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Medium mecha work well in pairs, RiTides.

At least from the playtests I've done.

Not that I'm trying to get Paulson more sales. In the least.

Well, I was already leaning towards 2, so yeah . I have 3 light mechs already. Is 2 mediums and 3 lights enough for a nice game?

Of course, what I really want is a quad, but I know those are a ways off yet

That should work well for games, typically what we've been using for games during play testing is 3 light, 2 med, 1 heavy. A group of 5-6 mechs will be the standard force size and you can always go larger. When it's 3 or less mechs per side the game can get lopsided depending on how the initiative order pans out.

 paulson games wrote:
That should work well for games, typically what we've been using for games during play testing is 3 light, 2 med, 1 heavy.

That's exactly what I was thinking to use, nice! Obviously you're working on the medium(s) now, any idea what the timeline could be on the heavies?

February-ish?

Not really sure as I don't want to set a hard date, lots of stuff can impact that window. Sometimes models take longer than expected or if I'm having a slow sales period I have less funds to get new prints made etc. Realistic answer is I'm pushing for Feb but can't say for certain.

I want my Blackfrost :(

Once I get the shoulders detailed it's headed out for printing and I'll start taking pre-orders.

Any plans to release quadruped mecha like the one on your homepage? That things looks amazing.

~Tim?

All the mecha that have color art are going to be done. (including the quads)

My plan is to work my way up in weight classes, I currently have the lights available and I'm working on the mediums, after that it'll be onto the heavies and the quads will be the last set. I'd hazard a guess at sometime around summer for the quads but I can't say for certain.

Any thoughts or comments on the model before it's off to print?

Shown next to a raptor for scale.

Well, it looks a bit plain compared to the light mech, to me. The light mech's profile is also more interesting with the missiles sticking out, whereas this one is more contained.

Some specific thoughts:

-The large flat surfaces on the shoulders I think could use something
-The image on the right of your first picture, I think the side view should stand out more. Maybe some drum mags hanging off the guns? Some sort of vent sticking backwards off of the main body? Something to break up that profile / make it a bit more interesting!
-The feet aren't as interseting as the light mech's

Hopefully that doesn't sound too harsh, I just think you might want to let it sit over the weekend and come back to it / see if inspiration strikes. The light mech is absolutely fantastic, but this one looks like a great base but needs more "oomph". A little too conservative right now, is my take.

No worries, constructive criticism is always good and I've also got thick skin

Foot design probably isn't as hot as the light mecha but not sure how else I'd approach it without redesigning the whole foot. The wider more open foot fits the light mech IMO as it's meant for speed where the medium and heavy mecha tend to be slower and heavy so their feet would be a bit more compact. There might be a way to tinker with it but at the moment I'm not sure.

The shoulders I'll do some thinking on. The guns block a few of the details which can't be seen from these angles with them in place. The outer armor panels are rather featureless which I'll think about.

Remember the flat space on the shoulders isn't always a bad thing, as it is a nice area to paint on unit designations (or use decals if you go down that way, wink-wink)

I can buy the foot explanation as well. Lesser speed could mean a smaller need for lateral(?) support as turning wouldn't cause as much stress and risk toppling.

You're almost there! I think the should needs a tiny bit of work, like RiTides suggested, but not too much so it's still possible, to quote Vain "use decals" if you'd wanted to.

I like it .... but I like the art more. The slope of the body in the art seems to be a single angle, where the 3D file it has been broken down into two different angles. The 'shoulders, where I imagined the ammo storage for the guns was, have a bigger chamfer than the 3D model. The lower leg armour seems bigger in the art and that would have been a great place to put 'squad' markings so that troops know what mech they are looking at being stomped by.

All of those were parts of the design I liked. I don't know if they were removed to make moulding easier, or not, but it seems a shame to me that they are no longer there.

Ah, thanks for adding the art pic to your post for easy comparison! Two things that stand out to me as different is that the shoulders and cockpit both look "longer and thinner" in the art, and are a little more squat / flat on the model. The second thing is that the guns hang out over the width of it's stance in the art. I don't know if this means the legs are closer together, or the guns just stick out more, but it makes for a more interesting profile. The guns also look a bit longer in the art, I think.

Should be possible to get there with just some tweaks to geometry you've already modelled, hopefully . Basically it just doesn't have that "awesome" factor that the light gives off as soon as you look at it just yet, but I think it can.

I think it's ace. I know it doesn't help, but I really like it the way it is. I'd also be ok with what the others above have said. You're just providing such great quality.

Just one thing though: heavies for February seems like you're forgetting to give yourself some family time during the holidays. I think most of us can say you've deserved a break, eh?

The color art is painted on top of a 3d shell, I use that same shell as a guideline when making the 3d model to help me keep the proportions correct to the drawing. The guns are the same length as the wireframe that's used to generate the 2d art, but camera angles in the render make it look a bit different. If you look at the side shot of the mecha you can get a better perspective of how long the guns are. They measure 40mm which is over half the height of the mech (75mm) so they are very large compared to the size of the weapons on the raptor.

The lower legs were beefed up as they were very thin based on the reference frame. Not all of the armor panels are able to be modeled as drawn, the 2d art has the ability to eliminate angles and have parts flow into each other that in a way that isn't possible to replicate in fully 3d. object at least not with flat surfaces. Several of the surfaces in the drawing appear to be flat but they join together at seam points as though they were rounded. What works well in 2d to help give elements of perspective doesn't always translate the same when it's made into an actual object. So it's a bit of a mix when trying to match details in the draw with what comes out in 3d, sometimes I have to improvise and sometimes changes are also undertaken to aide with the casting side.

I did widen the shoulders a bit, what isn't seen in the 2d art is that there was a large cylinder connection the center torsos to the shoulders and there was a significant gap in between and it made the cylinder shape painfully obvious which created a look where it appeared to be held to the body with a large dowel rod that was sticking out too far. The cylinder is still present but the gap was narrowed so it's not as glaringly obvious.

I made a few minor changes in the hip connection and body to tie it a bit closer to the raptor in construction, I wanted to keep the appearance of being the same technology base but just on a large frame. The center torso will be made slightly longer than it currently is, I need to finish adding the rear detail which will lengthen it a bit. (Right now it ends in a straight line so it appears to end a bit abruptly)

Just explaining the process for some of the details, I do appreciate the feedback. I'll likely keep tinkering with it over the weekend as there's no urgent push to get it in for printing. (other than just wanting to see it in hand)


Here's a side by side with the original base mesh vs the more final one, main areas of change are the shoulder width and spacing, also the groin piece was narrowed a bit and the "chin" on the center torso was narrowed to match it to the raptor better.





Side profile

Only comment I can make - in the art rendering it looks like the guns are on an about 45 degree angle to each other - in your 3d model it's a much more obtuse angle. I like the tighter angle more.

That's helpful, and it makes sense that you wanted to hide the cylinder by widening the shoulder. Maybe you can just add to the shoulder, then, to give it that leaner look the art seems to have.

It is growing on me, by the way

The guns were moved a bit they are probably more of a 60 degree angle now. That was due in part to trying to fit a connection between them so that when I cast them they can be a single piece rather than two separate guns with a third piece for the connection. (The Raptor ACs are 3 parts and a giant pain to cast).


Also added a reference pic above for the original framework that was used for the 2d art. Appears I actually lengthened the guns by about 5mm so they are about 15% longer than what was used to the 2d piece. The torso and arms appearing much wider than the legs/hips is due to the perspective angle in the art.

 paulson games wrote:
The guns were moved a bit they are probably more of a 60 degree angle now. That was due in part to trying to fit a connection between them so that when I cast them they can be a single piece rather than two separate guns with a third piece for the connection. (The Raptor ACs are 3 parts and a giant pain to cast).

And there's no way to get a single cast out of them at a smaller angle? :-/
I guess I don't understand why if the connection from the guns to the shoulder is on the top gun, changing the angle allows you to cast them differently. Probably because I'm not a resin caster.

Really that's the only thing that jumps out and makes the model look... "bad" isn't the right word. "Not outstanding" is a closer thing to what I want to say.

The difficulty was in part with how I wanted the guns to nest with the shoulder piece. The shoulder piece I was doing in a similar design to the raptors so that it allows it to be a universal piece that a variety of weapons to attach to without me needing to reprint a new shoulder each time I add a weapon to the design. I wanted both guns to be a single part and the bridge that joins the two guns also needs to wrap around the shoulder piece in a way it can be slid on and off.

(lower right head on view) If I move the lower gun further to the left the bridge piece needs it's right edge moved over as well making it too thin

And if you move it over too far you'll covver the shell ejection port... yick.

I'm not a modeler or designer but I'll try and think of potential ideas for that. If I'm the only one thinking it should be a sharper angle I'll shut up though.

The shared components idea is a good one not only because it makes it easier/cheaper for you,

but because that's just what modern militaries do, making components that will work on several projects at once, giving a certain 'look' to their forces

As noted in my Paulson Games thread the Paulson Games website will be closing down Jan 25th, all of the Mecha Front items will remain available on the dedicated website.


I've also started the pre-orders for the Lynx on the Mecha Front website.

http://www.mechafront.com/catalog/item/8798047/10014612.htm


In order to fund this item I need to sell 25 copies of the model. Once I have all 25 pre-order slots filled it head out for printing and molding. This process will take aproximately 30 days from the point that funding is achieved. There is a $5 discount on the pre-order pricing.

I will accept pre-orders until Feb 15th (or until all 25 slots are filled) If the project does not fund by the the 15th I will refund all pre-orders purchases in full.

Any additional models (such as the raptor or goshawk) that are ordered at the same time as this item will not ship until the lynx itself ships out.

Also please take note that all of the resin models are limited run items, I'll be doing 100 copies of each. At a later point I'll be introducing the production pieces as metal.

The Raptor Alpha has sold around 80 copies so there won't be many left, once this last set of molds wears out it'll be out of stock until I can get he metal versions done. The other's all have around 50-60 copies remaining.




(The render is not the final, I accidentally saved over the wrong file. I will have an updated pic shortly).

I really like your quads. Can you show a size shot next to a battle tech figure. Thanks

Sweet, I'll be ordering a few of them today or tomorrow!

Just one question, I need to check when I get home but I thought you had offered weapon packs for the Raptor on the site, but I don't see them now. Any chance you'll be making an alternately armed Lynx?

I'd be happy to preorder that even without a render... just would prefer not to arm them the same if I'm getting two.

But if you'll be offering a weapon pack for it I can always get an alternate armament later... I just don't want to lock myself into getting 2 duplicate mechs.

Let me know your thoughts, cheers

RiTides... from my playtest, the Lynx performs ok with the four Laz0rs(tm), but it is an ungodly machine when fitted with the railguns. And I think Paulson makes excellent railguns for conversions!

Just my 5¢.


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And although there are certain expenses that cannot be avoided right now, I'll try to get a couple ordered soon.

Hmmm, that's a thought

I just wanted to ask about the weapons packs, as then I wouldn't mind buying 2 identical ones now. I understand if the packs would need to be limited, just want to make sure I'll be able to get a hold of different weapons for at least one of them.