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Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Episode 5 – All about the atmosphere.

 

…Since well… the show has a lot of it in terms of its world building and theming plus… y’know… the action in this week’s episode takes place just above Mars atmosphere but anyway…

Now that the show has gone through four episodes of establishing foundations (or the ‘frame’ if we want to be nerds and connect it to the show), it’s time to start moving upwards and build upon it. As a result we do not get the nice character moments in previous episodes that lets us linger in idiosyncrasies of the world. However, that’s okay since we’ve got enough for right now and we REALLY need to get going with the plot. Still, there’s a lot to like even if it is little things like Mika instantly offering his blanket to Kudelia moments after he notices her visiting him, to McGillis’s reaction to Tekkadan’s ‘present’ to him by episode’s end. read more

Juu-kuchiby Juu-kuchi•
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Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Barbatos Opening Changes

Slowly, as Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans progresses, so does the Gundam Barbatos as it slowly equips more weapons and armor. That change is reflected in one of the opening segment’s early scenes. I’ll update this page with images of the opening as the series begins.

Note – You can click to expand and use the left/right arrows to navigate.

Episode 2

[flickr-photo:id=22488271240,size=z]

Opening was not apart of episode 1.

Episode 3

[flickr-photo:id=22488271090,size=z]

Mace, left shoulder armor. read more

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Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Episode 4 – Martian Corn Futures

Contrary to earlier predictions, there is no loss of human life in this episode. There is a close call, but with an episode title like “The Price of Life”, one would think there’d be another casualty. No, it’s just Okada being smart and instead focusing on making all plot and character elements endure a slow burn before Tekkadan heads off into the stars. This is fine. This is absolutely fine.

While Orga is busy discussing logistics and dealing with Martian bureaucracy for Tekkadan’s Earth venture, the show shifts its focus toward Gjallarhorn and Martian civilian life. It is high time the audience had longer moments with Fareed and Bauduin, and it doesn’t disappoint. There’s still an ominous feeling that emanates from them (especially since we haven’t seen them in battle or pushed to their limit), but their demeanour and disposition is so… unique so to speak. They don’t seem to be much for ideology but they’re very dedicated to their job. They won’t take a bribe, and will personally go down planet-side to investigate even further. Then there’s how they treat Biscuit’s sisters when that ‘close call’ mentioned earlier occurs. Normally at this juncture some hoity-toity high class type would probably treat them as something below his contempt. However, the entire scene is dealt tastefully. One can see and sense the divide between them, but it spares us from some humdrum verbal expressions of snobbery and resentment from either side. What is this? Get this shit out of my robot cartoon I want Gjallarhorn to gas an entire city and all the Martians to be like… “nooo we will fight and defeat you!” read more

Juu-kuchiby Juu-kuchi•
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Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Episode 3 – War in the Pocketbook

 

I never realized how much I needed this kind of scene in a Gundam series. Around the midway point of the episode, a small cadre of our heroes is busy crunching numbers of any and all remaining assets after their… corporate takeover. What was initially a good, pleasant; number dwindles to a pittance after factoring in expenses like severance pay, maintenance, and supplies. In a franchise where protagonists are always backed by some well-moneyed source (be it businessmen, military, or weird scientist guy), I never would expect this kind of scene to ever be shown. Granted I’m not sure if it will come up again during the series run (thanks to Kudelia), but the thought of including it is quite appreciated. read more

Juu-kuchiby Juu-kuchi•
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Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Episode 2 – G-Chekketsu yourself before you G-Rekketsu yourself.

 

Solanum Lycopersicum Callipyge

Like the lumbering skeleton-framed Gundam Barbatos, the series begins its purposeful lurch forward. You can tell by its lurch (despite the exciting, electric, “Raise Your Flag” opening), in the way the battle between the Barbatos and Gjallarhorn squad quickly concludes and focuses on world building. The more interesting thing about this is that there’s no narrator this time around (it’s kindof a thing in Gundam) to get us going about the world. Every little story element that is shown and told is done by any and all characters present, thus allowing us maximum engagement in the world and its characters. Like the mobile suit, the story is piecing itself together into a more cohesive, dynamic, whole. read more

Juu-kuchiby Juu-kuchi•
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Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Episode 01 – These Kids’re Alright…

…Except for all those things that have been done to them, never mind their place in a PMC that sees them as expendable. But let’s not dwell on that much, because there’s a lot to like in this very good first episode.

The greatest strength of this premiere is its handling of a universe that’s the result of a 300 year long reign of Mars by the Earth Sphere. The peace is frayed, calls for independence are beginning to rise, and there is an undercurrent of tension on every level. All of this is established without firing a shot given the series describing the Special Forces of Earth, Gjallarhorn, as very violent in their quelling of uprisings. The way a well-to-do Martian citizen wipes his sweating brow as he diplomatically grovels for his daughter’s independence seeking behavior, is well done and establishes how much fear can be generated if Earth is opposed. Heck, a shot won’t be fired from their elite units until near the end of the episode, and even then you can see tensions are frayed there too! I like these little touches, and hope it remains such throughout the course of the series, even if Gjallarhorn/Earth eventually goes full Titans (Zeta) or A-LAWS (00 Season 2). read more

Juu-kuchiby Juu-kuchi•
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Layman’s Gunpla Guide – Changelog

I used to have a log of all the Guide’s updates and changes. Then I put a “New” tag on updated and new tutorials on the main menu. However, some folks don’t swing by the site that often so having a full out change log going forward can’t hurt. I just gotta remember to keep things updated…

2023

  • December – All kinds of fun changes…
    • Updated the header a bit, plus I changed the menu orientation to make it more mobile-device friendly
    • Updates to the construction guide
    • Updated the decade old Glue Guide

    2021

    2020

    • 11/27 – Restored some updates that were lost when I switched the site over to the new version

      2019

      2018

      2017

      • Shit, I think I made changes. But apparently I didn’t update the change log? Or maybe I really didn’t make any updates. Shit.

      2016

      12/2 – Added the Pre-Shading Tutorial 5/6 – Language upddates to the

      Priming Tutorial read more

Falldogby Falldog••0
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Falldog’s Gunpla & Model Collection

[flickr-photo:id=11678003396,size=n] circa Decmber 2013

Like most American Gundam fans I got into the series during the franchise’s Toonami heyday in the early 2000’s. I built Gunpla back then without any real awareness of what I was doing or what things would become. Years later I would rediscover Gunpla at a local model shop. One thing lead to another and eventually resulted in one of the largest private collections in the United States.

When I got back into building Gunpla wasn’t as big as it is now, especially since the release of Gundam Build Fighters and other direct Gunpla promotions. There wasn’t nearly as many tutorials and guides out there, related to models in general or even Gunpla specifically. I started this Guide back in 2008 to share what I’ve learned. Part of the hobby which I enjoy the most is trying new things and experimenting with non-traditional methods. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don’t. The Layman’s Gunpla Guide gives me an opportunity to share that experience. read more

Falldogby Falldog••0