From Nations with Love

“I’m the Juggernaut!”

-GDI Juggernaut

Adapted from CNC3: Kane’s Wrath

 

Yet another small update. Of course this time round I have a reason to say something because, (dun dun duuun) its my birthday!

Thats right ladies. Im now officially 19 years old, which is not much to speak of.  I just wanna say thanks to all those who wished me a Happy Birthday, be it on Facebook, sms or via msn.

Birthdays tend to become less and less amusing as the years go on. Now a these days (or years in this case) I dont make a fuss whether anything big or not occurs on my day. But there were years that were pretty memorable.

Anyway, here’s a pic of one of my most favourite, if not most significant gift I’ve ever received back then.

A history longer than a Smoker's tongue.

This 1/144 No Grade (NG) Saviour Gundam was given to me on one of my earlier birthdays by a special someone.

Technically speaking NG model kits suck. Really, they do. Everything from detail to poseablility is rock bottom.

However the only thing preventing me from tossing it into the recycling bin (other than the fact that its a birthday gift) is that this is the very first Gunpla I ever had or built in this case.

The other NGs I have were bought purely for the extra parts such as the Slash Wizard pack for my Zaku and the Launcher Striker for my Slaughter Dagger. Im considering getting rid of the of anything else since they are taking up valuable space.

Anyway thats enough talk from me, least this becomes another review. Once again thanks to all my friends who sent their wishes over! Im looking forward to many more years to come.

~Raisha

The Wind under our Wings

“Why be content ruling a single nation when we can rule they entire world, Mr. Godsend?”

-Yukionna Raisha posing Raisha Godsend a fate-altering question

Adapted from Chronicle I, Raisha & Musica: The Ragnarok Chronicles

 

Just a small update before I move on to the Garazzo (yes, not Cherudim) review. It kept slipping my mind that the Singapore Wind Symphony (SWS) concert held on the 31st of October at Temasek Polytechnic is over. And by golly what a show it was. Even my parents and Josh turned up for the occasion.

Huzaaah! Culture!

Whats this SWS about? Simply put it, they provide the music, we (my team and 5 others) provide the 5-10min flash animation to go with it. And believe me, it aint easy to do sister. I wont go into great detail, least I bore myself out with the typing. Believe me it would be that long.

3 months worth of slogging and holiday cancellation, and it all finishes in a single sell out night. Ms Jean wasnt wrong about the ‘making sacrifices’ part. Oh ho, she wasnt.

But then again, despite a wasted break, I dont regret it one bit. Through the entire thing I got to know Darren, Dongbin and SJJ better. Now I know them more than just wee little friends of CF. Now my portfolio has something more than just dust and termites.

The motley crew from top left to bottom right: Chen Fei (CF), Darren, SJJ, myself, and Dongbin.

Oh the trials. Oh the stress. Oh the moral indignity of Warcraft 3 easy AI’s.

Forgive my lack of sanity. Cherry’s birthday party is in one month’s time and Im hosting the location. And like the SWS, this will probably be the first and last time I’ll be doing this.

Also I have a ‘job interview’ tomorrow for the role of FutureTech Executive. Now you see why I have every to be insane.

"So at 24 frames per sec, if 15 secs is 362 frames, how much is 4mins gonna be again?!"

~Raisha

NSFWftw!

“They die so brightly!”

-Nod Spector attack quote

Adapted from CNC3: Kane’s Wrath

 

If h4ataraxia sends you a link, please exercise caution (and resist temptation) when opening it. XD

Silent Stronghold is not responsible for any tainting of pure minds.

 Though I daresay it was mighty fine. Oh yeaaa.

~Raisha

1/144 HG Seraphim Gundam Review

“Your call is important to us.”

-Allied Athena Cannon

Adapted from Red Alert 3 : Uprising

 

Im baaaaaaaack!~

Thats right folks, two months on holiday cold turkey and now its time to take the stage once again.

And what better way to kick things off than with a review of the 1/144 HG Seraphim Gundam from the second season of Gundam Double 0!

The Bot in Black

 The Seraphim in my opinion is pretty interesting model kit jus as much a mobile suit. Mostly jet back, this tiny of  a Gundam costs only SG$20. It’s really small and compact as well, so much so that you can even jus slip him in your pocket and carry him anywhere you want and even smaller when compared too his big brother the Seravee.

Articulation wise, it is pretty decent. It arms do suffer abit due to the way its joints are place to accomodate its cannon form. But still, it can sure do a great deal of poses. There are flaps on the front and back of the shoulders that will ease arm movement.

The gigantic V-fin on his chest can move in and out abit. Though purely ornamental they are particularly loose on mine and are held in position purely by friction. Also if one grips the exhaust ports (I believe they are) on the sides of the body and pull down, a Gundam head can be seen.

According to Bandai, that face is actually a legitimate Gundam ’head’. The Face Burst mode (as they call it) is usually seen activated while in cannon mode on the Seravee. In doing so it gives of enough GN Particles to fill a Kirov Airship create a GN Field as well as charging the GN Bazooka II to the max. The only time the face is activated when in mobile suit mode is in episode 24 of season 2.

Trick or Treat?... TRAP.

That Spy is sappin' mah arms!!!

 The Seraphim kit comes with a few accessories. First of are two white beam sabre handles, something the Seravee . Then theres also the three clear pink beams. Two long ones for the beam sabre and one short one as a beam dagger of sorts like the Exia’s.  

The arms can be transformed to the arm cannons as seen above. Two ways to do it would be to either remove the hands just like that (the hands are unique as they are pegs rather than ball joints that go onto the arm) or, if you have the Seravee, replace the metallic stickered cannon ends with Seraphim’s that hold the hands.

However you do not buy the Seraphim for its accessories but for its gimmick. Thats right, the Seraphim turns into an almost perfect replica of the one you get with the 1/144 HG Seravee. And is can even replace it.

One of these two dont belong together~ One of these two is not like the other~

 Transforming it is really simple. The arms have to be turned to align like with the shoulders. Remove both hands and the leg, fold the legs all the way to the back. The feet can ‘unfurl’ so that it becomes sharp and compact. Lastly remove the cover on the back and attach it to where the head once was.

 Removing the back cover exposes a peg which can go in to the back of the Seravee.

Well... this will be fun to stand.

50 Bucks if you can make him stand like that without an action base.

Last but not least, the Seravee’s accessories can be used by the Seraphim and vice versa. This allows you to get creative and do some wicked combinations.

Just like Willy and IZ kicking arse.

Like all model kits, there a few with the Seraphim. As mentioned before, his arm movement is extremely limited due to the position of his joints. This also affects it in cannon form. While the original Seraphim can swivel its cannons left and right on the Seravee, the actual unit cant go any far than that.

Next is the gawd darn V-Fin. Not the one on the head, but the one on the FACE. I dunno if i just got the rut of the lot, but the V-Fins on the face are extremely loose and will fall out occasionally. Ironically the original Seraphim has the same problem too. Hmmm….

Lastly his feet are miniscule. So much so that he cant even support himself properly with the beams sabres on without a stand. Im tellin’ ya. Those are the smallest feet I’ve ever seen on a Gundam!

In all here’s the summary of today’s review.

Pros:

Decent articulation

Cheap model kit

Accessories for your Seravee

Small and compact means this is an easy model to build

Cons:

Extremely loose V-fin

Tiny feet makes standing hard

Articulation limited due to gimmick

Requires Seravee Gundam for best effect.

The Seraphim is a rather impressive unit. By purchasing the Seraphim along with the Seravee, not only are you giving him the beam sabres his model kit lacked but a host more mix and match parts to do some interesting poses.

I definitely recommend him if you have the Seravee. Currently their re-releasing the Seravee in the form of the GNHW/R version which comes with the Seraphim and extra weapons. If you dont have any of the two, get that one instead least Bandai scams your 5 bucks.

Does that mean he has four eyes now?

Overall rating 3 over 5 stars.

Stay tuned next time for the Cherudim and Garazzo review!

~Raisha

Weapons here!

Though I wasnt authorized to do the Seraphim review, Raisha has however let me fill in on the utterly late Gundam Expo event.

About a month ago Compass Point was ground zero for Gundam Singapore 2009. An event which was part of the celebration of the 30th  aniversery for Mobile Suit Gundam and its successors of the franchise.

Tagged alongside with Joshua from Imaginary Sanctuary and CF from Hanger Bay B-07, the small militia wasted no time to head to Senkang to embrace the occasion.

As CF has already done a report on the event with pictures to go with it, Silent Stronghold instead will be showing you the pictures that he missed out.

The pearly gates of awesomeness.

 Do note that the blue markings on the floor is the exact size of the Gundam’s foot~!

RX78-2 over the years

Zaku II's over the years

For all your cosplaying and fangirl needs.

 First up, lets pay a visit to the Universal Century theatre with Mobile Suit Gundam and its other One Year War series.

MG Sazabi

MG Psycho Gundam?...

MG Sinanju

Rick DOM and Dr. Bunhead

Z-GOK and Floating poop thing.

Zaku II and Mr. Manhattan

Mr. Manhattan MKII

The (soon to be) white elephant of Raisha's collection.

 Next up the Cosmic Era timeline with Gundam Seed Destiny and Seed Vs Astray. Starting off with one of the more impressive dioramas ever seen.

An almost-in-scale Destroy Gundam

Destiny Gundam with a more in scale Destroy

PG Red Frame

1/100 Green Frame

MG Blue Frame 2ndR in prototype colors.

Astray Mirage Frame in protype colors.

Unit previews from the magazine.

 And last but not least the Anno Domini era and the cast of Gundam Double 0.

00 Raiser diorama.

Celestial Being gets caught up with a group of custom Flags, Enacts and Tierens.

Robot Spirits Cheese

Gachapon staring Nena, Sumeragi, ...

....Louise and Liu Mei!

Unfortunately like CF, Raisha didnt get any pics of the BB Senshi/SD Gundam series.

The event was pretty big and lively for a country whose population is not exactly Gunpla crazed like Japan. Well it’s not exactly as big as Raisha expected, but certainly lively.

Out of the event, Exia R2 and 0 Gundam were purchased. Joshua also took the liberty to spurge on his new found love; the Garazzo.

You can find a more detailed compendium of the event at CF’s Hanger Bay here:

http://thehangerbay.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/were-jumping-onto-white-base/

Battlefield control is expected to be resumed by Raisha this week. Expect the Seraphim review and a bonus Garazzo review too!

Gundam Singapore 09 may be long over, but one more event now stands in our way.

~Nicolia

Ahhh~ Fresh ‘Meat’~!

Sgt. Noob and Meatshield21 requested that I present the greasy oil variant of the previous work of art.

KFC are for KFC's.

I sense a manifestation is about to occur. As well as a 20 page report when Raisha gets back… ><

~Nicolia

Instant acid trip. Just add ‘Meat’.

This is not a racist/religious joke nor is it meant to target anyone in particular.

The result of combining Nonowa, 'Crop Circles' and Divine Intervention together.

Stare no further, least thou knows more than man ever should.

Raisha has a history of sending all sorts of weird intel back to HQ. But this certainly goes on my “Shit a Brick” moment.

It’s unknown if this is recon footage or something from a bad Dr. Seuss picture book. In any case this is the brain child of guerilla leader Isaac, aka, Meatshield21. Good job on giving me nightmares for the next coming nights. Period.

~Nicolia

Command Front

Once again another update from the front.

Tension has gone down abit as (according to Raisha) the SWS is at least 50-70% completed. No further info has been announced by him as of this point. But I reckon he’s refueling his think-tank with more brain juice for the coming days ahead.

On a more interesting note, just last week Joshua of Imaginary Sanctuary finally cut his mop hair. I daresay he looks a whole lot…   Manly-er this way. >=D

GN-X III, ESF Type has made a delayed arrival/notice to Silent Stronghold. I’ll probably be overseeing its construction tonight.

Last but not least on another delayed notice, special package 1 has finally arrived. Its contents a secret. At least till package 2 arrives and Raisha gets the ‘what-Im-so-happy-for’ post up and running.

Its been abit boring down at HQ without Raisha  around. He didnt even give me authority to do the Seraphim Gundam review. Hmph.

~Nicolia

A Memory amongst the War

Nicolia here. New updates straight from the frontline.

-Profile page has been updated and has been split into two sections to make it less messy.

-Character profiles updated. More descriptive history behind each one. He may add more in the future.

Raisha is, obviously, away due to the SWS project at hand (see previous entry) and will not be resuming battlefield controls until he is done.

He left in quite a huff, so I assume he’s pretty stressed up. Between you and me… I heard he had abit of a nostalgic flashback.

According to what I heard, an unknown faction that he was monitoring for a while went through the same  acursed incident as he did a year back. The Blackstabbing.

You rookies out there might be wondering what that this it means.

Simply put it, union of two nations, drain one nation off all of it sovereignty and then defect from it when it’s at its worst to join with another. In my book, this is the most disgusting trick any faction can employ as it leaves the target faction totally demoralized. Whats worse is that the unjust leader who did it would already have his next target at sight long before executing his/her plan.

The poor faction is, as of recently, recovering from the tragedy steadily. What astonishes me is how could she do something like that. And now she has a new target at hand.

Whether its was an accident or deliberate attempt is unknown. Im certain General Raisha would not pursue the matter. In fact he washed his hands clean of this a long time ago. In any case we wont let this happen again to SS. Not on my watch.

To her. Raisha tried to change you for the better. He tried.

Kudos to you.

~Nicolia

The Final Countdown

“BULL TANK! BULL TANK!”

-Soviet Grinder Tank assault quote

Adapted from Red Alert 3 : Uprising

 

Moral of the story: The Soviets DO watch Discovery Channel.

Alright guys, just another quick update or so.

Things have gotten really choppy overboard recently. And its all got to do with the SWS. Despite earlier reports, our latest push went to show that our team is actually, well, ‘behind time’. Honestly speaking our group is actually last in line. And with the dateline in a distant October, this is gonna be the biggest rush job Im ever going to do.

And somewhere else two rag-tag Muppets are about to depart on a week long trip to China with a certain wrytard. I wish I had taken the trip instead of doing this project. Even though I risk flying in a plane spewing a trail of smoke, bile, fats and intestinal matter, at least my sanity will be 60% more intact than my current 20% (plus I’ll have something to rant about when I get back).

Also, many of my soon to be updates such as the Gundam Singapore 09 post will be delayed. If necessary, I’ll leave Nicolia to fill in the missing bits.

Anyway on a more lighter note, I got the 1/144 HG Tieren ground type. It’s really an impressive kit. I’ll probably review it last in line ONCE I ACTUALLY GET THE TIME TO REVIEW SOMETHING.

*ahem*

Today I had lunch at Ikea with some of my church people. I must say, the spaghetti and meatballs really does hit the spot. Originally me and Phui See thought of going LAN for a while but time, lethargy and an overall burdenising mind stopped me from putting it to action.

In any case, it’s a matter of ‘do or die’ now. The deadline’s roughly two weeks from now. With any luck, my head will still be in its right place by the end of it.

God save the gravy.

~Raisha