The Download Munkey : A Link A Day ;)

Metal Wolf Chaos is a Japanese only Xbox game from the makers of the Armored Core series, From Software. In the game, the ficitious President and Vice-President of the US, Mike Wilson and Richard Hawk, are armored suit pilots (!). You can read a more detailed description and the silly storyline for Metal Wolf Chaos from Wikipedia here.

Love the streamlined design and the oversized weaponry of the armored suits in the wallpapers for this game.

  

©From Software

Not sure why but the armored suit looks like the one (Black Mamba Gear?) in the coverart for Heavy Gear II below, taken from www.mobygames.com.

© Activision

Some downloadable papercraft plans for Gundam mini-figs ala Lego style Gundam Universe mobile suits.

Clockwise from top left: MS-06 Zaku II, MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type (Char Aznable Custom), MS-07B Gouf, MS-09 Dom, YMS-14S Gelgoog Commander Type (Char Aznable Custom) and the RX-78-2 Gundam.

  
  
  
©piromodel.fc2web.com

There’s also papercraft plans for Star Wars mini-figs like Clone Troopers, Imperial Stormtroopers and Boba Fett - too bad there isn’t a General Grievous papercraft mini-fig

  
©piromodel.fc2web.com

All the plans are available as JPG files on piromodel.fc2web.com.

I would like to credit the creator of these great papercraft plans but I can’t seem to find his/her name anywhere. Anyone can read Japanese here?

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Gundam Musou / Dynasty Warriors Trailer
Mecha Image of The Day (miotd.com)
MS-06S Zaku II Papercraft Model Plans

Another one for the Zaku II fans out there!

Found instructions for a giant papercraft model of Char Aznable’s MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type complete with the communications antenna and the ZMP-50D/120mm machine gun. No Heat Hawk though

The completed model stands at three feet tall (according to the website where I found the PDF plans) You can download the plans at the PCZaku Page @ www.geocities.com. A photo of the completed model below (by the website owner, not me. I doubt I have the patience for this kind of stuff)

You can also view a photo gallery of a nicely-assembled and painted MG 1/100 Zaku II Char’s Custom model kit (plus Gelgoog, Gouf kits) at Circle 24. Also check out the gallery of Doova Pla-Mo Studio on the same site.

If you like the Zaku II, check out the Zaku II CG by Tetuya Watanabe here.

For all the MS-06 Zaku II (Mobile Suit Gundam) fans out there, here’s some high-quality CG artwork of the Zaku II by Tetuya Watanabe at www.anitemp.com.

© Tetuya Watanabe.

Not sure whether these artwork are official works or simply fanart though. (I seem to have seen something similiar on the boxart for the Bandai MG line of Gundam models)

If you like CG art, you may also be interested in the artwork by Steven Stahlberg.

Was trawling through the Microsoft Download Center under the Games & Xbox section when I chanced upon this old promotional download released in July 2001 - MechCommander 2 Encyclopedia. Download here. (57.6 MB)

Pretty cool stuff if you’re a Mecha or a fan of the BattleTech universe like me. Essentially a model viewer for the 29 Mechs as well as vehicles and weapons in the game. Contains a brief introduction for each Mech plus its in-game statistics.

Some of the Mechs that I recognize easily from the tiny 3D models in the encyclopedia include the Atlas, Catapult, Mad Cat, Raven and Thor, probably because of their distinctive silhouettes.

Some other oldies but goodies in the Microsoft Download Center: