MOC: BattleMechs

[Runamuck]

This MOC was produced by my brother, so for here on out I’ll let him speak.

This MOC came to be because I was very fortunate last year, as I not only got MechWarrior 3, but also MechCommander and MechAssault, in what could be called a BattleTech hat trick. It got even worse(better?) when my copy of MechWarrior 4: Vengeance suddenly decided to work again.

So here it is:

Reactor…online. Sensors…online. Weapons…online. All systems nominal.

The AS7-D Atlas, pride of the Inner Sphere, and 100 tons of heavy metal mayhem just waiting to be unleashed.

The Atlas is famed for its skull-like head.

The backside of the Atlas. I was a bit surprised at how much it looked like a face.

I did give the model several points of articulation and most of them are somewhat in use in this picture.

Any feedback is appreciated.

[WaysofSorting]

I love classic Battletech and Mechwarrior. I'm often jealous of my office workers when they start the morning with rousing war stories of playing Mechwarrior Online (a "free to play" game that seems rather faithful to the property) as a team.

This figure reminds me of some of the vintage Iron Winds metal miniatures. I think you (er, your brother) has built a splendid frame to start tricking out and building a lance of mechs around. Have your brother show us more!

[Jackal76]

Definitely has the 3025 vibe! Nicely done.

[Runamuck]

Well, it took a while, but I finally got another mech cobbled together. Thank you for the comments, they are appreciated.

Are you ready for 80 tons of pure Awesome?

No, I’m not bragging, it’s the AWS-8Q Awesome. A personal favorite of mine.

The cockpit of the Awesome. There is a blue piece of glass in there somewhere.

The back of the Awesome.

Awesome in action!

And the inevitable consequence of the Awesome being in action: HEAT EXCEEDING RECOMMENDED LEVEL, EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN SEQUENCE INITIATED.

Size comparison between the Awesome and the Atlas.

As always, feedback is appreciated.

[Runamuck]

Time to add another mech to the soon complete lance. I guess that the thread title actually doesn’t cover the entire contents any longer.

This time it’s the CPLT-C1 Catapult, another classic among Inner Sphere mechs.

The backside of the Catapult.

The side view of the Catapult, which really shows how different it is constructed from the other two mechs.

I am especially happy with the legs as they turned out quite movable and sturdy at the same time.

This is the first mech I have built that is regularly fitted with jump jets. Runamuck himself built the jump jet stand.

Size comparison between the mechs. How tall the Catapult is varies a lot, depending on how the legs are posed.

Comments and criticism are as always welcomed.

[Runamuck]

It took a little time, but my lance of mechs is finally complete.

This time we’re dealing with something somewhat smaller:

It’s the RVN-3L Raven. Weighing in at 35 tons, the raven is by far the smallest mech I’ve built yet.

Here we have the backside of the Raven, not much to talk about here.

And here we’ve got the complete lance. Not only is the Raven smaller, but it’s also much newer, and a more sophisticated design. Surely the introduction of the Raven shows that the Inner Sphere no longer needs to rely on ancient designs, and the Innes Sphere is on the verge of entering a new era, where the shadows of the past no longer dictate the present.

Here we see the Raven in motion. Carrying us into a future…

Where the Inner Sphere will forever be changed.

For the Inner Sphere shall finally face the sins of its past. The children of Kerensky have returned, not as the passive peacekeepers of the Star League Defense Force they once were, but as the crusading Clans.

This is the Timber Wolf (or the Mad Cat to Inner Sphere freebirths), one of the strongest symbols of the military might of the Clans, and basically the most iconic mech in the entire Battletech franchise.

Never losing as much technology as the nations of the Inner Sphere did, the Clan’s mechs are faster, stronger, and simply put, better.

The backside of the Timber Wolf.

And here we have the Timber Wolf compared to the other mechs. I may have finished my Inner Sphere lance, but perhaps I may yet construct an entire Clan star, depending on when I run out of parts.

Comments and criticism will be appreciated.

[Si-MOCs]

hehe I gotta say, I'm loving the posability of these guys. Especially the Atlas!

Though my one suggestion is to add a little tiling, studs are cool, but sometimes so is some variation. Don't tile everything, but don't leave it all exposed either

Keep up the awesome mechs!

[Runamuck]

Well, that took a lot longer than I had hoped for, but I’m back with another mech.

I’m glad that the posability is appreciated, as it is one of my primary aims when building the mechs, that they have a somewhat plausible range of posability (fighting gravity, fragileness and high centers of gravity along the way). I have also tried to make this mech a bit more smooth, but sometimes I prefer keeping some parts of the mech as thin as possible, which clashes with having to add another layer to smooth out the studs.

But on to the mech itself:

This is the Summoner (also known as the Thor in the Inner Sphere). Weighing in at 70 tons, it is truly a weapon fit for the crusading clan warrior.

The back of the Summoner. The more smooth design makes it a lot more shiny, which I’m not sure I like, as mechs tend to be very battle-worn.

And here we have the Summoner showing of its range of movement. Yes, the right arm is copied off the Timber Wolf, but blame the Battletech designers about that, not me.

The two clan mechs together.

I still hope to build a few more clan mechs, but I’m not entirely sure which ones. Maybe I should actually build a medium mech for once.

Suggestions and criticism is welcome.

[TheOrcKing]

Ah, classic big bulky mechs; my favorite. These are great interpretations of the famous Mechwarrior machines. They all are very spot-on but the Summoner and Awesome are my personal favorites you captured perfectly.

I still hope to build a few more clan mechs, but I’m not entirely sure which ones. Maybe I should actually build a medium mech for once.

Suggestions and criticism is welcome.

Suggestions? Um, how about a Hunchback or Kit Fox? Ooo, a Cauldron Born? That would be sweet. Honestly though, there is just so many designs in the Mechwarrior universe, I couldn't pick only one to put together.

Edited March 20, 2014 by TheOrcKing

[Runamuck]

Thank you for the comment, while I don’t think I will fulfill all your suggestions, they haven’t been ignored.

But on to the new mechs:

First up is the Hellbringer, also known as the Loki. This was mostly built because 75% of the mech is compromised by parts that can be recycled from mechs I have already built. Also, it makes a great match for the Thor.

The back of the Hellbringer. It was really hard to make this smaller than the Thor, which is supposed to be 5 tons heavier. But I can’t fight that the design generally seems larger by default.

Bringing hell.

But as said, suggestions weren’t ignored:

Here we have the Kit Fox (or Uller). I did want to build a clan light mech sooner or later, so this fit right into my plans. Also, with the Thor and the Loki, this means I have built three mechs named after Norse gods (Uller god of…skiing?).

The back of the Kit Fox.

I had to modify the design of the Kit Fox slightly, as neither drawings, nor the miniatures show any form of joint that allows torso twisting, and it at least does have a joint there in MechCommander (unlike the Nova in MechWarrior 2).

Here we have the clan mechs together. I always try to vary the colour schemes at least a little, one in green, one in red, one in blue, and one in dark grey (They weren’t hard to choose with the colourfulness of the great invading clans). Although it was a happy accident that the Loki turned out to have the colourscheme of Clan Smoke Jaguar’s Zeta Galaxy.

As always, suggestions and criticism is welcome.

Edited April 6, 2014 by Runamuck

[TheOrcKing]

Those are absolutely perfect. I really can't find fault anywhere in either design. The Hellbringer in particular is exquisitely spot-on. A side note, Uller is the Norse god of archery and I think the original version of the Kit Fox did not feature torso twist capabilities (or was very limited) while the more current one does.

[Runamuck]

Well, that took an eternity. Sorry for the wait, but exams took most of my attention, but now I am back with another mech.

Thank you for the praise, and yes, the Kit Fox does not have any real torso twist in Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries, but it does in Mechcommander, go figure. I knew that Uller was also the god of archery, but pointing out that he was the god of skiing just seemed funnier.

When I built the Kit Fox, I thought about going bigger for my next build. It is bigger than the Kit Fox for certain, it is bigger than the Hellbringer too, it is even bigger than both of them combined!

Behold, 100 tons of pure death, the Dire Wolf assault mech! This beast is so deadly it was christened the Daishi, or great death, by its enemies.

The backside of the Dire Wolf.

As always a have made sure to make the Dire Wolf as poseable as I could, which is kind of hard when most LEGO joints tend to collapse under the weight when you build big.

The completion of the Dire Wolf also marks the completion of my clan star.

Who would win in this clash of the titans?

Suggestions and criticism is as always appreciated.

[Runamuck]

Well. I’m back to fill an old request.

The Huchback was suggested, and lo and behold, here it is:

The HBK-4G, an old workhorse of the InnerSphere armies. This is actually the first medium mech I have built, I have no idea why it took this long.

The back of the Hunchback. Now when the suggestion was made, we were talking about clan mechs, so it might actually have been the IIc model that was suggested, but this is the old version.

The Hunchback in motion. Just as elegant and balanced as the name suggests.

The colour scheme of the Hunchback certainly is a lot less colourful than the other mechs I have built, but it is actually based on existing regimental colours.

I hope to be back with another medium mech at some point, maybe I’ll even be able to finish an entire company. I do have 10 out of the 12 required mechs.

Suggestions and criticism is always appreciated.

[ummester]

Nice selection of mechs Runamok. I hadn't seen this thread before.

You have captured the distinct elements and overall shapes of each mech type you have built.

I particularly like the Summoner and and Raven.

I'm looking at the Raven and Uller, wondering if they can be designed in a way that keeps their size and includes a minifig scale cockpit.

[TheOrcKing]

Dire Wolf, the first assault mech I remember seeing and first one I picked when I played the Mechwarrior 2 PC game back in the day. This is another spot-on build of yours. I wonder who would win in a battle between the Dire Wolf and an Atlas. They both have the same tonnage and ability to equip virtually anything but there is a few differences in specifications and weapons armaments.

Now when the suggestion was made, we were talking about clan mechs, so it might actually have been the IIc model that was suggested, but this is the old version.

Actually, the classic Hunchback was the one I was referring to. I see nothing wrong with the IIC upgrade; I have just always been a fan of the original so this is pretty awesome. You really captured the 'roundness' of the legs and torso, and those arms fit the design perfectly.

Edited July 17, 2014 by TheOrcKing

[ATX Lego Maniac]

Nice! I especially like the special effects of the white one being shot at!

[Runamuck]

Well, after a long vacation, I have finally completed what I said I would do, sorry it took so long.

Thank you for the comments. The proportions are much more important to me than trying to smooth out the studs, so I’m really happy to hear that the shape looks right. I’m also happy that the Hunchback was pleasing. I don’t know how I would modify the Kit Fox and the Raven so a figure could sit in them, but I am sure something could be done, as both of them nearly have space for a figure, and they aren’t exactly too large to begin with.

I also thought that an Inner Sphere mech (the white one) being shot to pieces was a nice way to introduce my first clan mech.

But enough about that, on to the new mechs!

First up we finally have a clan medium mech:

The Shadow Cat, at 45 tons this is one swift and deadly pussycat.

The shadow side of the Shadow Cat.

I continue to make the mechs as posable as possible, which is also why I am glad that I finally reached the number of mechs I wanted, as I am really running out of joints of all kinds.

And here we have the Shadow Cat with a few other clan mechs for scale comparison.

And now we will have a look at my last mech: It’s hammer time!

The WHM-6R Warhammer in all of its copyright infringing glory!

A friend of mine wanted me to build Warhammer LEGO, but I don’t think this is what he meant.

Apparently to Macross fans it is also known as the MBR-04-Mk VI Tomahawk Main Battle Destroid. I can’t say anything about that, since I have never watched or read Macross.

Scale comparison. I think it turned out a tad small…oh well.

And here we have the entire company, all 12 mechs. I would suggest that people guess who would win, but it’s really not that much of a contest…

Well, that’s it! Criticism is as always welcome. It has been quite an experience building these, as they are all quite different.

I better end this post here, before I get sued by Harmony Gold.