Upgraded Mech! Meet Maverick Rex

[MicVash]

Hey, everyone! Been working practically all day on this one! Definitely a good Easter, building LEGO!

PIC HEAVY!

[LOG: March 24, 3008 Clan Morrigan home planet Maelstrom, Research Facilities]

After securing Terra Pass at Highlander, I temporarily left the campaign while my men started ground work on a new headquarters at the outcrop. My research team surprised me when they claimed they had all ready finished the new Mech Variant. It was a necessity to upgrade the old model to keep up with the advanced technology of the hoverbike Raptors. More than an upgrade was done, however, my scientists created a whole new monster -- Maverick Rex.

The legs are more sophisticated and armored to provide better mobility and protection. The weaponry features two heavy pulsebeam rifles and two medium anti-personal guns. The cockpit is now enclosed over the head and features a simulater graphic display inside for the pilot. Do you see the bird head? Two ultra jump jets are also equipped and offer superior control despite their intense power. Instead of the "stealth" armor of the old model, this model has less of a need of it because of the greater speed and agility, but it does feature two scrambler rods on the top of the jets.

Back side views.

Slighty side views.

Angled views

Extra views

Full Gallery Here at Brickshelf.

Enjoy!

[Batbrick]

Woah! That thing is Cra-zy! I love it, great construction and a very unique design. Great work, my only criticism is that it is hard to tell what is what, though I imagine in real life this would be much easier. Love the poses too!

To the Batbrick Cave! >:-)

[Dragonator]

That is stunning! Great structural work, really impressive! I love the little details in the armor, although I do agree with Batbrick, that wspecially in the first pic it is a little hard t tell what is what. I think that is just the angle though.

I love all those fins! X-D

[Asuka]

That´s just a brilliant work, I love that 'fractal' look of it! *wub*

You designed very smart legs, feet, arms and jets, and the cockpit´s marvelous too. Did I miss any body parts? 8-| Nah, simply a great MOC! :-P

[zero1312]

Now that's what I call an upgrade. X-O

But I have to agree that it's hard at first to tell what is what. Other than that it's awesome. *sweet*

[MicVash]

Thank you for the comments AND criticism, gentleman. In my defense though I give this argument:

Since this is a quick strike Mech, maybe it's actually beneficial that the parts seem to mesh with each other and it may at times be hard to tell the form. But wouldn't you want that when your buzzing around your enemy and trying to prevent him from nailing a shot at any critical part? Also, I was going for a completely different style than what my past mechs have been. I was thinking along the lines of Transformers the movie, where there is that "fractal" look and so many mechanical parts. I was also thinking a bit of Mechwarrior too. I wanted to avoid studs completely, make the legs instead of arms the prominent part of the mech, make the armor sleeker, use fewer "bricks" and integrate the cockpit and weaponry a lot tighter. I admit though, the upper body IS really tight! So many little pieces kept braking off when I was trying to add something new. Making it compact as possible was a necessity though because of balance. It is structurally sound though. The jets can swivel up and down and rotate in and out. The arms rotate up and down and inward. Each leg features 6 joints, 2 are at each side of the hip.

[Front]

Nice compact building style indeed. It's hard to make out the shape from the photos, as other has noticed, but as you say, that's the idea. The black bricks does help hiding shape too

In my opinion I would have liked more bulky feet and legs. They seem thin compared to the upper parts. That would probably also make it more stable, pushing center of gravity somewhat downwards (although I have no idea how stable your model is).

I was wondering what kind of joints are used, for example at knees and hips ?

Front

Edited March 30, 2008 by Front