iGun Pro

Hey Everyone

Anyone out there who uses geeky apps on their smartphones?

It's been about a year since our close friend Qamarul passed away, and one of my most poignant memories of him was his fascination with the iPhone gun app called iGun Pro. He was fixated on the renowned PPSh-41 submachinegun, because its 71-round drum magazine has the biggest magazine capacity of the collection of guns available.

The PPSh-41 SMG of WWII fame.

iGun Pro a free app that is all about guns. It's kinda like those Japanese ready painted/assembled military toys that come in boxes, that give you a model and at the same time offer some educational stuff about the model you got. You collect guns by accumulating coins, 10 coins are given for each day you play the app. To this day, I still 'play' it (it's not strictly a game app) almost everyday, and what attracts me most to this app is simply collecting the guns, firing the guns, hearing their unique sounds, and reading wiki pages about each gun I got.

Money money money.

There are some fascinating things you can learn about guns from Wikipedia...such as the M2 machinegun actually held the record for longest ranged kill for a long time, as soldiers have attached scopes to the MG to use it as a 'sniper'. Also learned that the WWI anti-tank rifles (like the Boys) formed the basis of anti-materiel rifles of today, such as the American Barrett and the French PGM Hecate. Big caliber = big mess.

Guns of all types are available to collect!

Guns do kill people...or do people kill people? I admit that I have some fascination with guns, such as their looks, historical importance, the security they give, and the technical expertise that goes into designing them. Maybe it's just being a military geek, but I won't deny that a world with peace and no need of guns would be a worthy ideal to aim for.

Top Tens: Close Quarter Combat

Recently, I watched the Military Channel's Top Tens episode on Close Quarter Combat guns, and I found the list rather interesting. It has a lot of new guns listed, and it appears that the future of gun warfare would be in bullets totally designed by computers. Could the halcyon days of the venerable 5.56x45mm NATO be over?

Without further ado, here are the guns listed in descending order of rank:

10) IMI Uzi

A simple Israeli SMG produced in the 1950s, it was named after its creator, Major Uziel Gal, and it has spawned successful "spin-offs" (micro and mini) and continues to see action to this day.

9) FERFRANS SOAR (Special Operations Assault Rifle)

A Philippine designed rifle that limits recoil climb with a patented rate reduction system, which does away with the need of a 3-round burst system.

8) H&K G36C

The G36C brings a rifle round to a pistol fight. The G36C uses a 3-round burst to limit heat build up in its barrel.

7) LWRC M6 PSD

Sharing 80% of the parts with the M4 Carbine, it has special design features such as a self-regulating gas piston system, and advanced bolt carrier/carrier key design. Known to be a reliable and easy to maintain, and still pack quite some punch.

6) Knight's PDW

Guns are usually designed around a bullet, but this gun uses a bullet specially designed for the gun. It uses a 6x35mm proprietary round, to give it a lethal punch and yet has 50% less recoil than the M4 carbine.

5) FN P90

A gun that looks like it came from the future, the bullpup P90 is chock full of design features. Its casings drop downwards to allow it to be used in both left and right hand styles, which provides much needed flexibility in close quarters fights.

4) Cornershot

The brainchild of Lt. Col. Amos Golan of Israel, the Cornershot allows its user to fire around corners without exposing him/herself to deadly fire. I have heard that some troops use a cat soft toy cover for its barrel, and it's humorous to see bullets flying out a cat! Side note: the Germans in WWII had experimented with this idea using a curved barrel for the StG 44 Krummlauf.

3) Magpul FMG9

The FMG9 represents a revolution in SMG design, as its folding design allows it to be easily concealed (like a spare radio battery) and quickly deployed under fire. It was specially designed for protection details, who need to remain discreet and provide firepower when needed.

2) MP7

The MP7 is uses the propriety H&K 4.6x30mm cartridge, which provides stopping power that penetrates body armor. Easy to control and capable of pistol and shoulder firing positions, the MP7 looks to a true successor of the fabled MP5.

1) Kriss Super V

A weapon of unconventional design, the Kriss Super V uses an asymmetrical recoil system that diverts the recoil off-axis, behind the magazine. This dramatically reduces recoil climb, and it uses the .45ACP cartridge, giving it a lot of stopping power. Also, this deadly gun is designed to be easily maintained and owes some "gun-DNA" to the solid AK series of Russia.

What do you think of this list? I do feel that the MP5 should receive some mention, since it's been the staple SMG for a long time...and even shined during famous gun battles, most notably in Operation Nimrod (1980 Iranian Embassy Siege by SAS).

Crazy Intense Model Making

Good day to all!

Today's post would be more of a self-reflection on my ability as a modellers and painter. This post would give you my take on an intense model-making experience that I had attempted a while back. It involved a 6 hour model-making and painting session and another similar 12 hour session. During the free time span I had earlier in the year, these two particular activities were the most energy-draining and mentally-challenging thing I had ever done in terms of my hobby activities.

Initially, I always wondered how much progress would be made if I actually did a whole day affair of model-making. Aside from the usual routine of one to two hours on a very good day (in which I would have been motivated to do my hobby), I never really had such an opportunity to dedicate a huge chunk of time to painting and fixing models. While the routine made progress for the completion of my models rather slow, it did compel me to question myself about how much could I do if I dedicated more hours into it and what was the potential that I could achieve with the time and effort.

Armed with my trusty Citadel Paints and Brushes, I am rearing to go!

 6 hour Stint

The first 6 hour stint of painting went pretty well. With a light snack and a cup of tea, I set about doing the paint task on hand. Bit by bit, I was progressing with speed and quality. By the half way mark, hands and back were stiff and aching.  As such, I decided to take a sizeable long break before I continued on. The next 3 hours, my engine was rolling full steam in terms of painting. With Music to soothe my mind, I was actually enjoying the process of seeing my models come to live. The only disappointing part of the session was that when the 6 hour timeline ran its course, I was kind of surprised that I still had a long way more to go. More surprisingly, while it was only 6 hours of labour, I was pretty bummed out that the entire day had been expended.

My Messed up workstation after the day's work.

12 hour stint

Procrastination took hold of me for a period of time before I could prepare myself to take on the 12 hour model-making and painting stint. Finally, with my mind made up, I gave it my all and began the epic journey of painting.

The first 6 hours ran like clockwork. During that period, I managed to paint my primary base coat and layer with an extra secondary coat on the Bloodletter models that I was working on. By this point, the day was almost over and grinding the next few hours of the night was a difficult task. I felt much agony without the long breaks as I was hard-press for time. Furthermore, I wasn't really giving the finest of touches to my model pieces.

One of the Bloodletter parts I was doing up during the painting stints.

It was at this point that I realized it was pretty impossible for me to sit down and paint non-stop for more than 3 hour at a time. Furthermore, anything beyond 3 hours of painting or fixing anything, and my productivity level would go out the window.

Airbrushing my F-22 Model. (This was a real hassle)

In summary, painting and assembling a model kit or miniature isn't the same as rushing to revise for a final year exam. In my context, these things take time to build and be painted. This is especially so if you want to give it the best quality paintjob and assembly that you can do.

I concluded that my old way of painting bit by bit for short periods of an hour or so per day is a more efficient and fun-filled way of doing my hobby than putting myself in a predicament where I work on something and lose all motivation to do it after grinding on it for long hours. In 20 hours of painting and assembling, I had completed 5 + Bloodletters. I did expect myself to do more, but I am not too disappointed at the progress.

Now, do not get me wrong guys, this post is not to subtlely tell you that I am runnig out of models andminiatures to feature. In fact, I have so much in store, aside from the stuff I am working on.

So do stay tune because there would be lots to show you! Till then, Cheerios!
 

Studio Ghibli

Hey Everyone

Hope your summer has gotten off to a sizzling start! Unfortunately, I was mired in the Virginia blackout and suffered a few days of no power. It really played home the fact that we really depend on electricity for the majority of our waking moments, and my mind kept repeating the "no power" line from C&C haha.

I am a fan (not die hard, yet) of Japanese anime, especially feature length movies of great artistic merit and evocative storylines. Some cult favorites have struck me deeply before, and some titles that immediately come to my mind are the perennial favorite Akira (I am still wondering how they added neon effects), the bleak world of Jin-Roh (Wolf Brigade), and the technological and moral maze of Ghost in the Shell.

World-famous title-screen of Studio Ghibli, featuring their titular character, Totoro.

Well, I might be slow to catch up on this, but I have come to love the works of Studio Ghibli. They are particularly renowned for their compelling movies that appeal to young and old alike (kinda like Pixar I guess). The studio was founded by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata as directors, and Toshio Suzuki as producer in 1985 following the success of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and continues to produce anime masterpieces to date.

Hayao Miyazaki, still keeping it classy.

Isao Takahata, renowned director who amazingly did not start off as an animator.

Toshio Suzuki, known to have encouraged Miyazaki into putting Nausicaä, which led to the founding of the famous studio.

Studio Ghibli was named after the Italian word for desert wind (or Sirocco)...Miyazaki thought of the name due to his love for propeller-driven airplanes (crystalized in the movie, Porco Rosso). He had picked Ghibli, which was the name of a WWII Italian transport plane and symbolized his desire to bring fresh, hot inspiration into anime. Trivia fact: the way Ghibli is pronounced in reference to the studio is actually a mispronunciation/Japanese transliteration, a mistake Miyazaki has heartily admitted to.

The Ca.309 Bergamachi (Ghibli), the namesake of Studio Ghibli.

So far, I've only watched a few of their works in full, namely Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Sprited Away, and The Secret World of Arriety. One thing that has consistently impressed me was that each film has ended with me gasping for more, and left me feeling like a child inside all over again. Moreover, it reminded me of why it is important to enjoy movies - to appreciate what it means to be human.

The release of the Giant Warrior, which symbolized the futility of retribution.

It is my guess that many themes and lessons can be pulled out from Studio Ghibli's classics. In particular, Nausicaä for me examined the prevalence of dualism in human thought and questioned the natural antagonism ("knee jerk response") in human reactions against "the other" (which was nature in the film). In addition, the film brilliantly explored the healing effect of coming into terms with one's surroundings, be it the environment or even other people.

Princess Nausicaä, the selfless heroine of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

For one, Studio Ghibli is probably best known for creating true heroines (Miyazaki is an unabashed feminist, even the restrooms in the studio are better for the women than the men). Ghibli's heroines are almost always believable characters who hold firmly onto their moral compasses in the face of uncertainty, overwhelming odds, or even disbelief from their peers...and arrive at noble choices that have called for vast sacrifices on their part.

This is in stark contrast to the hyper-sexualized/violent archetype so prevalent in today's entertainment industry...such as Suckerpunch and the recent Commander & Conquer titles. If I would have children one day (especially a daughter), I would watch Studio Ghibli's works with them and hopefully explore with them the complicated nature of humanity (and also enjoy amazing effects and animation!).

To date, I have yet to watch Studio Ghibli's other masterpieces, such as Porco Rosso, Grave of the Fireflies, and Kiki's Delivery Service...which I guess is a good problem to have :)

Are you familiar with Studio Ghibli? Do you have other movies you'd like to recommend? Feel free to share your thoughts.

PS: Another trivia fact - Studio Ghibli is famous for allowing no cuts to their movies. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was subjected to horrific edits in the US, which completely altered the story and changed it to an action movie about destroying nature. Apparently, Studio Ghibli got so pissed that they sent a katana sword by mail, with a note that said "no cuts".

The Transformer Cybertron Con 2011

Back again with Interesting stuff!! I must apologize for my longest absence from the blog.

Sometimes, Life does hit you with a brick wall of things that leave you comatose for a long period. I really do hope this does not happe to often but kudos to my fellow bro, Josh, for holding the fort for
me.

About a good 4 months ago, Singapore held the second ever Transformer convention in the Resort World sentosa. I had the opportunity to attend and see what it was all about and I must say that it was pretty cool.

This convention pretty much showcased collectibles of Transformers and gave a brief overview on the various Transformer cartoon and toyline. For those who are living in a shell, Transformer is  a japanese creation of robots that shapeshift or 'transform' to vehicles. These robots were made popular by Hasbro and it became a big hit cartoon in Japan and the US. Eventually, It grew to be a global toy icon that captured the hearts of kids and young adults.

Huge Optimus Prime Statue in the Convention

While I was not able to catch to catch the lead designer Yoke Hideaki in the panel session. Here are some of the awesome collectibles featured in the convention.

Megatron from Transformer Animated

Classic G1 Optimus Prime!

Rodimus Prime from the Transformer Animated Movie

Another version of Optimus Prime

You can see more on the Toyconstruct's facebook page as I have uploaded the Transformer Cybertron Con 2012 album there.

Won't be describing much about the Transformers today as I am preoccupied with work and  Diablo 3 but admittedly, I have been catching the whole Robot craze recently. Furthermore, Transformer gives me a good nostalgic feeling since I use to collect several classic transformer figures.

There will be much more regular posts from me very soon... Thanks for the support!

See you all soon!

E3 2012 Demos

Hey Everyone

Hope you all are doing well and have plans for the summer ahead of all of us! Planning to paint more miniatures? Looking forward to summer movie releases? Or gallivanting through Sanctuary in farming/leveling exploits? We'd love to hear from you!!!

The E3 Expo (June 5-7) has just ended and there have been mounds of news and videos about video games! I've tried my best to keep up with them, and I have to say that there are a few videos that have caught my eye. For some reason, trailers and demos leave me wishing the games were already made, and yet at the same time...the overwhelming hype coupled with a disappointing release has killed many a title.

Tech Demos:

Computer technology has consistently progressed, and I feel that we're already at the stage where 360/PS3 graphics are generally considered obsolete. Only a few years ago were the 360/PS3 considered close to top-of-the-line graphics. While PC gamers may already be enjoying the current generation of graphics (eg. DirectX 11), the next generation of gaming consoles is almost around the corner.

Square Enix and Unreal have shown demos of their engines in E3, both depicting fantasy-ish settings with not much to go for storylines. Granted, these are tech demos which are only meant to showcase engine capabilities (eg. dynamic lighting and particle physics), and not full-feature movies or trailers to capture one's attention. Obviously, graphics-wise the engines deliver, and I wonder what kind of graphics will we be enjoying in 2/3 years?

These videos are best viewed full screen with HD quality.





A Couple of Games:

Also, a couple of games (from the plethora on display) captured my attention, primarily for their interesting settings and backstories. I'd love to hear from you other games that you are following!

Naughty Dog, famed for their Uncharted series, is currently developing The Last of Us, a  post-apocalyptic game that is like none other. It features a very unconventional duo: 40 year old black market smuggler (Joel) who smuggles 14 year old Ellie out of the quarantine zone as a promise to a dying friend. The story is rather intriguing as they are fleeing from the US military while facing the horrors of the wasteland (hostile survivors, infected humans). You can read more about the back story here.


(the song in the trailer is Hank Williams's "Alone and Forsaken", a song with rather gloomy lyrics about a girl who spurned a man)



From what I've seen so far, Naughty Dog has seriously delivered on the game atmosphere and it seems that game mechanics might prove interesting too...having a girl help you in innovative ways. Knowing the quality of the games that Naughty Dog is renowned for, do keep an eye out for The Last of Us, it may prove to be a great hit.

The other game that caught my eye is Ubisoft's Watch Dogs, which is set in the near future where a lot of human life has become digitized. I am generally not a big fan of Ubisoft's releases, but Watch Dogs looks set to be awesome.

Something akin to the awesome Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Watch Dogs is a cyberpunk game that sees you play as  Aiden Pearce, an anti-hero hacker extraordinaire of grey morality who uses both wits and hacking to get the better of his enemies. Not to rain on the parade, the supposed 2003 Blackout presented in the trailer contains both truth and fiction (more on the fiction side).





The eerie thing about Watch Dogs is that what is happening in that game...is already happening today. London is already slated to test out a city operating system, while cyberwarfare may become the next super weapon of the near-future. I feel that technology itself is neutral and its progress cannot be stopped...and the best we have is how we respond to such advances and how we use it as individuals.

I might be stating the obvious, but privacy is (or has already) becoming a thing of the past, and who knows how our lives will be changed by future information technology?

To quote from Albert Einstein from Red Alert...perhaps time will tell, sooner or later, time will tell.

Horus Heresy

Greetings Everyone

Hope you all have been doing well and regularly indulging in geeky nerd-dom. Diablo 3 has been out for a week and I must say it has affected my real life unfortunately...the addiction has slowly passed as I've gotten my fill of Sanctuary stomping, I think.

One thing I love about sci-fi and fantasy is reading books. My favorite series is George RR Martin's The Song of Ice and Fire, and one thing bad about it is that the books are slow to come out. A Dance with Dragons was released 6 years after the previous book, and I am itching badly for the next title in the series: The Winds of Winter. Interestingly, you can read a preview chapter from GRRM's website, and the man himself also narrates another preview chapter on Victarion Greyjoy. As usual...don't read it if you haven't caught up with the series yet.

To sate my thirst for sci-fi and fantasy books, I've begun to read Warhammer 40k novels and they're pretty good reads. I'm particularly interested in the Horus Heresy series, as I always have a thing for good guys gone bad and it fascinates me how heroes fall from grace in very human terms (which also means I have a budding interest in Chaos Space Marines).

Right now I'm in the middle of Graham McNeill's False Gods, which covers the time period where Horus the Warmaster is slowly being influenced by the dark powers of Chaos. It's a very interesting read, as the solidarity of the Luna Wolves is tested upon meeting Chaos, and loyalty to the Warmaster is weighed against that to the Emperor of Mankind.

The one thing that makes W40k novels (at least the ones I have read) intriguing reads is that the protagonists are almost always anti-heroes, who are not pure/perfect heroes that possess unparalleled skill. They are very human characters who navigate through challenges from both friends and foes, and not to forget the inner demons they face within themselves. Morality in the 40k universe is a very grim grey, and be prepared to let go of your preconceived perceptions of popular 40k characters.

Cover of Dan Abnett's Legion, a novel of the Horus Heresy series.

If you're looking for a sci-fi novel series to indulge in, the Horus Heresy itself is a good bet. Personally, Dan Abnett is probably the best writer for W40k novels, and I've heard his Eisenhorn series is a worthwhile read too. His writing style is dynamic in terms of plot and character development, there's rarely a dull moment in his books. He also injects some unique angles into his novels, such as describing the process of framing pictures with a camera, and the use of ancient Greek medicine humors (or "elements") to describe emotions of the Luna Wolves space marines.

Do you have other recommendations for sci-fi and fantasy books? I'd love to hear what you have been reading, as I'm always game for a good read :)

Updates!!

Good Day to all!

Always great to see our regular readers and newcomers alike taking interest in our blog. Josh and I are always giving it our best to keep giving you all great blog posts and it gratifies us to see stirring discussions on our post.

I must apologize for my long absence as I had lots on my hand. On the hobby front, I have been busy doing lots of stuff and I will give you a brief rundown on the updates. As for now, Josh has been preoccupied with much work but will be coming back with more great post inclusive of figures, model stuff and thought-provoking geeky/nerdy issues.

Recently, The Avengers movie hit the big screen and it has been the culmination of a string of Marvel Heroes' Movies that have been featuring along the years.

It has been close to a week or more since its release and there are so much reviews and rave about it. My sentiments are pretty much the same as the rest of the cohort. Being a Marvel fan myself, I have always been quite meticulous on how Marvel brings the stories out of the comic books and into the movie screen. More often than not, they never fail to disappoint. The Avengers is no exception. When I initially saw the trailer, I thought it was just so insanely great and the hype was so mindblowing that there was a sceptical part of me that thought it could be a  big underwhelming experience in which the good parts would only be what I saw in the trailer.

To my delight, not only did it meet my expectation and blow my mind away, the trailer was but only the tip of the iceberg to a very highly intensive action pack movie filled with great action sequences and an exceptionally directed show that focused on the synergy between all characters. The best of all was that this show was a great depiction of what I viewed the Avengers to be like.

As such, it is no wonder that the Avengers is currently top spot in many countries' billboards and hitting over $700 million in revenue so far. It is the fastest film to reach over $200 million, beating the Dark Knight, and setting a new record for revenue in opening weekend beating Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows Part 2. I will not be surprise if overall revenue would beat the Dark Knight's $1 billion dollar mark. Latest report has shown that The Avengers Movie is the first movie ever to post back to back weekend of $100 million plus sales. So much ownage.
SPOILER ALERT: Unlike the grittiness of Dark Knight and the whole in-depth complex story which was THE money maker for DC, Marvel did do it right by following the theme and atmosphere that makes the Avengers..THE Avengers. There were many breath-taking awesome action scenes that were well compose and the real wham bamming moment of the show was the ending credits revealing the next villain who turns out to be Thanos! As a Marvel fan, it was shit awesome to know that one of the biggest badassery of a villain would be featured in the next film. And truth be told, the Avengers are truly screwed if Thanos were to face them. Been speculating all week with fellow buddies of mine on how could they even stand up to Thanos. Obviously, i am hoping that Avengers 2 would give the same impact as this show and won't come up with some lame ass method of defeating Thanos (This is totally based ont he assumption that Thanos is the main villain of course)

Lets look again at this badassery of a trailer.


Onto the next topic,

It is nearing the mid of May and I am pretty sure one game is on everyone's mind. By this Tuesday this week, many shall once again travel to Tristam to do some badass killing of monsters. After 10 years of waiting, Diablo 3 shall return...

Just a heads up information, Diablo 3 has broke several presale records and became the most pre-ordered PC game of all time on Amazon.com and Blizzard. What's more, with this new hardcore mode in which your character can only die once, I can't wait to see how "extreme" have they made Diablo 3. Hopefully, it isn't dialed down from the previous prequels. I did get a chance to play the beta and I must say I am impressed by the graphics. The gameplay is relatively the same, but I do hope that it would be a great game that doesn't disappoint or underwhelm me.

Truth be told, I cannot wait to play with my friends....And as such, I have pre-ordered my Collector's edition through Joshua. With this game coming, I was inspired to give a few touches of Warhammer painting to these figures...

They are none other than the Boodletters. From head to toes, these daemons of chaos has a slight resemblance to Diablo.

It will be awhile before I can feature these guys as a regiment but I hope this psykes you up to get ready for some demon-killing time.

Onto the topic of Painting and Wargaming, a few weeks back, I believe I have mentioned in my Samurai Post about a Tabletop game I have stumbled upon called Bushido. It just so happens that they have recently posted up a campaign to raise money for their new faction on the website Indigogo.

If you had liked what you saw in my previous post and would want to get some really cool perks from this newly-established tabletop game, do contribute to funding their game.

This is the link: http://www.indiegogo.com/bushido

For more information and review of the game "Bushido", check out their website at www.Bushido-thegame.com

I will promise more post soon and apologize for the multitudes of delays. I have been neglecting much on the posting and also the painting of my miniatures and model kits. Been to caught up in The Avengers and Gaming. By the time, I have doen all that, I do not ahve any spare energy for anything else.

However, I promise you that there will be lots in store soon so stay tune! Gotta run now!

Cheerios!