Kotaku
What's bigger than Gundam? The cost to make one. A real one. Science Portal, a site run by the Japan Science and Technology Agency, figured the price tag of a real Gundam would be around US$725,000,000 for parts and materials alone. That does not include the labor costs incurred in constructing the 60 foot tall, 43.7 metric ton robot. A breakdown of parts looks something like this:
Aluminum alloy (honeycomb) $79,000,000
(+ Metal manufacturing/processing) $240,000,000
Main computer (IBM) $1,550,000
Gas turbine engines (GE) $364,000,000
Superconductive motors (IHI) $7,800,000
Motor drivers $7,800,000
Reducers $22,800,000
Sensors $910,000
Cockpit $450,000
TOTAL: $724,310,000
Pricey! And even after that, the only thing this Gundam could do is walk — though, doing so would probably destruct the ground below it.
Building Real Gundam [Pink Tentacle] [Pic]
Comments
Hmm, how many hours of minimum wage is that?
Guess I should start saving up.
Do they factor in the fact that something like that would be incredibly structurally unsound?
I could use it for morning traffic.
I always hated gundams. The thought that the legs would probably buckle under the weight with the crap they pull in that show makes the engineer in me angry. Hell, just the act of walking might be too much for it.
Where's is my wallet? There it is. Why does it have Bill gates i.d in here. Ohh well. Yes can i get one Gundam Model please.
Now that's a spicy meatball!
Damn, guess I'll have to opt out for the cheaper RX - 77 'Guncannon'
if it comes with XM radio, then i'm sold!!
*waits for the estimate to build a real transformer*
Bi-pedal robots are awesome in games and whatnot, but in reality...completely impractical.
An Atlas Mech with quad PPC's and a Gauss Rifle will take down any Gundam!!!!!
Aren't Gundams nuclear powered?
Damn, Pimp my ride is going to go Megas XLR on someones ass.
@altgod: Okay, add $1.5k and hire the boy scout for free.
Not enough of a difference to be listed.
@ALTGOD nope i think they have fuel cells or something like that.
@altgod: Yep, they utilize what is is commonly referred to in the scientific community as "teh fusionz." Which is super impossible with our current level of technology.
No, no, no I won't accept this!
A real Gundam is made of Gundanium alloy...
That's awsome, but I pefer a Mazinger robot :p -> look at avatar
Wait, Japan built RX-72 before Char's Zaku II? How... could you Japan? Also, where is that Luna Titanium Alloy (Gundarium) and Minovsky Particle Fission Reactors?
Damn it, some one Bright slap these people now!
Also, why isn't the cost of a highly trained and emotionally damaged unit of child soldiers included in the price? A semi-sapient war machine can only be safely piloted by a child FYI.
...crap, there goes my dream of having my own Gundam when I'm 80, instead of a crappy wheelchair...the world will never see the awesomeness that was to become "Gundam Alzheimer"...
@Horsefly: They don't use that. At least not in the Universal Century timeline. At least not Nuclear energy. They use compact Minovsky Particle Fission Reactors if memory serves correct. Bit rusty on my UC thanks to the Gundam fan in me being killed by Seed and OO.
Snake uses the Minovsky Particles in MGII to jam all radio signals.
@Black-Dog-Howls: Also, since it's RX-72, we need an emotionally damaged NewType pilot.
Great, let's mass produce these babies and put them in a war like setting and call it Dynasty... oh wait
Damn cool.
I rather a BattleMech though :P
Only $725? Amazing! I'll take 3!
Or is that just another typo bashcraft? You'll never get rid of the hotdogs at this rate...
Damn, i saw $725 and I went nuts. I'd totally pay 725$ for a gundam. $725 million.... not so much.
@muscrat_01: BattleMech would probably be cheaper, too. They seem to be more realistically and simply designed.
@Black-Dog-Howls: RX-78** <.< My bad.
@Black-Dog-Howls: See, I started out in the late-night Toonami days with Gundam Wing. A Gundam pilot for me is a 15-year-old killing machine, ironically named after a pacifist, who breaks bones and keeps going cause he's hardcore like that.
@Horsefly: I started with g'd ol'UC0079. Gundam W was the one I saw after going through 0080 War in the Pocket. Killed any possibility of me liking New Mobile Report. No one trumps Kampfer. Nobody.
"Aluminum alloy (honeycomb) $79,000,000"
Don't you mean Gundanium alloy?
I'd imagine that to equip a gundam you'd have to use similar weapons to what is found on Naval ships. Anyone know how much Naval grade battery cannons cost?
Oh and if this thing doesnt come equipped with a 1080p TV I'm sending it back to the manufacturer I ordered it from!
I could totally get one of those on the cheap on craigslist.
@Nayl: Yeah, when I first read that I ran to my piggybank and started counting the coins. But then I read on and got a sad face. ):
Yaknow these things aren't all too expensive! (minus the beam sabers and such) The government should get to work on a few of these. Screw healthcare!
@Black-Dog-Howls:
Okay!
runs on gas?? lame.
@Black-Dog-Howls: 0080 was also a very excellent series. Nice and gritty is the way I like it. I can't understand these emo Seed kiddos nowadays. Yes, I get that computer coloring is a wonderful advancement in the world of teh animes, but does everything need to be in fucking bright neon? The eyes, they bleed.
Considering that any gundams made would be government projects then the cost is really quite small, round it up to 1 bil total with labor, 10 times as much for the first one and R&D, and it's still not too bad. 1 stealth bomber costs the US multiple billions each. So 1 bil for a giant killer robot is really not a bad deal.
Isn't that only 3 F-22s?
This wouldn't be a gundam unless you made up a new alloy and called it gundanium. Its just a mobile suit. Also, from what I remember not all mobile suits are nuclear powered. Usually only gundams were so the fact this one wouldn't be seems fine.
@Furious_Liver:TF2 name i_have_fleas. Frag me!: Actually, think of it this way.
For $60 billion(the original estimate for the price of the war in Iraq(Which was quickly passed), you could get over 60 of these. With 60 gundams, they could have won the war, stayed under budget, and easily keep health care.
Man, they should have just asked anime and gaming fans to design the war plans.
@Kirbytheslayer: Proud Norwegian Defense Force Supporter:
Bolol
Gundanium is for punks. Gundarium/Luna Titanium is where it's at. Nice to see some Gundam fans here, but also sad to see so many with *cough* low knowledge. XD
@CenatorC: Atlas mechs? As much as I like Mechwarrior, the Atlas is too slow, overheats a lot, can't jump without the aid of jump jets and has very robotic like movements as opposed to a Gundam that can pretty move just like a real human being and wipe out entire squadrons of mobile suits in one massive energy blast.
And in case you are wondering, yes I'm a Gundam fanboy...
@WiggyDee: lol i totally remember that show, in fact..... what's that i smell?
oh its just mtv's new show: pimp my mech, with your heero yui...... on second thought lets just go with xzibit. heero would proly suggest that they put in self destruct or sumthin <__<
@Horsefly: isnt everything nowadays? pink lasers, pink explosions.... spaceships.... im seein a trend here
B-2 bombers cost up to $2.2 billion, so a Gundam might not be a bad investment.
Shit, One Wing Zero Custom, Freedom, or Exia could single handely win any damn war on the planet, finding a pilot on the other hand would be the hard part. :/
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Although I would totally volunteer >.>
@Black-Dog-Howls: [www.youtube.com] Hell yes.
pfft, to hell with gundams and battlemechs.
Give me a spritely, nimble Tachikoma over them any day.
Bill Gates, if you have a heart you will put this in production immediately.
@Shoemaster: Yeah but B-2 bombers also have weapon's delivery systems and stealth. Plus a crap ton of computer systems in order to make the plane flyable. I'm sure the price of putting guns on this thing, not to mention the development costs of making it work would far outweigh the cost of traditional military weapons.
now how much for the AMX-004 Qubeley? i figure funnels and the psycommu shouldnt cost too much more than the suit itself =x
Stomping the cars of the unbelievers: Priceless
@Kirbytheslayer: Proud Norwegian Defense Force Supporter:
Funny how this comes up over and over again, but nobody actually posts any data to support this statement.
Following this, I say construction cranes have to be highly unstable because the are extreme high and should never be able to lift anything. That they are only made of a some steel beams and a few cables doesn't help.
Also, 18 meters are overkill, 10 meters should be enough for a mecha.
Running on fuel? Seems like a waste of a few gallons. Regardless, I can't wait to see it in action when complete.
That's a bit pricey for my budget. Guess it's back to the used-car ads for me!
Why dont they just buckle down and start building Metal Gears. The realistic-ish ones (Rex?) from MGS1.
The wide leg stance and the slow movement, combined that it can only fire its rail gun arm when stationary, leads me to beleive its not too impossible sounding. And it would be pretty damn sweet to see armies of them.
I'l have 2, one for me and one for the wife to go shopping in. They come in pink, right?
I hope that cockpit estimate includes cupholders and fuzzy dice.
Screw a gundam. Give me an EVA. Where's my instrumentality and loli clones of someone's wife!?
A metal gear is fine too.
i would like to polite it