WIP: Threat Approaching, Boss Battle Imminent....

I know, I'm still on the mecha kick, but this thing has no brakes. I started trying to make the original Jovian Chronicles Dragonstriker, a boss mecha from one of the two Mekton-era modules, but, as with other models, it has since morphed into an updated neo-version of itself. 

I've also dabbled a bit in FFG X-Wing style rules for the old JC stuff, as there is no good mecha combat system currently in existence. Behold:

For those not in the know, the Pathfinder is sort of the baseline Jovian hero mecha.

And the Wyvern is its burly tyrannical Earth nemesis. Resemblences are intentional, as JC was cooked up as a not-Gundam Gundam game, and the art was largely based on Gaia Gear. If you don't know what that is, Google it. It's Gundam with the Sci-Fi knob turned up to eleven. Beautiful stuff. Seriously.  

I can hear you 40kers breathing out there. There's lots for you too when this is over. 

It'll be done when it's done.

Happy Saturday, people. 

Once Again to Space.....

Yes, the one on the left used to be a horrible pink. It was worth stripping and changing.

 I've posted the other two before, and you might remember the mecha in the middle from a post a while back when it looked like this: 

It's gone through a few changes, to be sure; different head, different backpack, new weapons, and now it looks like the machine the heroes get near the end of the series/third disc of the video game/etc: 

I was browsing around some different hobby sites for color ideas, and found a Gundam build I just had to emulate. The thing reminded me so much of the titular mecha from the  much-celebrated PS1 game Xenogears that I instantly wanted one (but didn't want to buy a bunch of Gundam kits). So, I changed the head a bit to resemble the old Jovian Chronicles sculpts, and added bits to resemble the Exia's GN-Sword and OO's GN-Rifle. The backpack comes from Mekton bits, Warmachine bits (thanks for continuing to sell bits, Privateer Press) and a Crimson Skies autogyro. 

While the metallic blues are a bit underwhelming, the golds really make this thing light up. The forms also lend a lot of forward thrust to the overall shape. 

I'm least satisfied with the build of the rifle, for some reason. The bayonet at the end doesn't feel exactly right to me, but the thing is at last done, so I'd rather not tear it down and rebuild it. 

As to what he's made to fight? Who knows. Maybe there's a giant mobile armor in the future. For now, he'll occupy a place of honor on the shelf.... when I can find one his outside frame will fit on. At the moment he hovers above my desk, being too big for the little cubbies in the printer's drawer hanging on my wall. 

First Model of 2018: Jovian Chronicles Pathfinder Alpha Resin Kit

The turn of the new year saw me working on the DP9/Fusion Models Pathfinder Alpha. It was meant to be fixed-pose, but I can't leave things well enough alone, so I delved into my box of joints and made this one fully articulated. As with all mods, this proved to have its own issue. Namely, that it wasn't made to be jointed. Assembled stock, you'd be alright. I wasn't doing stock. 

As such, there's no room for well-anchored sockets and things to nestle naturally flush. The upper and forearms are too stunty, ditto the thighs and lower legs, so it was a choice between things being sticky-outy and being well anchored. The third alternative is smaller joints, but they're not as solid, and quite frankly I didn't want to spend the extra money. The objective here was to use what I had, so I did. Color wise, I chose to go with a weathered look in Anaheim Electronics colors, as this thing would be getting sandblasted by micrometeorites and bits of flying metal all day long, probably. So...

It has a waist now. It can even angle forwards and backwards (and side to side; it's a ball joint)  so as to crouch. 

And a neck. It can look up and down now. 

The left leg comes with an open hatch for beam saber storage and a beam saber (unlit) hand. I closed the hatch (open ones always break, in my experience) and stowed the hand. It also came with a base I didn't need, so I didn't even bother to paint it. A Bandai Action Base is more appropriate now, anyway. I mounted the sensor dish differently from the directions as well; this is more as per the first (Moscato) version. 

There is no big hulking appropriately proportioned Wyvern, so here's an MSIA Dom model for scale. 

Now its feet aren't paddle-flat, courtesy of the superfluous backpack panels I turned into foot bits. Thanks to the ball-joint ankles they still have quite a range of movement. 

The beam rifle's pointy stock had to be snipped, otherwise the mecha couldn't hold it well; the pointy bit would have to be on the inside of its elbow or the arm would have to be ramrod straight. So, a bit of a snip an some filing were needed. While overall not a bad design, it does add weight to the tiny ball joint I used for a wrist. Luckily it's a fairly light piece of resin, so it holds. Also, you can position the hand and arm so the loading force doesn't slowly pull at the joint, so overall it's a win.

Technical review points: as a kit it's simple, solid, and  actually made of good resin. If you like mecha in general and Jovian Chronicles in particular and aren't a picky bastard like I am (quite frankly, I prefer the Moscato-designed 1st gen exo armors), chances are you'll love this.

This model is for sale (or trade for classic RAFM Heavy Gear/Jovian Chronicles minis). Email me if you're interested. Otherwise, it'll be on eBay by Monday 1/15/17.

EDIT: This model has been sold.