You may have heard of the full-scale RX-78 Gundam, situated outside the Gundam Factory in Yokohama. The practically complete mecha wowed fans of giant robots and piloted mecha recently. It seems as if not even the pandemic can put the breaks on this special Japanese superstar. A recent test run has shown that it can move.
As revealed by a video from Catsuka around September 21st, the life-sized Gundam statue could move forward, “walking” through a system of frames. It could even move its arms, change hand gestures, bend its torso, and crouch without overbalancing. Granted, the footage shows that the cameras were sped up at four times normal speed, possibly due to the nature of the testing. Nonetheless, though it might not be as quick as in Gundam anime, it remains a pretty impressive feat to see so much movement from an 18-meter-tall monument. The Gundam weighs in at 25 metric tons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m10CNYzKRQs
Additional footage of the recent Gundam movement test, from Japanese account yokkun, shows just how fluid the mecha is while in motion. (Source: YouTube)
The full-scale Gundam, after around six years of development, was finished on July 29th, with Shinto priests blessing the mobile suit’s head according to SoraNews24. The formal opening of the Gundam Factory in Yokohama, originally scheduled for October 2020, is known to have been delayed until sometime later this year due to the global pandemic. Still, if you’re in Japan, the full-scale mecha itself is still worth a visit.
GundamInfo’s official progress report feature from August 5th not only shows footage of the Gundam’s construction, but also a glimpse at the engineering involved. (Source: YouTube)
