Completed Kits #13: MG Re-Nu Gundam

Re-Nu Gundam (Refined Nu Gundam)

Type:

The Refined Nu Gundam is specifically designed for use in Space and in atmosphere, with very limited operational capabilities in water. Re-Nu specializes in high speed battle at Short-to-Mid Range.

Internal Weaponry:

• Beam Sabre (stored in left arm)
• Machine Gun (mounted, right arm)
• 60mm Vulcan Guns X2 (mounted, head)

Main Weaponry:

• Variable Mega Rifle Mk II, high output precision long rifle includes an underslung HEAT sword
•  HEAT Knuckle Mk II, combination I-field and solid shield converts kinetic energy into heat
•  Shield Booster, combination booster, solid shield and beam shield principally for reducing drag

Optional Weaponry:

•  Beam Pistol
• HEAT Long Sword Type B

Incomplete Weaponry:

• Land Package, removes Super Scram engines and fuel tanks reducing mobility and range
• Variable Mega Cannon made from scrapped Variable Mega Rifle
• Solid Shield, conceals standard rifle and grenade launcher
• HEAT Battle Axe Type A
• HEAT Battle Axe Type B

Strengths:

• External Fuel Tanks, improved range and constant fuel supply
• Super SCRAM Engines, extremely high speed and mobility
• Variable Mega Rifle Mk II, variable output for better armour piercing
• Enhanced Sensor Array
• Gundanium Alloy, for added durability
•  MG System

Weaknesses:

• Very reduced operations in water
•  Potential thermal runaway if the i-field is overused, requiring the HEAT Knuckle Mk II to be purged
•  Loss of the shield booster reduces top speed to one tenth its full output
•  Limited solid ammo

Backstory:

Time to start talking about its backstory, it's development codename was "Not-Nu" a Nu Gundam not for new-type use, I stripped the funnels and all of the associated psycommu nonsense after all I'm not a new-type how am I supposed to use any of that through my gunpla?

It seems as though funnels need to be controlled individually by the fighter so those seem more of distraction than of any help, so no funnels.

The idea for a shield booster came in a fit of inspiration from the Hi-Nu Vrabe and then from all things AoZ (for the good stuff). It is based loosely on Hazel II's Tri-Booster configuration, which allows the boosters to be moved quite freely. In addition to the purge-able single fixed Shield Booster and the moveable fuel pods.

For some reason I got bored with standard vernier setups and decided to venture into something a little more unique in appearance and functionality, I based these loosely on SCRAM jets with an open combustion chamber and no obvious vernier bells. However given that the SCRAM doesn’t work outside of the atmosphere or at speeds below Mach 2, so I’ve incorporated some other technologies to help things get along.

Basically the VASIMR works on the same principle as the large hadron collider and beam rifles. It ionizes a gas (adds or removes an electron) and then it uses magnetic coils to accelerate the ionized gas into a high energy state (plasma). The problem is that current science can't do this outside of a vacuum but evidently they have figured that one out by the 79th year of the Universal Century (likely they seal it within a mechanical vacuum). That said I doubt they would be super-efficient within the atmosphere.

What my "Super SCRAM" does is route the oxygen through the VASIMR first so it is accelerated to the required speed where it meets the fuel in the open chamber. In essence the VASIMR acts as the Super Charger bolted to a typical car motor feeding the air in and altering the compression ratios. With the forced air feed at a high energy state the "Super SCRAM" can operate in space like a conventional booster.

Now the Refined Nu Gundam is not all that aerodynamic which slows things down a lot, the shield booster includes not only a Super SCRAM and fuel but also a beam field emitter forward facing to give the Re-Nu the best possible aerodynamics and resistance to debris. With the beam field active the Re-Nu can achieve a cruising speed of Mach 10 and a theoretical top speed of Mach 15.

The first rifle I had built was great and all but it was so large that it was completely unwieldy, so to correct this issue I built a much smaller lighter rifle, the Variable Mega Rifle Mk II. The barrel is actually of the same length but the whole thing is a lot shorter it does this by moving the barrel further behind the trigger and into the stock, a bull-pup configuration.

I spent a fair amount of time working around the shield mount to build something fairly unique a two part weapon system an I-field and an extreme close quarters HEAT weapon. In premise it prevents the I-field from overheating by using a rather extreme take on the heat pump to power the offensive Heat Knuckle. In striking another MS it can cause thermal runaway a situation where parts of the MS are likely to melt completely, cause reactor malfunction or battery combustion. Functionally it is quite a powerful tool but it has limitations, its output also makes it quite volatile, if it overheats the whole thing will need to be purged.

You can check out more of the MG Re-Nu Gundam in my Google + Album.