• Gundam Assembly: Gundam Astray Blue Frame 2nd Revise

    This mobile kit has been with me for more than a year already and just recently I found the time to construct it. Deviating from the usual HG (High Grade) models I have been creating, I decided to increase the difficulty by creating an MG (Master Grade). MG models take longer to build and feature more movable parts compared to their HG counter-parts. The model kit I am about to show you was taken from the graphic novel Mobile Suit Gundam SEED VS Astray.

    Model Specs
    Grade: MG (Master Grade)
    Name: MBF-P03R Gundam Astray Blue Frame 2nd Revise
    Size: 1/100 Scale

    (photos taken using I9100-sgs2)

    The construction of this mobile kit took me a total of 2 days to complete (around 14 hours in total). The parts were small – quite similar to that of the 1/144 kit except that the scale of this kit is 1/100. Compared to the HG versions I’ve worked on before, the MG features a more sophisticated construction and can leave you easily confused with the number of parts you are constructing. Just like the construction of the other kits – this one requires even more patience!

    I have enjoyed working on this mobile kit and am planning to construct another one in the future. Yes, it will be another MG so keep watch!

    Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed reading this article! :)

  • Kohana Doctrine Error – Exhausted

    Today, I am developing a sub-module of a web-application and have experienced a max-memory usage limit error or “Allowed memory size fatal error”.

    out of memory problem

    I know that the doctrine module uses memory based on how you define and build your database. It combines dependencies and loads all necessary objects so that it will be ready for use. Now the problem is, while you develop your application – the system will fail as you are still putting the pieces in place.

    Kohana, on the other hand displays a complete debug-trace of the page if ever it fails to load. This is for most cases as long as the failure is not of type “fatal error”. Now, the problem arises when kohana attempts to display the entire trace with doctrine objects loaded. At some cases, the page would load with a memory exhausted problem and at some cases also, it displays a white screen! White screens are horrifying because there’s no error or whatsoever displayed on top of not completing the desired action for that particular function / page.

    I have come up with a temporary solution that would help reduce greatly the data loaded-then-displayed by kohana – that is, setting the hydration mode temporarily to “array” instead of “object”.

    the fix

    By applying this solution, we can work with smaller amounts of data for the mean time as we develop. This will display a kohana error page with less and more relevant data to work with.

    I’m also thinking of a way to extend kohana’s error reporting to display a better error page to work with in the future but I am not gifted with that experiment time at the moment.

  • Gundam Assembly: Hail Buster Gundam

    Once again I got the urge to create another Gundam Mobile Kit. This time, the model was taken from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED VS Astray.

    Model Specs
    Grade: HG (High Grade)
    Name: LH-GAT-X103 Hail Buster Gundam
    Size: 1/100 Scale

    (photos taken using I9100-sgs2)

    Back to the 1/100 series. This project has been delayed for quite some time, for one – I remember that I started working on this project with some friends at a computer shop but never found the time to complete it. It now finally stands complete with its arsenals – rifle and beam cannon!

    I would want to complete all the custom Librarian Works series, as for now I only have the Nix Providence and the Hail Buster – I have 3 more to collect in order to complete the group.

    I currently have an MG in stock and will time to work on it.