Pegasus Class Assault Carrier: Grey Phantom

Hull Number: LMSD-76

Gray Phantom

Main Armament:

1 x Twin main cannon

2 x Twin deflection-type mega particle cannon turrets

New Desides/Pezun Rebellion

Table of Organization and Equipment of Earth Federation Forces and Rebel New Desides Forces during the Pezun/New Desides rebellion, U.C.0088

These charts illustrate the composition of both forces during the engagement in Luna airspace,  (Federation Forces and New Desides) and includes fleet organization and structure.

MS-06-R-3 High Mobility Zaku (Gelgoog Forerunner Test Type)

One of the missing links that often appears in development flowcharts, but rarely detailed by itself.
There is no information that I am aware of that suggests anything about the fate of this MS, heavily implied to have been the only example of the type.  It's worth noting that the MS-11 in this case probably does not refer to the MS-11 Action Zaku.

Clarification

Just to put this out there - it's never going to be my intention to try and get a profile for every Mobile Weapon/Fighter/whatever robot and every character listed at some point, but just to try and provide some information on things that maybe don't get as much coverage, or things I think are particularly confusing.

That being said, I am going to try to post more smaller articles to fill the gaps between the larger and more image intensive ones to try and keep things moving along.

How I decide this is fairly random, but again, I'm always open to requests for information on specific topics as well, so feel free to post comments on what you want to see.

Shin Matsunaga

Military ID Number: PM05576744-S

Affiliation: Space Attack Corps

Biography:

Born in U.C. 0055 as the eldest son of the Side 3 Matsunaga family, a prominent family comparable to the Federation’s Yashima family.  As suggested by the name, the family was of mixed Eastern and Western blood, and Shin Matsunaga was the only member of this family to enter the military.

MS-11 Action Zaku

A lesser known unit of the One Year War, originally appearing in MS-X, which were unused concepts for the original Mobile Suit Gundam series.

Dolos Analysis

This is an unofficial (let's face it, almost every Gundam publication is) analysis from a 2003 A Bao A Qu magazine special on how a Dolos might actually be able to hold its sometimes-published capacity of 182 MS.  

On another note, a modern aircraft carrier operating four catapults simultaneously should be able to launch an aircraft every 20 seconds in ideal conditions. If we look at the Dolos with seven visible launch ports, we could reasonably extrapolate that the Dolos can launch one MS every 10 seconds, which means it will still take 30 minutes to launch all 182 MS.

Attack on Jaburo

U.C. 0079 November 30 - December 3  

EFSF Headquarters at Jaburo.  Zeon forces had tried and failed several times to assault this massive underground fortress.   This time, Colonel Char Aznable’s MS forces would undertake the challenge.

  

To battle!

After a short hiatus, I have some more things in the works.

There is more Patlabor and Macross in the works, but first up will be a couple of articles from the Entertainment Bibles.

This week is the Federation's biggest blunder and the one that almost lost them the war -  the Battle of Loum.  There are a couple images that still need to be added in, but I thought I would put it up now and just throw the images in later, as they're not super essential in any way.

The Battle of Loum

U.C. 0079, January 10-17

With the initiative of the war still in the firm grasp of Zeon, Federal Forces decided to stake their pride on a massive fleet engagement. The place: Side 5 - Loum.

Great firewall or greatest firewall?

So I've been in land of block everything including blogger, the People's Republic of China.

Also my computer is dead at the moment, so updates will be delayed a bit...

MMP-78 Zaku Machine Gun

120mm Zaku Machine Gun

MMP-78 120mm Machine gun

VF-4 Lightning III

VF-4 Lightning III

A VF-4G Lightning III from Alaska's Elmendorf base on its maiden flight in 2020.

This picture was taken from the rear seat of an accompanying VF-1D.

The largest change from the VF-1 series was the VF-4's greatly expanded capabilities in space, though atmospheric performance was approximately on par with that of the VF-1.  Once at high altitudes, however, the VF-4 displayed greatly increased mobility.

Thunder and Lightning

I've been a bit busy as of late, which will probably continue over the next couple of weeks, but I do still have a few updates in the works.

Here's one teaser:

APS-25A/MF25 Armored Messiah

APS-25A/MF25 Armored Pack

The MF25 Specification APS-25A was the basic Armored Pack deployed by the former Macross Frontier fleet.  As the wing surfaces are almost completely covered with large booster units, these packs were, in principle, equipment used exclusively outside of atmospheric conditions.

EFSF Weapons Vol. 4 - Beam Weapons

The final volume of the extensive GM weapons series...The beam weapons.

A late model Beam Spray Gun with increased beam cohesion used by an RGM-79B.  On January 1, U.C. 0080, this image was taken by an embedded war journalist during the battle of Hughenden.   Due to complications in reporting the armistice negotiations, this grueling battle continued for an additional two days.

GM Beam Weapons

A brief overview of GM Series Weapons

This article will detail the various weapons systems deployed by the RGM-79 GM during the One Year War period and beyond, and though most information is known at this time, there are a few details that remain unknown to this day, most information can be inferred from the state of production and technology at the time.

来たぁぁ！！

Oh my god.... It's happening!

It must be said that my favorite mecha of all time is the VF-22/YF-21 from Macross...

And now....

Oh my god.

It's being released next week.

EFSF Weapons Vol. 3 - Shields

Though not strictly weapons, the distinctive large shields are a signature piece of equipment used by EFSF Mobile Suits.

After their initial crushing defeat early in the war, the 10th Fleet (10TF) stationed at Luna II was reconstructed in November U.C. 0079 with Mobile Suit units. This image shows a unit deployed with the 6th patrol fleet (a subordinate unit to 10TF), which was deployed to interdict the supply lines between 

Side 3 and the Earth Attack Force.

GM Series Shields
A brief overview of GM series weapons.

EFSF Weapons Vol. 2 - Heavy Weapons

The second part of the EFSF/GM weapons series will cover the heavy weapons - Bazookas, Cannons, and Missiles. (Oh my?)  

RGM-79C scrambled to intercept an HLV launch from Hughenden.  With the suspected presence of a warship to recover the HLV , this unit carried heavy firepower in the form of 360mm Hyper Bazookas in both hands.   However, the HLV HLV changed course and escaped towards Africa, rather than heading towards Side 3, so this unit was not able to intercept their target.

Armaments of RGM-79 

A brief overview of GM series weapons

During the One Year War, combat under the influence of Minovsky Particle scattering was an area of combat neither Zeon or Federation Militaries had much experience in.   Ideal factors such as engagement distances, shot accuracy, and required magazine capacities were not well understood, and so a variety of concepts for weapons systems were developed. 

EFSF Weapons Vol. 1 - The Projectile Weapons

The first part of the GM weapons series is here!   This volume will cover the projectile hand weapons used by the EFSF - Rifles, Machine Guns, and Sniper Rifles!

A GR-MLR79-90mm equipped GM Sniper II in firing position.  Equipped with a 120 round magazine, the Sniper type MS has the ability to detect enemy units at long range, and typically provides supporting fire from long ranges while operating independently from the main force.

Armaments of RGM-79

A brief overview of GM series weapons

From the initial birth of the Mobile Suit concept, unlike Mobile Armor, the AMBAC system which utilized four limbs for mobility, also allowed weapons to be brought to bear on a target in an extremely short period of time.  Though combat maneuvering is the basic purpose of this system, secondary to this concept is the use of the external manipulators of a Mobile Suit to carry weapons appropriate to the situation, and the ease of being able to freely change weapons creates excellent flexibility as a general-purpose mobile weapon.

Slight delay

I was hoping to have the GM weapons up by now, but I need to rescan some pictures, so there will be a slight delay.  It's hard to get the color balance right with black machine guns.

In the meantime, have a VF-27 in New UN Spacy coloring.

Dakka dakka dakka.

Here's a sneak peek of the big post this week:

Guns.  Lots of guns.   I have to apologize for the Zeon fans, as the Master Archive books don't cover Zeon units.. (Yet.)

So mostly it'll be Feddie guns.  Lots of feddie guns.

Haven't given up yet!

Rest Assured, I am still working on getting the Zaku Technical Manual pictures up, there's a great deal of work involved x many many pictures.

I also encourage you to subscribe or leave comments if possible, it really helps motivate me to get things done on time!

Also: Helldiver and Jesta: Separated at birth?

ARL-99 Helldiver

Helldiver
A very popular labor with the general public.

Type number: ARL-99
Manufacturer: Shinohara Heavy Industries, Hachioji Plant
Total Height: 7.95m
Total Width: 4.55m
Weight: 5.75t
Loaded Weight: 6.81t
Maximum carrying capacity: 3.10t
Minimum turn radius: 3.90m
Armor Materials: Fiber reinforced metal, Carbon fiber reinforced plastic.
Rollout: October, 1998
Equipment: 40mm rapid fire cannon, Combat Knife, Smoke Launcher x8, TOW Antitank missile launcher



Shinohara Heavy Industries’ previously mentioned AV (Advanced Vehicle) project did not only give rise to a law enforcement labor, the Ingram operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Special Vehicle Section 2, but another labor was born in the background.   Operated by the JGSDF’s airborne units, the ARL-99 Helldiver was also created from this project.  

So many pictures...

The MS-06R1A technical manual will get pictures!  There's a lot, and a lot of photoshop work is required to translate the captions.   I'm in progress now with these.

I have a couple other things backlogged as well...here's a teaser, and it's a little bit of a shift from Gundam.

GP-01Fa Full Armor Gundam Zephyranthes

The GP01 was built on various technologies pioneered by the One Year War-Era RX-78 (Gundam), and incorporates advances in many of these concepts and technologies.

While the RX-78 was highly adaptable owing to its high performance, the GP01 is designed to utilize changes in equipment to adapt to different situations.

Waterborne Insertion

The picture that inspired the design.... I liked this version of the head better than the OVA version.

Yes, I need a proper scanner.   All this glossy paper!

More Power!

The GP01fb ready for business with double RX-Vsh-023F/S-04712 Multiple Shield/Anti-MS shields, and two BOWA XBR-M-82A beam rifles.

(Though it may look like Gunpla, it is actually a CGI illustration.  The reversed lettering on the shield is evidence of this.)

The GM Machinegun

Following a recent discussion on Reddit regarding how poorly the MS-18E Kampfer fared against the Alex's 90mm gatlings... I thought it would be appropriate to see just how the standard weapon of the GM series may have fared... 


--

The HFW-GMG-MG79-90mm GM Machine Gun was the essential anti-Mobile Suit machine gun deployed in the One Year War.  As a 'system weapon', different parts could be combined to create the GM Rifle, and the GM Long Rifle.  (TL: The HFW-GR·MR82-90mm GM Rifle and HWF GR·MLR79-90mm Long Rifle, respectively.)

When used against either Super hard steel alloy and Titanium-Ceramic alloy armor materials, the weapon has the power to easily penetrate either.

This weapon was also seen being used by the RX-78-GP01 during the Torrington base Gundamjack incident.


Source: Master Archive Mobilesuit RX-78GP01 Zephyranthes

Self control

I told myself data collections weren't even on my list of stuff I was looking for...But they were so cheap... :(

I'm going to need to sell a few books when I get back, some I just never look at for lack of interesting information that isn't duplicated somewhere else.  (Looking at you, Rapport Deluxe.)

The Dengeki Data collections were eventually translated as the 'technical manuals' for the US market.

The Data collections are usually pretty good at having good info, with the exception of the Macross one...That one is just a compact version of Perfect Memory.  

It'll be up for sale soon somewhere...

New stuff

Finally completed the UC Entertainment Bible collection plus another Master File.

The V gundam EBs aren't exactly hard to find, I had just not really been interested in them...But I watched V recently, so I figured why not!

Also...Wonder what this could be, hmm...Gundam wiki oddly doesn't have anything, not even something inferred from the photo, so I suppose I could translate some stuff from this book...

What about the little people? Zeon standard-issue SMG.

This was a leftover scan I had lying around...

But it's interesting to know that someone still cares about the stuff the poor little infantry guys are using to make up some sort of history behind them.

Zeon Submachine Gun

This submachine gun utilizes the 9mm parabellum round, a round which is often called a ‘relic of the past’.  It uses a 36-round double stack magazine to form a very compact weapon.

 (TL Notes: From the image we can see that it has a collapsible shoulder stock, and appears to only have safety and full-automatic fire selector settings.) 

 

Source: Another Century's Chronicle, Vol. 1 （上）

MS-06R-1A Technical Manual

MS-06R-1A High Mobility Zaku II

Technical Manual

The newest model of the MS-06 Zaku line, the MS-06R-1A type, represents a fundamental change from the existing F and C type models.  The R-1A type uses a propulsion engine and verniers that are considerably more powerful that than of the standard F type.  However, as the fuel consumption has also increased, pilots must be careful not to run out of fuel during engagements.  The efficiency of the arms and legs has also been improved, so an increase in the performance of this type in melee combat can also be expected.  Two types of control interfaces are also available on the R-1A type, semi-auto control and manual control, which allows the pilot to select the most ideal control type for the operation or engagement at hand.
Because the capabilities of this Mobile Suit have risen to a level impossible for the standard F-type, by studying this manual thoroughly, pilots will be able to perform at their peak level.

I do still pay attention to this, really...

Someone on Reddit discovered my little not-so-secret project I see, so this might give me a little boost in motivation.

Unfortunately, I am traveling on business for the next month or so, so don't have access to most of my books. 

However, as I am currently with family in Japan, there is a chance that you may see some new material from some more recent books, if I can find some time to get to the bookstore. 


That being said, I will post up the pictureless version of the MS-06R1A Technical Manual, and try to add pictures when I can get back to the books again next month.

Comments on some things you would like to see are encouraged!