift" armor which practically makes it invincible to solid rounds and small attacks(all "Gundams" in SEED use this armor). Though, because it uses a limited power supply, once it runs out, the "phase-shift" armor will stop functioning and the Strike's main body becomes gray in color and can get easily shot down(since at that point the Strike can barely move also). The Strike has three "extension packs"(Striker Packs) which are the Aile Striker(do not have), Sword Striker and the Launcher Striker. Each pack has its range of uses and weaknesses in usage. Though, the Aile Striker is mostly used by Kira as it is the most versatile of the three packs.

The box is HUGE, well, being priced at 5000 Yen, of course it's gonna be huge. If you ever bought normal 1/100 NG Gunplas, put two boxes together, you'll get the gist of the size of this box. Though the box is huge, it uses almost ALL the space within to stuff the runners, stickers, decals and instruction booklet in it. Decals? Yes, decals. I did not apply them since I feel like I might paint the Strike in the near future(well, far future exactly).

BTW, you can see some pictures of the box and the contents from this link. You can see the review for this model through that link as well as other models too. But of course, I'm still going to continue my review on my experience with this model.

It took me while to build this model as it had more parts than a regular 1/100 NG. I knew that before I built it and decided to build the main body of the Strike plus its regular weapons first. The Sword Striker and Launcher Striker packs comes later.

Early note: I didn't take many pics for the Strike since I took them earlier on and currently lazy to take more piccies. Of course, I think I should take some more later on, which I might put up in a later post, or add on here.

EDIT(9/3/09): Some new pictures and descriptions ahoy(I took the pictures last night before I slept right under the fluorescent light)! You can tell there are newer pics due to the white crumpled paper background and the lack of ankle armor plates. For some odd reason, I really like the lighting. If anyone wonders why the pictures aren't so clear, that's because I used my phone's 2.0MP camera since I felt that if I used my real camera, the file size will be huge and will kill a lot of bandwidth to those who go to this blog(and takes a hell of a time to upload them all). XP

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