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If the Kodiak is anything like the metal blitz one, it probably isn't the right proportions unfortunately. :(

@Ashley: Is the left foot of the left most Grizzly in the pic that I posted above miscast in a similar way as you were describing in your latest post? I didn't notice it when I was putting it together but only after I posted the image here a few days ago.

Vaktathi wrote:The work you put into your stuff is amazing, and far beyond any level of patience I possess

Thanks for the lovely comment .

warboss wrote:If the Kodiak is anything like the metal blitz one, it probably isn't the right proportions unfortunately. :(

@Ashley: Is the left foot of the left most Grizzly in the pic that I posted above miscast in a similar way as you were describing in your latest post? I didn't notice it when I was putting it together but only after I posted the image here a few days ago.

The inside face of both feet were poorly cast: the detail lost when the metal cooled before filling the mould. At least, that's what it looked like to me.

Just a quick message to let people know that i have listed eight of the old RAFM Heavy Gear miniatures onto Ebay UK.There would have been nine but Ashley got one .

Just one!?! I feel like I need to make a fellow ethusiast's virtual wellness check on her just in case...

edit: I just checked and there are some nice offerings but the shipping would be too much for me. Besides, I've still got a bunch unopened (and ALL unpainted!) from my own haul that I was lucky enough to get a few years back so should let others partake anyways.

Sharing the joy that is RAFM as I didn't want to be greedy.

Besides, the Kodiak is pretty much the only Gear that I still want.

It's a great choice.

They're cool, but not in the budget atm. Maybe in time to come some will be back on the market...or someone will have started making 3D prints.

For those who don't follow my blog, I've put up my current WIP report.

https://panther6actual.blogspot.com/2020/09/reposing.html

The Buster looks like it's going to be particularly epic when complete, great work as always

more RAFM toys!

So, got a couple things built, acquired some others locally and online.

Current Hunter Commando, original Hunter Commando, and the Armored Hunter. Looking at the Armored Hunter, I really was not impressed by its line art, stats, or background in the vehicle compendium, but I actually *really* like this model. The tread feet on a Hunter work really well, and the head is different enough to be neat.



Used stuff in need of re-assembly and stripping plus the two above. Thankfully everything is complete except for a couple antennae and some of the Stone Mason's roll cage. Mostly Southern stuff.


Unassembled stuff. Armless Assault Hunter in the bottom left, everything else *appears* to be complete. Mostly Northern stuff.


If I ever find a Mammoth in this scale (that isn't absurdly expensive), it's gonna be glorious. I don't think I've ever seen one for sale though, same goes for the King Cobra. Need to find a Bricklayer and figure out a pair of arms for the Hunter somewhere still.

You've got a nice collection there! Did you recently acquire those in one big batch? It looks like you've solved your armless assault hunter problem there.

It was 3 different batches, a couple batches of on-card northern stuff while the southern stuff was another group and mostly already built. I wish I could find a list of everything RAFM ever made, there's stuff I've found that I didn't know was ever made (by RAFM or DP9, like the Artillery Cobra) and stuff I know RAFM made but that I've never seen anywhere (like the King Cobra) except for tiny old pics online

Cool (especially that you got them NIB and even moreso that they're hopefully complete unlike mine!). Yeah, the pics are few and far between from that early era of the internet and the ones available are if you're lucky are 640x480 (or VGA resolution IIRC) which was a hefty download back in the dialup days. It's why I put up pics of my own minis at a bigger resolution once I got my hand on them.

I can't help with the King Cobra pics as I unfortunately don't own one. I actually liked the armored hunter in the original RPG art but the mini (though accurate) just didn't capture the feel. I think in mini form making the bearhunter (iirc the name variant) with the armored hunter body and bigger grizzly V-engine (since I don't recall them making a bear) would look alot better on the tabletop while still remaining true to the original.

Yeah, I think I got off dial-up right about the time the RAFM's stopped being made

A lot of Heavy Gear stuff in general is like that. Going through random jaunts down internet history lane, it's amazing how much stuff there is related to Heavy Gear that's floating about that DP9 was involved in but that isn't in main product line books, all sorts of articles and discussions and stories from old writers groups and mailing lists and magazines. Difficult to find and often not in the best shape when found

EDIT: on the topic of the armored hunter, I wish they'd make one for the current scale. I actually really like the rules for them in 3.0 Blitz, they're really good purpose-built "Hold"-Objective units. I can see what you mean about the engine on the RAFM model, I think it'd actually look pretty neat with a Grizzly engine on there.

I can't comment on the Blitz 3.0 (or more like 6.0 if you count original, L&L, FM, alpha/beta-nu, full release-nu, and now this one!). What makes it good for holding objectives versus either heavier units like Grizzlies or more nimble ones that avoid shots in the first place? Points value for survivability? I genuinely don't know.

The bearhunter conversion should be pretty easy in rafm as long as you potentially have the extra bits. I'd have to look up the variant to make sure I'm not missing any other significant changes though. I'm not in any way wishing you a major miscast or mispack but I suppose that's a silver lining to that particular bad situation.

In the current Blitz iteration, the Armored Hunter is relatively resilient and doesn't cost any more than a normal Hunter, plus it's got a long range mortar that isn't terrible which allows it sit still in cover way back and still contribute something meaningful. As long as you're not needing it to do a lot of moving and dashing about the board or doing things like climbing or falling or running into minefields that require piloting checks, they're pretty good for babysitting an objective or guarding a fire support gear.

fingers crossed on no more mispacks, we'll see what happens

It also makes a good cheapish escort for the heavier Grizzlies and Razorbacks.

 Vaktathi wrote:
The Buster looks like it's going to be particularly epic when complete, great work as always...

more RAFM toys!

So, got a couple things built, acquired some others locally and online.

If I ever find a Mammoth in this scale (that isn't absurdly expensive), it's gonna be glorious. I don't think I've ever seen one for sale though, same goes for the King Cobra. Need to find a Bricklayer and figure out a pair of arms for the Hunter somewhere still.

Wow, this thread has just leveled up with more good old RAFM Gears.

Thanks for the compliment, and I see you snagged a Kodiak at some point. I hates you. ;-)

However, I have a Mammoth. It's missing a foot casting, but I can replicate that.

Looking forward to seeing the strider make its appearance in your Bad Dog universe and what changes you make to it! If that's the plan, what faction/nation are you thinking about for that monster? I used to have one back in the day and it was more of a lethal weapon than the old 40k dreadnoughts. I still giggle when I remember a 40k teenage player who never built any metal minis who picked up my old 2nd edition dreadnought for the first time and was shocked by the heft.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
On a peripherally related note, I saw this posted recently elsewhere and it was completely new to me! I've never seen a prototype/civilian version of the Scopedog before and I love this ungainly beast! I love all the little gribbly bits on this fan coversion of the art shown later in the link. I really like the exposed pistons and obviously less armored nature of it and could see various civilian and rover(in HG)/post apocalytic mad max style further conversions.

https://amiamic.tumblr.com/post/64759534286/rocketumbl-early-dog-modeled-by-kazu/amp

Paint it Pink wrote:
Wow, this thread has just leveled up with more good old RAFM Gears.

Thanks for the compliment, and I see you snagged a Kodiak at some point. I hates you. ;-)

However, I have a Mammoth. It's missing a foot casting, but I can replicate that.

Oh please make this your next project, that's going to be truly glorious.

warboss wrote:
On a peripherally related note, I saw this posted recently elsewhere and it was completely new to me! I've never seen a prototype/civilian version of the Scopedog before and I love this ungainly beast! I love all the little gribbly bits on this fan coversion of the art shown later in the link. I really like the exposed pistons and obviously less armored nature of it and could see various civilian and rover(in HG)/post apocalytic mad max style further conversions.

that actually does look pretty cool, you make a great point about the exposed pistons and whatnot, it looks especially punchy

 warboss wrote:
Looking forward to seeing the strider make its appearance in your Bad Dog universe and what changes you make to it! If that's the plan, what faction/nation are you thinking about for that monster? I used to have one back in the day and it was more of a lethal weapon than the old 40k dreadnoughts. I still giggle when I remember a 40k teenage player who never built any metal minis who picked up my old 2nd edition dreadnought for the first time and was shocked by the heft.

It's a model for the meta part of the plot that involves the big bad that hasn't yet been encountered. Can't say more, mostly because it's a work in progress, and more like where the series is going, which given I've been stalled for more than a year due to health problems, is as much as I can say at this point in time.

BTW: I now know glazing! As in mastered the technique with my current WIP mecha.

No worries and I'm sure you'll keep the blog updated when there is progress. Same thing with recasting the foot. It looks simple enough without overhangs and such that a normal greenstuff press casting should work as would 3d modelling and printing it. I'd offer but that shape (simple though it may be) is still beyond my abilities.

I've been unexpectedly on a VOTOMS kick recently and an important question came up and I figured I'd informally poll the thread. Which of these two iconic designs is your favorite and why?

the venerable Scopedog (shown here in the classic Red Shoulder Custom variation)...



or the iconic Heavy Gear Hunter?




If you had asked me a week ago (or any time in the past 25 years!), I'd have reflexively answered the Hunter but my opinion has recently changed. I still love the HG universe and the rest of the accompanying gears much more than that of VOTOMS but I have to hand it to the original Scopedog in that head to head comparison. Other than a plain and somewhat empty back in its stock configuration, I think the original design is very nice and my asthetic gripe is easily fixed with the various parachute packs, space mover thruster rigs, etc. I still prefer the look of the V-engine and loveably named buttplate but the various additons to the back come close enough in that regard. None of this is new but my resurgent interest in the design made me consider it more from a practical perspective and I have a new found respect for it; the Hunter just isn't practical as a physical real world design and mostly only useful for monopose scale miniatures. We see it from the various generations of miniatures that can only be posed in a certain way because parts physically overlap. While I don't think the company behind the defunct HGA pc game ever planned on using it as is, they did bring up a good point in that the original simply didn't work in the digital game realm either if you're using realistic physics/materials and the same would be true if the HG universe ever made it to live action film/tv as well. The Scopedog, on the other hand, is completely practical and poseable in that regard with the proof being decades of quality toys authentic to that 1983 original design. Even cheap gashapon like the ones I own have a range of motion that the Hunter would never be able to achieve without a significant redesign.



Thoughts? I had never previously ascribed any weight to that factor in the past but it really put the Scopedog over the top for me recently as I rediscovered how well designed it was while looking at youtube reviews of various Scopedog toys and model kits. It's likely that we all have our own priorities and preferences in this regard but I'm surprised that my opinion changed after all these years and specifically because of the reason behind the change.

Other than not having space for an actual engine/fuel tank, I personally think that the Scopedog is a better design, meaning that it's better thought out... which is not that strange given how much of the genre is at least tangentially designed to be toyetic.

That said, aesthetically I still like the Hunter more, even though it's by a not too big of a margin.

 Albertorius wrote:
Other than not having space for an actual engine/fuel tank, I personally think that the Scopedog is a better design, meaning that it's better thought out... which is not that strange given how much of the genre is at least tangentially designed to be toyetic.

That said, aesthetically I still like the Hunter more, even though it's by a not too big of a margin.

That's a good point about the engine and I share your opinion. I mentioned the bare back above and preferring the various packs; while it was mostly of an aesthetic preference, part of the reason I prefer it is that I envision the propulsion system there as well. I actually looked through my own meager VOTOMS resources during the past week for cross sections because of the same question about where the engine is. The only thing I found was a reference to a small battery pack in the crotch so I basically headcanoned the backpack into a large Tesla style battery compartment. I don't know if the scopedog is officially electrically powered in the shows but I figured it was and thought the idea matched the electric motor high pitched whine heard whenever the secondary movement system is engaged.

The blueprints I've seen show the coreless leg engines for the wheels, the hip sub battery and the PRSP system packs and battery on the thigh, but there was no engine that I could see ^^

They're both neat designs, hard to pick a "favorite". Both have their issues with actual functionality, as has been noted. The Hunter itself has also changed somewhat, it's original design felt much more "scopedog" like, with the more prominent central camera and round head. I think sticking a powerplant of some sort to the Scopedog's back would help balance the visual profile a bit more (in addition to dealing with some its apparent functional issues).

That said, just in terms of visual coolness? I think I'd have to go Jaeger over either the Scopedog or Hunter. Something about the Jaeger head design really does it for me (and is something I think that the current plastics borked big time, but the metal sculpts nailed perfectly).

 Albertorius wrote:
The blueprints I've seen show the coreless leg engines for the wheels, the hip sub battery and the PRSP system packs and battery on the thigh, but there was no engine that I could see ^^

This is the diagram I was referring to from the RPG.



I just didn't see that relatively small sub-battery (that you more accurately described as located in the hip rather my wording) being strong enough to power the whole VOTOM hence my headcanon of the massive battery pack on the back. I suppose putting the electric motor back there to power it instead of stowage (half primary battery, half motor) would be an easy enough change.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Vaktathi wrote:
They're both neat designs, hard to pick a "favorite". Both have their issues with actual functionality, as has been noted. The Hunter itself has also changed somewhat, it's original design felt much more "scopedog" like, with the more prominent central camera and round head. I think sticking a powerplant of some sort to the Scopedog's back would help balance the visual profile a bit more (in addition to dealing with some its apparent functional issues).

That said, just in terms of visual coolness? I think I'd have to go Jaeger over either the Scopedog or Hunter. Something about the Jaeger head design really does it for me (and is something I think that the current plastics borked big time, but the metal sculpts nailed perfectly).

Terra Novan hipsters picking option C in a binary question! Yeah, those early northern gears went through some changes during 1st edition. I liked the switch to the more angular heads and rocket pods myself (although I think they should have stuck with the rounded ones for the south for their asthetics and interfaction variety). They're all cool looking though and I don't want it to sound like I'm trying to denigrate any of them. I still strongly prefer the various HG lineups (cheetahs/hunters/jaguars/grizzlies for the north) to those of VOTOMS (scopedogs, fatties, etc).

Do you think the Scopedog needs an update for modern times? I actually like what Mektek did with the hunter in HGA (not so much the other stuff) but I'm not sure I'd want anyone to mess with the scopedog in a theoretical reboot. I'd be fine with a more modern take on fancy new VOTOMS though if they leave the scopedog and its variants alone.

 Vaktathi wrote:
They're both neat designs, hard to pick a "favorite". Both have their issues with actual functionality, as has been noted. The Hunter itself has also changed somewhat, it's original design felt much more "scopedog" like, with the more prominent central camera and round head. I think sticking a powerplant of some sort to the Scopedog's back would help balance the visual profile a bit more (in addition to dealing with some its apparent functional issues).

That said, just in terms of visual coolness? I think I'd have to go Jaeger over either the Scopedog or Hunter. Something about the Jaeger head design really does it for me (and is something I think that the current plastics borked big time, but the metal sculpts nailed perfectly).

Well, I've always been more of a southern fan, so there's that ^^. But the HG Scopedog is most certainly the Basiisk




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 warboss wrote:
Do you think the Scopedog needs an update for modern times? I actually like what Mektek did with the hunter in HGA (not so much the other stuff) but I'm not sure I'd want anyone to mess with the scopedog in a theoretical reboot. I'd be fine with a more modern take on fancy new VOTOMS though if they leave the scopedog and its variants alone.

IIRC, they revised somewhat the designs for Case;Irvine.

Is there a time jump in the storyline with that being some sort of more advanced future Scopedog? I'll be eventually picking up the VOTOMS series on bluray but haven't watched it in many years. I'm surprised they didn't shrink the head if they were doing a partial redesign. I'm not personally a fan of it regardless FWIW.