wutaku

WRC 2008 Round7 Greece

Wutaku — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:18:08 +0000

WRC 2008 Round 7 is in Greece. Greece is this year’s toughest course for the cars. The roads have big sharp rocks and it is very easy to destroy the suspension or tires of the cars. It is also the first race for the all new 2008 Subaru WRC STi. It was a spectacular race for Petter and the Subaru team. In Day 1, he was getting the feel of the new car but still ended in position 3 behind Danny Sordo and Loeb. Jari-Matti and Mikko had a good run in the beginning of the day but due to suspension damages, they ended in 6 and 7 respectivly by the end of the day. In Day 2, Sordo had tire wear and eventually was knocked off the top 3. By the end of Day 2, it looks like there were gonna be a first time Solberg podium finish for the two brothers with Petter in second and Henning in third. Unfortunately, in Day 3, Henning lost the podium position due to engine issues. Also Unfortunate for Chris Atkinson, he had some electrical problem with his car in day 2 that forced him to retire and in day 3, he hit a rock that knock him out of the top 8. Overall, it was a good race for Subaru and Petter. The race ended with Sebastien Loeb, Petter Solberg, and Mikko Hirvonen as the top 3 in that order. Petter was beaming and couldn’t stop smiling at the end of the race. I am truly happy for Petter and the Subaru team. Lets hope Petter and Subaru can keep this up.

2008 WRC Greece Highlights:

RX78 Gundam Perfect Grade

Wutaku — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:20:53 +0000

The RX-78 is from the original Gundam series. It is piloted by Amuro Ray. Since this is the very first Gundam, it doesn’t look very appealing now. However, this was designed in the early 80s, and in that time, this design is ahead of it’s time. Like all perfect grades, this model is very detail. It has LED lights to light up the eyes. There are also seperate kits for the beam saber to light up. This Perfect grade also comes with the core fighter. In the series, the red center torso is actually a plane. It acts as an escape pod when the Gundam is too damage.

Click on more to see the full Gallery.

Golden Warrior: Gold Lightan

Wutaku — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:18:58 +0000

Golden Warrior: Gold Lightan is an anime series from the early 1980s. It is 52 episodes long and ran from 1981 to 1982. It is a simple giant robots vs giant monster story. However, the catch is that the giant robots are lighters in disguise. When the trouble starts, they transform into the robot form. This used to be my favorite anime when I was kid. Now that I’m older, I wonder if the tobacco companies sponsor this anime.

Gold Lightan also has a trademark technique that he use to defeat his enemies. He will use his surpassing hand strike to strike through the enemy’s body and rip out the heart energy device unit then crush it in his hand. Gold Lightan also has 10 other robots to help him defend earth. Each of those robots have different transformation. Click on More to see more videos and a list of the assistant robots.

Gold Lightan Opening and Ending:

Gold Lightan Cantonese Opening version:

Gold lightan Transformation:

Robots:

Gold Lightan - Lighter

Scope Lightan - Scope

Time Lightan - Timer

Denji Lightan - Magnify glass and Compass

Mechanic Lightan - Tool Chest Box

Coin Lightan - Coin Case

Print Lightan - Print Stamp

Light Lightan - Light

Cutter Lightan - Pencil Sharpener

Meter Lightan - Measurement Device

I.C. Lightan - Processing Unit

More Gold Lightan Info.

SD RX78-GP03 Model

Wutaku — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:06:06 +0000

RX78-GP03 Gundam or the Dendrobium Orchis, is from the Gundam 0083 Stardust Memory series. It is the last and most powerful Gundam in that series. It is a giant attachable mobile armor and has full 3D cockpit. In the show, the Gundam is piloted by Kou Uraki. If the Dendrobium Orchis is too damage to function, it can release the core mobile suit, RX78-GP03S or the Dendrobium Stamen. The SD model have 2 parts, the armor and the inner suit. Like all SD models, this unit does not follow the same proportion as the show. However, it is cool none the less.

Click on more to see full gallery.

Next Master Grade model from Gundam Seed

Wutaku — Sat, 24 May 2008 06:16:48 +0000

I couldn’t believe it; but according to Gunota headlines, the next Master Grade model from the Gundam Seed universe is hinted to be Infinite Justice. You can also see the promotional video from MG Impulse that in the last few seconds [2:13], they show the screen in Justice color theme and have the words 2008 Autumn. The only main Gundams left in the Gundam Seed universe that doesn’t have a master grade are Justice, Legend and Providence. The probability of the next gundam to be Justice are very high. We’ll have to wait until Fall 2008 to see if Gunota headline’s prediction is correct.

Phase Impulse MG Promotion video:

WRC 2008 Round6 d’Italia Sardegna

Wutaku — Wed, 21 May 2008 04:56:08 +0000

The round 6 of WRC takes place in Italy. The stages take place in Sardegna of Italy. The roads are full of gravel and are extremely narrow. Any mistakes, and the drivers will pay dearly for it. Petter Solberg did extremely well in day1, he got into the third position by the end of the day. However, in day 2 the curse of the Subaru occurred. In the very first stage, the car did not have any grip and he described the car as “undrivable”. In the stages to come, the hood of the subaru flipped open and smash his windshield. He had to stop the car to allow his co-pilot to close the hood but at the same time, he also got a rear flat. That basically took him out of top 10 finish. Chris Atkinson also did poorly compare to his previous races. He placed six at the end of the round. The winner of the rally was Sebastien Loeb, second place is Mikko Hirvonen and third is Jari-Matti Latvala. The flying fins were the center of attention in day 3. In the beginning of day 3, they were tied with 29.4 seconds after Loeb. I must say I am truly impress that Loeb was able to hold both of them off and drove so well under imense pressure. For Petter, everything will change for the next rally in Greece because he will drive the all new STi. We can only wait until next week to see if the new vehicles lifts the Subaru curse.

Worse crash in Round 6 of 2008 WRC:

Forbidden Kingdom

Wutaku — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:00:23 +0000

Forbidden Kingdom is the latest martial arts adventure film from Lionsgate. It stars both Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The plot starts off with Jason Tripitakas, an average american teenager who is facinated by eastern culture, and the encounter with the staff of the Monkey King. The staff takes Jason back in time and that is where the adventure begins. Jason must learn from the druken immortal ( Jackie Chan ) and the silent monk ( Jet Li ) in order to fulfill his destiny and find a way home. When I first learn of this movie, I had my doubts. I thought this would be another crappy movie ful of racial jokes like Rush Hour 3. But to my surprise, this movie is very good. The action scenes of the movie are very similar to Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon. The Jokes are funny and reminds me of the older Jackie Chan movies.

Trailer:

My opinion contains spoilers from the movie. You have been warned.

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Seeing Jackie Chan and Jet Li in the same movie is like seeing Arnold and sylvester in the same movie. It is something you cannot miss.

In the movie, the are a lot of action scenes that you cannot miss. THe first is the Jackie Chan vs Jet Li fight scene. That fight inside the temple is awesome. Jackie Chan starts with his druken fist style then Jet Li counters with the preying mantis style and Jackie counters that with tiger style. The second scene was when Jet Li fights the Jade Warlord. That scene is short but seeing Jet Li in a staff fight is very entertaining. Finally, the fight scene in the restaurant with Jackie against the soldier has a mix of humor and action. There are many more action scenes but these three are the most memoriable. Of course there is the last battle between the Monkey King and the jade Warlord, but that seems a little bit too kiddy-ish for me. It does follow the culture that the Monkey King is a practical joker and doesn’t take anything seriously. So the fight itself isn’t really serious and even though, it is good, I didn’t like it as much as the previous three scenes I mentioned.

There are many jokes in the movie. I usually don’t laugh outloud in the theaters but I cannot help it while watching this movie. Some of the jokes are so funny that you’ll laugh even after the joke is over. The funniest one is when Jackie try to cast a spell to make it rain in the desert. He starts the spell very seriously and have a doubtful look on his face. When he finish you see him getting drizzled by some rain. But when Jackie opens his eyes, it was the silent monk peeing on him. I never expected the serious looking person like Jet Li to do something like that. The second funniest moment in the movie is when Jackie was teaching Jason the horse stance then Jet Li walk by and said ” Very good for taking a dump.” I was laughing so hard on that one.

I didn’t really have any issues against the movie but I do think the last scene when Jason went back home and beat up the bullies was a bit cliche. However, I think that would be the best outcome/ending of the movie. It is also interesting to see that 3 of the actors have 2 different character roles to play. Jet Li has the silent monk and the Monkey King. Jackie has the pawn shop owner and the drunken immortal. Liu yi fei played Golden Sparrow and a chinese girl in chinatown. One thing I do not understand is why does Golden Sparrow always refer and talk in 3rd person?

Overall, I think this is one of Jet Li and Jackie Chan’s best movie. This has to be the best Amercian release movie by Jackie Chan or Jet Li. It’s way better than all the “Rush Hour” combine and better than “The One” or “War”. I’d say this is a MUST SEE movie!

Cagalli figurine

Wutaku — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:45:13 +0000

Cagalli Yula Athha is one of the main characters in the Gundam Seed universe. She is the princess of Orb country and later became the leader. This figurine is from the Gundam Seed Destiny series. This was an impulse buy from Fanime 07. I was waiting for friends when they were picking out which Gundam model to buy when I bought this figure.

This cost me less than 5 dollars and the weird thing is that the packaging does not say what type of figurine it is. I believe in japan, they have these packaging that does not show the exact figure/toy. But it does show you what you may end up with. So you might buy 2 or 3 box and can end up with duplicates. This is kinda of rip in the view of customer/collector because you might spend more to finish your collection.

This figurine is pre-painted and you have to assembly it yourself. There are 6 parts to this figurine: head, upper torso + arms, skirt, legs, a small lower piece of the shirt and the stand. You don’t need any glue or tools, they all snap together nicely. There are no moving parts to this at all. For a couple of bucks, this isn’t bad.

Gundam GP 01 Master Grade Model

Wutaku — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:57:13 +0000

Gundam GP01 is from Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory series. It is part of the original Universal Century (UC) timeline. The series takes place after the One Year war. GP01’s full model is RX-78GP01 “Zephranthes”. The gundam is piloted by Kou Uraki. This is my first master grade model. There are many mistakes. Overall, this model isn’t as good as the recent released Gundam Seed series. However, this model has a Core Fighter system meaning that opening is actually part of a plane. This model has 3 parts: the upper torso, the torso with lower legs and the core which is a jet fighter that transform into the body. There is a traditional V shaped head piece for the forehead, but this Gundam lost a fight with my vaccuum cleaner and that piece is forever lost. Overall, the design of this Gundam is not as good as the current design. The core system is easy to break especially when you fold in the wings on the jet. The arms come off the shoulder joints too easily. However, this model does come with swapping hands.

Mistakes:

1. Superglued the rub on piece to the shield. It was before I understand how to use the rub-ons.

2. I snapped off the barrel part of the gun while putting it together. Used superglue to fix it.

Other notes: The red piece that suppose to hold the V shape thing to the forehead is lost forever. Stupid vaccuum cleaner.

Zaku Perfect Grade Model

Wutaku — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:44:21 +0000

Zakus appears from many Gundam series. It is the first mobile suit in the Universal Century timeline. They are from the Zeon side. There are many variants of Zakus, some with shields and some without. Zakus are the grunts of the Zeon side. They are always on the front lines and almost always die in 1 hit.

Perfect grades usually have over 500 parts. All perfect grades come with leds and wires for the light up eyes. This Zaku took me over 40 hours to build. You will also need other basic tools to finish the build like screwdrivers. This perfect grade is the basic Zaku, it comes with a optional fin thing that you can attach on the head. I thought it was cool when I build it, so I attached it.

If you have the cash and your favorite Mobile Suit is in Perfect Grade format, you’ll have to buy one. They are worth every penny.

The head piece lifts off to show you the “brain”.

Chest opens up for the cockpit.

Click on the show link to see a Zaku with an attitude.

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Perfect Grade’s hand is very detailed. It is like human hands where you can move and position each finger joint.

Back picture.

Backpack lifts up.

Kneecaps can open and shows you the hydraulics.

Ever wonder if Zakus are modeled after men or women? Click on the show link to find out.

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