Robot Claw – Page 426 – “Life In The So-Called Space Age”

Musha Gundam Mk-II

November 25, 2014

You may recall that a couple of years ago I made a Gundam I had bought in Japan back in 2010. I loved making that kit, and last year during our Japan trip I purchased his cousin. Several weeks ago I decided it was time to put him together:

This is a ‘Master Grade’ gundam kit which means two things:
1) It’s pricey! (I paid about $45 in Japan but it costs $75 or more to buy on import)
2) It’s much more complicated than most models.

Here’s the contents of the box upon opening:

Lots of pieces! As usual Bandai impresses with the engineering. Not only does this piece have pieces painted with reflective gold paint, but this is also the first Gundam I’ve seen with transparent plastic on the same runner as opaque plastic:

The build was meticulous but not particular difficult. I had more trouble with Liger Zero than this guy. The instructions, which were all in Japanese, were easy to follow and the pieces clearly marked, and the superior engineering of the molding meant that removal was trivial and very little filing was needed. Here’s the workspace:

And a couple of in-progress shots:

The articulation is mind-boggling. Each arm and leg has many points, and the hips actually have two settings for action poses. Everything snaps together perfectly as well, and the final kit is incredible poseable and solid. Here’s a shot of the leg before and after the armor is added. You can get an idea of the articulation in the first shot:

I didn’t keep very good track of time, but I’d estimate this kit took me about a dozen hours in total. I didn’t apply the decals or paint it (since I’m not a maniac), but I think it looks pretty good finished:

Here he is on the shelf with his spiritual cousin:

As I like to do – and to demonstrate my inadequacy – I’ll end this with a shot of a heavily customized build of this very same kit. Not only did the person who made this ‘Ieyasu Tokugawa version’ modify some of the parts, he also extensively painted the kit and even applied ‘itasha-style’ floral pattern to the upper thighs. It all looks quite incredible:

My ‘to build’ model stack is now at an all-time low of only two kits: Sengoku Astray Gundam (MG) and the ‘Dark Horn Harry Special’ HG Zoid I purchased a few weeks ago. I wonder which one I will make next…?

Ferrofluid

November 18, 2014

One way to imagine magnetic fields is by drawing lines showing the direction a compass would point if placed into the field. Here’s an example:

The black lines depict the magnetic field directions. This can be hard for students to understand at first, so another technique is to show the field lines by placing iron filings near a magnet and watching them align themselves in the direction of the field, like this:

The black bar is the magnetic. These sorts of demonstrations can be artistic:

And given enough filings can even show the field in 3D:

But the best illustrator of the field, in my opinion, is to show the effect of the field on a liquid. ‘Ferrofluid’ is the name of a magnetic liquid invented in 1963 that suspends micron-sized iron nanoparticles in a viscous fluid. This allows them to flow as if they are a liquid, and leads to striking displays of magnetic fields like this:

The magnet in the above picture is underneath the bowl containing the ferrofluid.

I’ve been using images like all of the above in class for years when I introduce the magnetic field and when I found out last week how easy it was to actually purchase ferrofluid (which is toxic and can apparently stain anything) I just jumped at the chance. Here’s what my new bottle of ferrofluid looks like:

Just some black oil in a bottle isn’t it? The bottle is filled, most likely with pure water. The fluid is likely oil filled with the iron nanoparticles, and is extremely viscous and doesn’t mix with the water. It’s quite unremarkable by itself, but becomes something quite special when exposed to a magnetic field.

Here’s a short video I just made (it’s in HD, so fullscreen it if you like):

Wonderful isn’t it? This will stay in my office with all my other demonstration units, and I’m sure it will give students and my coworkers many smiles!

The Last Con Of The Year

November 9, 2014

I went to the local comic con today. I’ve been going for years and it gets bigger and better every time.

As you can see turnout was high. A bit too high perhaps, since it’s clear they’ve outgrown their venue. I got there at opening, and within half an hour it was difficult to walk around.

Here’s some highlights of what I saw for sale:

This is a 30+ year old electronic board game that we actually own (in the box, no less). This one – at $100 – no longer works. He said since ours does it was worth 2 or 3 times that amount!

One guy had a booth full of this stuff. Apparently it was yet another 80’s (failed) toy line that spawned an animation, much like Transformers or Masters of The Universe. I’d never heard of it, and was amazed by how much he had at a local con 🙂

Even with the cigarette burn on the plastic bubble, this was easily the best condition D&D figure I’ve ever seen. Not close to worth $80 though! I’d have paid a tenner maybe…

I had a set like this once, but I can’t remember the film. Planet Of The Apes maybe? Anyway what a crap toy! Kids these days are spoiled…

I ended up spending quite a few dollars on a variety of things:
– several old packs of trading cards
– many comics (at $0.50 or less apiece)
– some Heavy Metal mags from 1980
– a Spelljammer rule book (which I may already own)
– a Playboy from ’86
– a TCG magazine from ’95
– two handmade stuffed animals (for KLS)
And a few Christmas gifts, mostly for my brother.

I also picked up the five new MTG: Commander decks which I didn’t even know about and apparently came out only two days ago:

All in all a fun con. I just hope they upgrade to a bigger venue next time!