DEPARTMENTS

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Fleet Scale Mecha Project

Hey everyone!

So, if you frequent TMP or Starship Combat News, you may have already seen this, but I figured it was worth posting here for the fine folk of the blogosphere.

It has always surprised me that with all the fleet scale spaceship minis out there, and even some based on anime series, nothing has ever been done to create a solid line of fleet scaled mecha. I know Ground Zero Games made one and there are lots of micro-scale infantry that can be fudged into the role, but that still left a huge hole for purpose made, space action, fleet scale mecha. So I decided to make some.

Photobucket  Photobucket  Photobucket  Photobucket  Photobucket  Photobucket

Pictures displayed at about 200% actual size.

As you can see above, these are really early WIP pictures, but the basics are there and at an average of 6mm tall, there really isn't too much room for detail that won't end up lost under paint. The order of the day was the main features - cockpits, heads, shoulder,s arms, kneels, feet, hands, guns. More less details can be added by clever painting, but these should paint of nice and easy. 

I have about twelve of these going right now. Each is a different design from standard to heavy. Variations such as aerodynamic torsos, square or round armor are also in the works. I didn't sculpt any with the shields that are seen a lot in anime as I figure those are easy enough to add, for the serious fan, using bits of plastic or thick paper card.

So, what makes these different than using a converted soldier mini or something? Mainly it's the posing and the fact that they are going to be cast baseless so they can be mounted on flight stands. I have tried to make them look like they are operating in space. Because most of them will be mounted on flight stands in formations, I did try to keep the poses neutral, taking inspiration from anime I have seen and know of. Some have been posed a bit more aggressively or dynamically but these are intended as elites or characters.

The really cool part is that once they are done, I even have a green light to send them to 15mm.co.uk to get them molded and cast. This will be exciting and hopefully there will be a lot of happy mecha freaks out there who can now throw mecha onto their spaceship tables instead of fighters or converted army men.

Thanks for reading,

-Eli



11 comments:

  1. Great idea! I grew up watching Gundam Wing and I loved the big space battle scenes. I might have to add some of these to my fleet in the future.

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  2. Gundam Wing!? Good lord man, you make me feel old!

    I remember having to hunt through the underground comic shops to find anime bootlegs and it was the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Z Gundam and ZZ Gundam. By the time I was 17, Char's Counterattack was cooling off and the barrage of OVAs had just started with Gundam 0080 "War in the Pocket", the last episode of which was released the day I left Japan! Managed to get all six episodes on VHS in their hard cases with all the cool liner notes and art.

    Of course in the US, we had Robotech which was the closest most of us had had for mainstream anime.

    -Eli

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  3. I'm re-watching 0079 at the moment. War in the pocket is my favorite OVA, and the 8th MS Team is my favorite series.
    Great idea and lovely figures... This would push me into fleet scale spaceships ;)

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  4. Nice work Eli! Do you have plans for more, similar miniatures?

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  5. Lovely work Eli.

    I look forward to getting my mitts on them in good time for 15mm.co.uk. These will be awesome!

    Cheers,

    GBS

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  6. I must admit my geek life has been somewhat devoid of giant mecha, but these look very cool. Even more impressive at the 6mm mark! You've got all the hallmarks in there for sure.

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  7. Thanks everyone for the awesome support. This is virgin territory for me.

    I have always wanted fleet scale mecha battles and the prospects of converting from existing figures always hampered that progress and pushed me to just concede to the use of fighters instead.

    This will hopefully change things for those, like myself, who want to use mecha but have not been able to due to lack of available minis.

    I really wish I had a few to paint up to show the full concept, but I just can't justify sculpting a nice-looking mecha and hen not putting it into production.

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  8. Did check out DP9's Jovian Chronicles? Mechs vs ships. Might inspire.
    -J

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