ninjascience

ninjascientific.com

2006-08-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

I've finally finished my secret project: ninjascientific.com.

I would say it's in Public Beta right now, basically done, but with some kinks to work out, and lots of new features to add. Stop by, check it out, let me know what you think!

Something Big

2006-05-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

If you're a regular visitor here and you've been wondering where the updates are, I have some news. I've been working on a big project that will replace this blog. I had been planning to branch out into manga and anime for this blog for a while. That got me thinking on some ideas on how to do that. The results of those ideas is coming soon. It's going to be big, it's going to be cool. It will cover all stuff otaku: mecha, manga, toys, plamo and anime. Look for it soon.

Advance of Zeta Proposed Figures

2006-03-27T13:58:00.000-08:00

In March, Dengeki Hobby Magazine released the Dengeki Hobby Magazine EX. Volume 1. Inside are proposed plans for Advance of Zeta figures. One for HCM Pro and one for Gundam Ultimate Operation.

The HCM Pro fig is of the Hazel II. I'm not sure I like the 'TTT' decals that are all over it, but the addition of the extra armor is a neat detail.

As with all the other GUO figs, this Hazel Custom takes some stylistic license, such as the big shoulders, that Gundam fans either seem to love or hate. It comes with various goodies, including two booster shields, sub-arm unit, and an alternate head with the Advanced Hazel visor.

Unknown Mobile Suit Variations

2006-03-23T09:38:00.000-08:00

A series of Mobile Suit Variations, all seemingly by the same artist, were recently posted on 4chan. I downloaded them all and added them to my flickr account because they were so cool, and I was hoping someone would recognize them. My favorite is the YMS-16MR Rick Xamel, which seems to have a fixed cannon pointing straight out the top of the MS, with a large sensor unit pointed that way too. The Marasai/Nightengale cross variation is another great one. And the NRX-044 seems to combine aspects of the Advance of Zeta NRX-044R and MA-08 Big Zam

Lego Mecha

2006-03-20T10:29:00.000-08:00

Recently, flickr user bricklovinfreakboy added me as a contact, and I did the same. I've known of his flickr photos and been to his site in the past, his work is very cool, some of the best lego mecha I've seen. Whether he's building big or small, his use of the lego bricks is very imaginative. I love his little Tachikomas and small-scale suits, and his Gundams are great examples of his bigger works.

Takayuki Yanase "Windfall"

2006-03-02T08:53:00.000-08:00

Takayuki Yanase (小松原博之) or "Windfall" is an artist whose work I've seen out there for a while now, but I didn't know him by name. After finding some more of his work recently I decided to get it all together and create a Windfall Set on flickr dedicated to this fantastic artist. For Gundam he's done some great illustrations of Blue Destiny MS and he's done some work with Studio Reckless as well, most notably illustrations of the ORE-GUN series of weapons designs, and published in a book called Rally:Works. I found some of the images on 2chan and 4chan, and the rest on the flickr site of my flickr-friend: Hyaku Shiki.

March 01, 2006 Mecha Find

2006-03-01T15:01:00.000-08:00

Today's find seems to be some kind of Crossbone Gundam Variation. I don't know much about Crossbone Gundam, except that it's got some kind of cool pirate theme. I checked MAHQ.net and didn't see this bad boy. I thought at first it was fan art, but the side caption in Japanese indicates it's from a magazine or book. The name of this guy is 'Desusukaru', which may be a kana-fied English word. The caption box does mention Crossbone Gundam, but I can't make anything else out. All in all, I think this is a great design and it's led me to find out more about Crossbone Gundam.

AoZ Dry Spell

2006-02-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

It's been a pretty dry time for Advance of Zeta. The March DHM didn't include any new artwork, and although the April issue is out in Japan, I haven't heard anything about what AoZ goods might be inside. The first EX issue of DHM was released, but supposedly is just contains a lot of images of AoZ models we've already seen and the Audrey figure.

If you watch my flickr account though you've probably seen pretty regular activity there. I regularly post new mecha art I find there and I plan on expanding this blog a bit to cover what I find.

I've got a few big things in the works for the wiki, but with a baby literally due any minute it's hard to get anything done around here! Hopefully I'll have more AoZ news for everybody soon.

Icarus Unit Model

2006-02-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

I grabbed these images from Dengeki Hobby March 2006 off of dannychoo.com. For those of you who don't already know his blog you must check it out. Danny posts high quality scans and photos of his new toys and magazines, as well as stories of living in Japan.

The Icarus Unit is an add-on set of equipment to allow the Hazel Custom to fly around in an atmospheric environment. Not shown here is the ability to attach extra pieces of equipment to those big shoulder units. Options include shield boosters, standard shields, missile pods, or arms. With the arms attached it becomes clear that this monster is an ancestor for the Byarlant (if the giant ass thruster didn't tip you off already). Those big shoulder units can also swing forward to allow it to be stashed on board a TR-5 Fiver unit, for atmospheric entry.

New Images from Advance of Zeta Volume 4

2006-02-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

Ezikiel of FichtenFoo.com recently posted some new images of the TR-5 Fiver in Mobile Suit mode on that forum. He got the images from 2chan.net. Now I have a new site to scan everyday for AoZ info :-|

Advance of Zeta Vol. 4 Poster

TR-5 Fiver in Mobile Suit Mode

TR-5 Fiver Model in Mobile Suit Mode

AoZ Vol 4 and March DHM

2006-01-23T08:36:00.000-08:00

The cover of the new Advance of Zeta Vol. 4 is now shown on the Dengeki Hobby Magazine website. As with the other covers, it's a really great piece. In the background you can see the Advanced Hazel on the right, and another MS on the left. Could it be the mysterious TR-6?

UPDATE! Not the TR-6 most likely. Good friend Darkstar thinks it's the TTT Gaplant and I agree. He has shaper eyes than I do because he also picked out the rabbits sitting on the Hazel Custom's finger. The Gaplant was also on the cover of Volume 3, but lets home it finally makes more of an appearance in this volume, and not just inside the Fiver!

I also grabbed the cover of the March Dengeki Hobyy Magazine and a pic of the AoZ figure that comes with it.

Hazel-Rah Second Form with Booster By Sandrum

2006-01-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

Wow. Sandrum of Anaheim Machines blog has finished his Hazel-Rah Second Form with Gaplant Booster and it looks fantastic! Be sure to check out the rest of his work!

January '06 Wiki Updates

2006-01-09T13:24:00.000-08:00

Here's some recent updates from the AoZ Wiki. A while back I uploaded lots of new images for the TR-4 Dandelion, and profile info for the Hazel-Rah, and the Hrududu. Now I've also got brand spankin' new Hazel-Rah Second Form, Hazel-Rah Second Form with Booster and the Hrududu Second Form profile info.

Advance of Zeta Vol. 4

2006-01-06T08:03:00.000-08:00

My fellow AoZ fan, Deacon Blues, tipped me off yesterday to the release date of the Advance of Zeta Vol. 4 book. All I could find in terms of an announcement was a single sentence entry on the Media Works Calendar page. Keep your eyes peeled here for more news on this new book.

UPDATE:
The book will contain photonovel episodes 4.5-5.2, a review of the HGUC Hazel Custom kit, as well as information on the Galbaldy Beta, Icarus Unit, Hrududu and Hazel-Rah.

More February DHM Scans

2006-01-04T16:24:00.000-08:00

Deacon Blues of Zeonic-Corps.net kindly scanned all the AoZ pages from the February issue of Dengeki Hobby Magazine. Some of the images I've already posted here. The new ones are very cool. I've put them all in my flickr account but here's my two favs.

This two page spread shows the evolution of the Hazel series of Mobile Suits.

On the bottom left hand corner is the 'Next Generation Mass Productive Prototype MS'.
Further up the page, on the left edge, the development lines leads to 'TR-6'. This is the first mention I've seen of a TR-6. The lines to it lead from the Hazel-Rah Second Form and from the Mass Productive Prototype MS. Perhaps it's a mass produced Hazel-Rah Second Form? Or, because it has a new TR designation, it's a very different kind of MS based off of some concepts from those suits? Only time will tell!

FF-X29A G-Parts "Hrududu" Kit

2005-12-27T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Feburary issue of Dengeki Hobby Magazine will come with a free Hrududu kit to go with your Hazel Custom or Advanced Hazel HGUC kit. Better pick up two copies if you want to build the Hazel-Rah second form. This japanese blog has some nice pics.

And this is what you could do with two kits!

Hazel-Rah Second Form

2005-12-22T12:53:00.000-08:00

Some new scans of the Hazel-Rah second form are popping up. It has four Hrududu wing boosters , more shield boosters, attaches to the Gaplant rocket booster and is a nice Titans blue.

New MS Profiles

2005-12-13T20:17:00.000-08:00

Mark Simmons has posted on the TTT Arc, translations and notes of a bunch of AoZ MS.

RX-107 "Rosette"
NRX-044 Prototype Asshimar TR3 "Kehaar"
NRX-044R Prototype Asshimar TR3 "Kehaar"
RX-107 TR-4 "Dandelion"
ORX-005 Gaplant TR-5 "Fiver"
FF-X29A G-Parts "Hrududu"
RX-121-1 & FF-X29A Gundam TR-1 "Hazel Rah"

And some great images from Spriggan!

GM Quel at Anaheim Electronics

2005-12-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

Ivan Sanchez over at Anaheim Electronics has started work on a 3D GM Quel. Once he finishes, he plans on moving on to the Hazel series from Advance of Zeta. I saw his Gundam Wing and it was fantastic, so I'm really excited to see AoZ designs done in 3D.

NRX-044 Prototype Asshimar TR3 "Kehaar"

2005-12-08T09:07:00.000-08:00

I like to think I'm on the up and up with all the AoZ images out there on the internet. But I found some new ones the other day on a Korean blog (Sturm Modeler). If you own Volumes 2 or 3 of the AoZ art books or got the Official Art Book magazine insert than you've seen these. I don't have any of those so they are brand new to me. The only images I had seen of this MS were some model images. I wasn't sure what to make of them. Most AoZ fans are pretty familiar with the NRX-044R, the space-type prototype. This unit is an earth-type MS. It's much closer to the final version of the Asshimar seen in Zeta. Until I saw these, I wasn't sure if this MS was an 'official' AoZ MS or just a model custom.

C3 Chara Hobby 2005 Photos

2005-12-06T15:02:00.000-08:00

I found these photos of the C3 Chara Hobby 2005 show on ResetMinsky.

Large version of the poster we've seen.

Icarus Unit, front right.

Top Center: that really looks like a rear view of the Dandelion, but it's seems to be sporting the Galbaldy Beta booster pod?

Mecha Hangar yeah!

HiZack Cannon Type

Keehar Earth Type?

Keehar Earth Type?

Dandelion TR-4

Dandelion TR-4

More pics can be found at the original post.

Dengeki Hobby Magazine 01.2006 Preview

2005-12-06T12:44:00.000-08:00

The January 2006 issue of DHM has been released in Japan and it contains some great AoZ material. Inside is an 'Advance of Z Modeling Manual' (scans at Spriggan's flickr page). Also included is a model of the TR-5 Fiver! This thing looks fantastic, I can't wait to see more.

RX-121-1 Gundam TR-1 + FF-X29A 'Hazel Rah'

2005-12-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks to TTT Arc and FichtenFoo user Spriggan, we have some great new photos of the Hazel Rah. Before this we couldn't even confirm that the name was the Hazel Rah (though we suspected).

The Hazel Rah is a Gundam TR-1 unit (either the Hazel Custom or Advanced Hazel) equipped with the FF-X29A flight pack. The flight pack mounts on the rear movable booster pod and/or the waist of the unit. It consists of any combination of two types of wing-like boosters. In the picture to the left, the art-work shows the carrier-type pod on the mobile suit's right hand side and the standard-type on the mobile suits left hand side. The carrier-type can open up to deploy equipment that a Long Blade Rifle barrel can mount on. Alternatively the Long Blade Rifle barrel is mounted to the standard Hazel rifle, as shown here.

The Hazel Rah can also be deployed with it's "wings" in alternate configurations. To the right we see the Hazel Rah with two standard-type wings on the top and two carrier-type wings on the bottom. The carrier-type wings are show with the Long Blade Rifle barrels, one deployed forward and one back. Their name indicates these barrels may be combination beam rifles/beam sabers, making them a likely predecessor to the Feyadeen Rifle of the Hambrabi and the Gabthley. The core MS in this picture also equips the sensor visor of the Advanced Hazel, and based on the darker coloring, this could be the Advanced Hazel or the Hazel Custom after it's been repainted with the traditional Titans blue.

There is also some speculation that the flight pack can work independently of a mobile suit. In this pic, the unit at the top looks like it's deployed that way. There is some speculation on the TTT Arc that this is a predecessor of the Hambrabi.

The theme of names from the Watership Down novel is continued on this mobile suit. 'Rah' is the title given to a chief rabbit. The character Hazel from the novel was not a chief, but was referred to as 'Hazel-Rah' at least once in the novel for the role he played. The flight unit is also referred to as the Hrududu (Furudodo in the original kana). Hrududu means 'vehicle' in Thaline, the language of the rabbits of Watership Down.

Welcome

2005-12-01T10:29:00.000-08:00

I am Ryan Miller, but most people who know me online know me as ninjascience. I'm an avid mecha fan and that's what I'll be blogging about here mostly. I run the Advance of Zeta Wiki, a storehouse of all things Advance of Zeta. I'm an avid collector of mecha images and I've been posting all my stuff on my flickr page. I'm working on a couple of other mecha related projects as well and will report here on those.