Gunpla #57 - P-Bandai HGUC RX-78-6 Gundam G06 [Mudrock] Review

Finally, the Gundam G06 a.k.a. Mudrock receives its HGUC treatment. Tell the truth, I was a little bit underestimating this kit because of  'unconvincing' pictures shown by the promo images when Bandai announced it few months ago. After completing the build however, I should revised my skeptical thoughts, because ... this kit is truly amazing!

First things first, the Mudrock came with 100% new parts. Yep, 11 runners, 2 sheets of stickers and 100% new molds, no reused runners from previously released kits. This alone makes the Mudrock on the same league with other 'original' pbandai kits such as Pale Rider, Gundam TR-6 Woundwort and Gundam Pixie. 

The Mudrock itself looks so quite different from most of its kind in UC timeline. In contrary with other RX-78 Gundam series, it doesn't have slits on the face plate. Also, with those giant cannons on the backpack, it looks more like a hybrid between gundam and guncannon. Moreover, the Mudrock bears a striking resemblance to Duel Gundam from MS Gundam Seed, especially with the green eyes. That's also the main reason I choose red eyes for the build, to distinguish it from the Duel Gundam. 

Did I said there are red eyes and green eyes? Yes, you get two colors of eye stickers. The sticker sheet itself is very minimal as it only contained the two eyes, two sensors and 'V' insignia of the gundam. Again, unlike any other HGs, this kit doesn't use stickers for color separation at all! However, of course, there were still parts which needed to be painted in order to match the color correctly, such as the thrusters on the backpack, crotch and legs. 

Anyway, the main feature of this kit is the ability to switch between the complete and incomplete version of Mudrock. For that purpose, you get two versions of shoulders and calves, and you can switch them easily. That's a really big bonus given by Bandai this time. No matter which version you choose, both are aesthetically awesome.

Another interesting feature is articulation of the forearms, which could twist in 360 degree. This was made possible by the use of special polycaps connected to the double jointed elbow, and it makes the arms having much wider range of moves compared to ordinary HG kits. This was the second time I saw this kind of feature after HGUC Gundam TR-6 Haze'n-thley II which was released last month. The articulation of legs are pretty much similar with HGUC Gundam Revived because they used similar joints system. The shoulders and torso, on the other hand, only use ordinary ball joints with few degrees of articulation. This, however, didn't prevent me to make various cool poses at all, because in general, the kit was solid and the articulation was really good. 

This kit came with a pair of clench hand for holding the beam sabers and one trigger right hand for the beam rifle. And as usual, you also got a pair of beam effect parts for the sabers. Finally, there's a sheet of marking sticker to add some details to the kit.

The verdict, as I mentioned before, this kit was amazing! 100% new parts, the ability to easily switch between the complete and incomplete version, the minimal use of foil stickers and  special articulation of the forearms in one HG kit, with a fair 2200 Yen price tag. The only downside I found were the lacks of hands and the use of ball joints for torso and shoulders. Should you buy it? Yes, I really recommend it! 

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RX-78-6 Gundam G06 [Mudrock]

Pros:

• Uses 100% new parts
• Could easily switch between Complete version and Incomplete one.
• Minimal use of foil sticker
• The forearms have special articulation which enables them to twist 360 degree.
• 2200 Yen price tag, for every thing mentioned above.

Cons:

• Still use ball joints on the torso and shoulders
• Lacks hands, especially the opened one.

Research Note #25 - Reading a Text File Line-by-Line with Fortran

Again, this is actually a very simple task which I usually deal with ... and forget, most of the time! That's why this post exists. The following is a basic Fortran code to enable you reading the contents of a text file, line-by-line. 

As an example, let's make a text file (named 'list.txt') containing a list of files with their complete paths on Linux:

$ ls ../gcom-c/aerosol/0524/pl/* > list.txt

$ cat list.txt

../gcom-c/aerosol/0524/pl/GC1SG1_20190901D01D_T0524_L2SG_ARPLK_1001.h5

../gcom-c/aerosol/0524/pl/GC1SG1_20190902D01D_T0524_L2SG_ARPLK_1001.h5

../gcom-c/aerosol/0524/pl/GC1SG1_20190903D01D_T0524_L2SG_ARPLK_1001.h5

../gcom-c/aerosol/0524/pl/GC1SG1_20190904D01D_T0524_L2SG_ARPLK_1001.h5

Now, this is the Fortran code to read file 'list.txt':

PROGRAM READTEXT

IMPLICIT NONE

CHARACTER(LEN=8) :: listfile

CHARACTER(LEN=70) :: filecontents

INTEGER :: io

listfile="list.txt"

OPEN(10, FILE=listfile, FORM="FORMATTED", STATUS="OLD",&

        ACTION="READ")

DO

   READ(10,"(A70)",IOSTAT=io) filecontents

   IF (io/=0) EXIT

   PRINT *, filecontents

END DO

CLOSE(10)

END PROGRAM READTEXT

How it works?

The program will open file 'list.txt', then read the first line of the file and put the (string) contents into variable 'filecontents'. It will then print the contents of variable onto the screen. Since there's a DO.. END DO statement, this process will repeat, with the next line being read, replacing the contents of variable 'filecontents'. This looping process will end once there are no more lines found in the file, invoking IOSTAT to a value other than 0 (0 means no I/O error occurred, other values mean there are I/O errors), then program will exit. That's all!

Some important notices:

• The absence of 'DO ... END DO' will make the program only reads the first line of the file.
• The absence of 'IF (io/=0) EXIT' will make the program runs endlessly, with the last line of the file kept being showed on the screen.
• If the output format is not determined (for example, FMT=* instead of A70), the program will not correctly show the file's contents. The (character) length of this format should be same or more than the one at variable declaration. Why 70? Because in this case, the full path of file list (in one line) has 70 characters. 

Research Note #24 - Showing GCOM-C/SLGI Dataset Header/Metadata

One of the most important things to do while working with binary satellite data is checking the header/metadata of the dataset. By doing so, you could know the dimensions, parameters, variables and attributes of the data which will be needed for analysis (with program, script, etc.). These are three methods to show the GCOM-C/SLGI dataset header and attributes. I made this post because I always forget the quickest way to do it and ended up wasting too much time just for knowing some attributes of the data.

1. Using HDF View

This is definitely the quickest way and the most convenient way to check the headers and attributes of HDF data file. It works perfectly with MODIS as well as GCOM-C/SLGI. Just open the HDF file, and browse into the dataset directories. Simple!

2. Using h5dump

Works in similar fashion with ncdump. Just type the command and you're good to go. Not so convenient for non-Linux user.

Example:

h5dump -H <filename> --> Show header contents of a datafile

h5dump -a /Image_data/LST/Slope <filename> --> Show the contents of attribute 'Slope' (scaling factor) of dataset 'LST' of a datafile

3. Using SGLI Tool

This is by far the most not-convenient way to see the headers. Not only it's slow and taking so much of system resources, it also shows the header only (no attributes). To see the header, open a HDF file and go to Menu->View->Meta Data. 

Gunpla #56 - P-Bandai HGUC Mobile Suit Second V Review

Youtube review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj_dJB0TOjg

Tell the truth, I am not a big fan of Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (MSVG). It's not because the series was bad or one of the most brutal shows in the franchise, but rather because of its mobile suit designs. I personally feel most of them were too bland (e.g. Victory Gundam, Gun-EZ etc.) or too busy, like a toy (V2 Gundam and its upgrades). However, the Second V is an exception. I don't know anything about this guy until Bandai announced to release it as P-bandai kit several months ago. One reason is because Second V didn't appear in the anime, but rather in the novelization of MSVG, where it becomes the successor of V Gundam instead of V2. Anyway, one thing for sure, this mobile suit is cool!

Compared to V or V2, the Second V looks more balanced, not so bland but not too colorful. It just looks more sophisticated in general, something that I feel MSVG lacks the most. Also, this mobile suit doesn't have model number as others, which is pretty interesting.

The kit came with 10 runners, where 6 of them were new molds. The backpack was completely built from new parts, while others: head, torso, and limbs shared some parts from HGUC V and V2 Gundam. Similar with most HG kits, some color separated parts were recreated with the help of foil stickers, such as inner parts of head (red, green and black), red circles on the elbows-side skirts-side calves (red), beam rifle lenses (blue) and mega beam cannon muzzle (black). Anyway, with the help of paint or Gundam Marker, the use of stickers on this kit would be very minimal, except for the red circles. Surprisingly, the blue body parts were actual parts, not stickers, which was a really big plus.

The articulation was pretty good. Head could move freely, 360 deg in rotation. Shoulder couldn't move to far ahead or above because of ball joints, and the arms used double-joint elbows. The legs could move around 80-90 deg to the front, but quite restricted for the backward or sideways, because of back and side skirts. Due to bulky calves, the legs could only bend around 100 deg. The body could swivel to the right and left, but not much to the forward-backward because of the ball joint. Overall, it's pretty normal and solid for a HG kit, and I didn't have much difficulty to pose it.

The backpack was arguably the most interesting part of this kit. It was pretty heavy, but not as heavy as kits from Seed series. It hosts two weapon platforms, the mega beam cannon and Minovsky Shield. There were two big thrusters (Minovsky Drive Unit), which could be opened or closed. The mega beam cannon has little articulation while mounting on the back, anyway, it could be detached and become a handheld weapon like beam rifle. However, it's pretty difficult to put the cannon on hands because of their tiny size and weak build. The Minovsky shield was most interesting because it has two modes: stored and deployed. It's basically constructed from 3 pieces of bits which could be 'folded' in the stored mode, and 'expand' in the deploy mode. To change between modes, we need to do a little parts-forming to the shield, as the main 'frames' are different for each mode. The deploy mode shield could be attached on the elbow, similar with beam shield of V or V2.

Speaking about accessories, this kit came with one beam rifle, two beam saber hilts (and their beam effects), one beam fan effect and one beam shield, similar with HGUC V, V-dash, V2 etc. Second V didn't come with Core Fighter, but I don't mind since V2 also doesn't come with one. Another interesting thing was the manual which had introduction about the mobile suit. It's pretty unusual for a P-Bandai HG kit for having such manual, but that was a really nice bonus.

The verdict, this is a nice P-Bandai kit, regardless you're a fan of MSVG or not. It has pretty good details, good color separation, few stickers, pretty decent articulation and nice gimmicks. Anyway, it doesn't come with core fighter, it uses red stickers which were quite a pain and quite expensive. For comparison, the original price of Second V is 2200 Yen (tax and other fees excluded), while V2 Assault Buster is 'just' 2000 Yen. However, I think with the quality and gimmicks come with this kit, it's definitely worth the money.

Should you buy it? That's your choice.

----------------------

Mobile Suit Second V

Pros:

• 60% parts use new molds.
• Good aesthetics, great color separation, blue parts are not using stickers at all.
• Nice gimmicks for the backpacks and weapon platform.

Cons:

• No core fighter
• Using red stickers for circle parts (elbow, side skirt and side calves)
• Pretty expensive.

Research Note #23 - GEE Script to Overlay Sentinel 2A with MODIS Terra/Aqua Hotspots

The main purpose of this script is to overlay MODIS Terra/Aqua hotspots product MOD14A1/MYD14A1 (daily thermal anomalies, lev3, 1km grid) over Sentinel-2A Thermal Reflectance (lev2, 10-20m spatial resolution). The channels used for Sentinel data is 11, 8 and 4 (SWIR1, NIR, RED) hence creating false color image over area of Sri Mukhtar Sahib city in Punjab region, India (14x zoom) on Google Map. Observation time was set between November 1 - 15, 2018.

/**
 * Function to mask clouds using the Sentinel-2 QA band
 * @param {ee.Image} image Sentinel-2 image
 * @return {ee.Image} cloud masked Sentinel-2 image
 */
function maskS2clouds(image) {
  var qa = image.select('QA60');

  // Bits 10 and 11 are clouds and cirrus, respectively.
  var cloudBitMask = 1 << 10;
  var cirrusBitMask = 1 << 11;

  // Both flags should be set to zero, indicating clear conditions.
  var mask = qa.bitwiseAnd(cloudBitMask).eq(0)
      .and(qa.bitwiseAnd(cirrusBitMask).eq(0));

  return image.updateMask(mask).divide(10000);
}

// Map the function over one year of data and take the median.
// Load Sentinel-2 TOA reflectance data.
var dataset = ee.ImageCollection('COPERNICUS/S2')
                  .filterDate('2018-11-01', '2018-11-15')
                  // Pre-filter to get less cloudy granules.
                  .filter(ee.Filter.lt('CLOUDY_PIXEL_PERCENTAGE', 20))
                  .map(maskS2clouds);

var rgbVis = {
  min: 0.0,
  max: 0.3,
  bands: ['B11', 'B8', 'B4'],
};


Map.addLayer(dataset.median(), rgbVis, 'RGB');

Map.setCenter(74.516872, 30.475603, 14);

var aqua = ee.ImageCollection('MODIS/006/MYD14A1')
                  .filter(ee.Filter.date('2018-11-01', '2018-11-15'));
var fireMaskVis = {
  min: 9.936350984054926,
  max: 107.38312795164352,
  bands: ['MaxFRP', 'FireMask', 'FireMask'],
};

Map.addLayer(aqua, fireMaskVis, 'Fire Mask');

var terra = ee.ImageCollection('MODIS/006/MOD14A1')
                  .filter(ee.Filter.date('2018-11-01', '2018-11-15'));
var fireMaskVis = {
  min: 9.936350984054926,
  max: 107.38312795164352,
  bands: ['MaxFRP', 'FireMask', 'FireMask'],
};

Map.addLayer(terra, fireMaskVis, 'Fire Mask');

Gunpla #55 - P-Bandai RG Perfect Strike Gundam Review

Youtube review: https://youtu.be/1SsJXJuGAcw

Strike Gundam is one of my most favorite machine of Cosmic Era. It was versatile and could adapt into any combat situations, thanks to its ability for utilizing the striker packs, from the highly maneuverable aile striker, the powerful close-encounter sword striker and the deadly long-range launcher striker. While the original Gundam Seed showed that Strike mostly utilized one striker pack at a time, the remastered version revealed the mobile suit in the form that the audiences had in their wild imagination: Perfect Strike, when all striker packs are combined into one machine.

The Perfect Strike has been released several times in gunpla form, most notably, by 1/144 HG Seed Remastered and 1/100 MG (as P-bandai) in 2013. Of course, long before that, many gunpla fans have tried to recreate this iconic mobile suit, especially in RG line. While it is possible to make RG Aile Strike Gundam to be equipped with Sword/Launcher Striker packs, a modeler has to modify the Aile Striker with some parts from HG Perfect Strike Gundam or even stratch-built parts to perfectly recreate the Perfect Strike Gundam. It took at least 7 years until Bandai officially released The Perfect Strike Gundam in RG line.

I know what you're thinking right now: Is this just an RG Aile Strike Gundam with Launcher/Sword Striker packs slapped together? Well ... 90% correct! This is indeed the very same RG Aile Strike Gundam plus Launcher/Sword Striker packs, minus the Skygrasper. Nevertheless, the RG Perfect Strike came with several new parts which were previously absent from RG Aile Strike or RG Skygrasper.

A single new runner of RG Perfect Strike with battery packs, new aile striker and stand connector

Firstly, it came with battery packs and parts of modified Aile Striker packs for hosting the Swords and Launcher Striker packs. So, no need to cannibalize the HG Perfect Strike anymore! The new Aile Striker also has slightly different design from the old one. The bonus is, there are parts to make the original Aile Striker, if you want to make it instead the perfect one, of course. The battery packs could be removed individually if you wish.

Secondly, and this is an important addition: a special support part for the waist-body connector. Aile Striker is heavy already, and you can imagine what will happen if another two heavy weapons are attached to it. The purpose of this support part is to fill the gap between waist-body connection, hence preventing the body from bending backward when Perfect Strike pack equipped to the Strike Gundam.

Special support part for body-waist section

The last new additions are a 'standard' clear stand (with new connector) and a big sticker sheet. The stand is necessary since the backpack is so enormous and it's impossible for this kit to stand on its own feet (if you could do it, please teach me how). The stickers are identical with RG Aile Strike + Sword/Launcher Strike with some new stickers for battery packs, which made me a little bit disappointed, because I would like to see some new 'Perfect Strike' markings as MG version.

Having nearly identical parts with RG Aile Strike makes this RG Perfect Strike posses all the weakness of the former: flimsy parts and weak joints, typical of early RG kits. While I had no problems with the limbs and articulated hands, the joints of front/back/side skirts really got on my nerves! They kept falling off every time I tried to pose this kit. Another annoying thing is, the figurine of Kira Yamato which came with it. Bandai seemed so lazy to give us a new figurine of Mu La Flaga who was the 'real' pilot of Perfect Strike. This kit also comes with fixed hands (of Sword/Launcher Strike), Strike Shield, and the beam effects.

Anyway, another bonus which is a big plus (in my opinion) is the ability to make Launcher Strike Gundam or Sword Strike Gundam individually, even though the manual has never mentioned about this. Yes, this kit also came with the backpacks for both Strike modes. It's a shame that the new Aile Striker doesn't have gimmicks to switch between normal and perfect Aile Striker as MG version did. Otherwise, this kit will be truly 'perfect'.

Posing with this kit was basically same with posing RG Aile Strike. While the stand could basically do its job, I eventually used action base 4 and 5, with 8mm U-shaped connector for posing purposes because the standard RG action base connector was really easy to wear off. Nevertheless, once it's get into the proper poses, this kit was really cool to watch!

Verdict? Despite few additions, the RG Perfect Strike Gundam is a cool kit, especially for collectors. The support part did its job pretty well, even though the kit couldn't stand on its own.If you don't have RG Aile Strike Gundam and don't want Skygrasper just to make Perfect Strike Gundam, then this kit is truly for you. Otherwise, I think you shouldn't spend money for it (except if you don't bother for having nearly identical kits, of course).
   
-----------------------

GAT-X105+AQM/E-YM1 Perfect Strike Gundam

Pros:

• All Strike Gundam weapon packages in one kit
• A special support part to prevent body from bending backward
• Ability to switch into Launcher/Sword Strike Gundam individually

Cons:

• Suffers from early RG 'syndrome': fragile parts and weak joints
• Old figurine of Kira Yamato instead of Mu La Flaga
• No 'Perfect Strike' markings on the sticker decals as MG version