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.
