The battle of Kilimanjaro

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bilbros
Posts: 169
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 3:25 pm
Location: Italy

The battle of Kilimanjaro

As every GUndam fan knows, episodes 35 and 36 of Zeta Gundam focus on the battle of Kilimanjaro, where Karaba forces (with the help of Kamille's Z Gundam and Quattro's Hyakushiki) attack an important enemy stronghold on the top of the eponymous African mount.

Besides various mobile suits (mostly RMS-106 Hizack, but also RMS-108 Marasai, MS-06K Zaku Cannon and the second MRX-009 Psycho Gundam), the Titans base is defended by a set of large anti-air beam turrets, as can be seen in the images linked below:

episode 36, 10:16
http://img158.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _597lo.jpg

episode 36, 12:14
http://img244.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... 2_52lo.jpg

episode 36, 12:24
http://img264.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _448lo.jpg

episode 36, 17:34
http://img175.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _132lo.jpg

episode 36, 18:28
http://img265.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _474lo.jpg

However, in a pair of scenes two other beam cannon-bearing "objects" are present:

"A model") episode 35, 12:49
http://img274.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... 2_83lo.jpg

"B model") episode 35, 13:02
http://img139.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _130lo.jpg

At a quick glance, they might be mistaken for the above-mentioned anti-air turrets, but a closer inspection allows to highlight a number of differences.
The queston is: are they intended to be large tank-type vehicles (possibly hovering ones) or are they simply different kinds of beam cannon eplacements?

In my opinion both "A" and "B" models have an overall shape strongly reminescent of a vehicle, but there are also some evidences opposing such an idea, so I'll try to disccuss it in more detail.

"A model"
It has something that can recall a sort of Big Tray, armed with a double beam gun turret (on top) plus three large cannons (placed in the front part).
The presence of a vertical "block" on the right flank can be perhaps considered a sign that this one it's not a moving unit; nevertheless, its "body" shares some features with the second "mecha", which is a more convincing candidate for the vehicle hypothesis.

"B model"
It's armed with a single barrel beam cannon and is more clearly tank-shaped; as can be argued by the comparison of the nearby Hizacks, it would be more than 20 meters long.
The part in the foreground shows what appears to be a "TAITAN" marking, which is perhaps an Engrish spelling for "Titans"...

Please note than no tracks or wheels are visible, but if we assume that they're hovering vehicles this wouldn't be a true problem (by the way, it would also account for the absence of marked trails on the snow).
Furthermore, at least one of the "B" models seems placed right in front of an hangar door, which would be a quite unreasonable position for a fixed emplacement.

As usual, suggestions and comments are welcome!

EDIT: I've just corrected a pair of inverted links
Last edited by bilbros on Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
toysdream
Posts: 3164
Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2006 12:24 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA
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Re: The battle of Kilimanjaro

Ah, I see why I was confused - I think a couple of these images and descriptions got switched around. The "A model" you're talking about is the one shown in this picture:

http://img274.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... 2_83lo.jpg

And this is the "B model":

http://img139.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _130lo.jpg

Both of these really do look like tanks, don't they?

-- Mark
bilbros
Posts: 169
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 3:25 pm
Location: Italy

Re: The battle of Kilimanjaro

Oops...I apologize for the inconvenience of switched links (now the initial post has been corrected).

At any rate, yes, those are axactly what I'm talking about.
Their overall aspect is very tank-like and, as said, I prefer to hypothesize that they are some sort of large-sized tanks.
Nevertheless, as far as I can ascertain, they are not mentioned (or depicted) in the various reference material I know - which obviously deosn't necessarily mean something - hence my question...
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