| |
Greeting my Iron Mecha masters!
Welcome to all the spectators!
The judges have given me their results and I have tallied them.
First, I’d like to say that this has been a blast, and quite the competition. I
also have a few thanks I’d like to say.
Thank you to EVERYONE whom entered IRON
MECHA. Without you there would be nothing to celebrate.
Thank you Aaron, Steve
(H) and Steve (W), our IRON MECHA judges, for their time, diligince and
opinion.
Thank you to all those that participated in discussion on IRON MECHA.
Our IRON MECHA Champion is:
Mark Stafford
Congradulation Mark! You’re our IRON MECHA Champion.
I have included a full listing of the entrants that we recieved, their scores,
and a comment from one of the judges.
Rank
| | Builder’s Name
| | Creation Name
| | Final Score
| | Judge commentary
|
| | 1
| | Mark Stafford
| | Provost
| | 41.90
| | Simple design. Good use of color highlighting. Steve H.
|
| | 2
| | Bryce McGlone
| | not named
| | 41.10
| | This Mecha accurately represents MY image of a real Mecha built from the prototype drawing. Excellent use of color, and there are some very nice hidden details. Steve H.
|
| | 3
| | Derek Schin
| | The “Angel” Mechs (Garret, Munroe, and Duncan)
| | 40.30
| | Excellent capture of the shape in at micro scale. Controlled use of color. Smart-alek naming gets a few whimsy points. Not impressed by the diarama though. Aaron S.
|
| | 4
| | Eric Sophie
| | The Qwelder-Mech
| | 39.50
| | Classic Sophie. It has the look of a pissed-off cat (Mad Cat?) which is not my favorite. However, it shows outstanding detail on every single piece of the Mecha. Steve H.
|
| | 5
| | Matthew Evans
| | not named
| | 39.20
| | The excellent use of color kept this mecha high on my list. Good detail, and faithful to the original art. Steve H.
|
| | 6
| | Adrian Drake
| | not named
| | 39.00
| | I’ve always loved models with hidden functionality, like this. I also found the use of color very pleasing. Steve H.
|
| | 6
| | Dave Johann
| | not named
| | 39.00
| | The most wicked and bravest color scheme in the contest. And yet it still manages to look like a military anime mecha. Straight forward joints and oversized photos were my only nits. Aaron S.
|
| | 6
| | Justin Ramsden
| | Heavy Weapons Mecha Unit (H.W.M.U)
| | 39.00
| | I love the shape of this, probably the most intimdating proportions in the contest. You got a little crazy with colors, especially yellow/orange and the trans-green. Cool use of minifig legs, and the spikes on the mecha’s legs are rocking too. Aaron S.
|
| | 7
| | Timothy Gould
| | Hitachi Heavy Industries Iron Mecha
| | 37.30
| | I really like that you stepped away from military mech, and made it construction. Your choice of yellow fits well. The cab is well sculpted, but the claw arm is somewhat simple, and not terribly posable. Thanks for including the minifig for scale in an LCAD. Aaron S.
|
| | 8
| | Megan Rothrock
| | CLICKATRON
| | 37.00
| | Totally whimsical. Cute IS evil. You got so far with the ‘feminine’ colors But the joints are very simple, and I’m still not convinced that the feet are (rest of text lost) Aaron S.
|
| | 9
| | Marco Tagliaferri
| | Iron Fist
| | 36.90
| | This Mecha included a very complete and good story about the building process. Both the Iron fist and Little Fist are true to the oiginal art, given their scale. Good use of small detail and color. Steve H.
|
| | 10
| | Allister McLaren
| | Centaur
| | 36.70
| | Extremely unique concept. Lots of guts to go this route- points in my book. Some great sculpting, some mediocre. Simple tech. Aaron S.
|
| | 11
| | Tony Hafner
| | not named
| | 36.20
| | A well built small mecha. Can’t say micro, since you included infantry in the last photo. Good use of parts for sculpting and articulation. Excellent photos, and I like that it seems braced for firing! Aaron S.
|
| | 12
| | Fradel D. Gonzales
| | not named
| | 36.00
| | Baddass colors and sculpting proportions. Looks menacing and cool. Joints are strong, and work in your color scheme. Aaron S.
|
| | 12
| | Jeff Ranjo
| | Ground Support Gun Platform “Jumping Flea”
| | 36.00
| | Totally wacky. Points for using so many weird parts. Very alien, yet still recognizably inspired by the art. More ‘UFO’ themed than ‘Exploriens though. Aaron S.
|
| | 13
| | Brian Cooper
| | Bandolero!
| | 35.50
| | Very nice presentation, faithful to the original art. Color lacks contrast. Steve H.
|
| | 14
| | Keith Goldman
| | The Gentleman Crab
| | 34.20
| | Pretty far from the original artwork, but cannot see why. DkRd and Tan always look nice. Excellent missle pods. Love the diorama, know that’s your deal, but it was a mecha contest. Aaron S.
|
| | 15
| | Nathan Proudlove
| | not named
| | 33.50
| | I really like the use of gears for the gun, and as radiators on the back of the weapon pods. They seem odd on the arm joints though. Legs seem sturdy dispite the simple joints. Aaron S.
|
| | 16
| | Paul Cook
| | Light Prototype Mecha #N1473
| | 31.50
| | The legs and lower thorax are well sculpted, good use of parts. The upper half feels like you hurried. The construction becomes simpler there. It’s a simple, but well handled color scheme. The alternate version works well, and scored you some whimsy points. Aaron S.
|
| | 17
| | Tuomas “TheQ” Kukkamaa
| | Crowbar Hero versus the Last Boss
| | 31.20
| | These legs are awesome, and I enjoy the use of weird parts in them. And the build of the body and railguns is good too. But you got too far from the inspiration, I think. If it wasn’t listed as such, I wouldn’t connect it to the original artwork. Aaron S.
|
| | 18
| | Leigh Holcombe
| | not named
| | 31.00
| | Really cool hip and knee joints, and I like the grabber too. I wish you’d not used KK2 hinges on the weapon pods. Could use some color. Nice micro scale version. Aaron S.
|
| | 18
| | Michael Dallaston
| | The Red Queen
| | 31.00
| | Good solid construction. You go from studless to many studs in places. Cockpit looks like a ship or aircraft. Not fond of the gun styling or the R2D2. Aaron S.
|
| | 19
| | Ka-On Lee
| | ML-12 Bulldog II
| | 30.00
| | Nice rendering of the artwork. Cool optional weapons. Could use some splashes of color, at least warning markings. I don’t really like all the studs out and tubes out construction though. Aaron S.
|
| | 20
| | Jude Beaudin
| | FD-98 “Washout” Fire Fighting Mech
| | 29.50
| | Neat concept for a mech. Proportions are way off, those legs could never support its torso! Good use of trans-blue. Aaron S.
|
| | 21
| | Brandon Griffith
| | not named
| | 29.00
| | Excellent representation of the original art in Micro scale. Steve H.
|
| | 21
| | Tony Alexander
| | Mining Platform
| | 29.00
| | You spent a lot of time on joints it seems, and then didn’t pose the finished mecha to show off the articulation. Some of the bubble dome parts you used on the upper torso work well in Micro scale, but the legs are overly simple. Aaron S.
|
| | 22
| | Kyle Vrieze
| | Iron Rhino
| | 28.80
| | Cool missle pod and cockpit. Spidery proportions. Understand your color scheme was based on parts, but it’s not exciting. Really like the 3x3 radar dish on the bottom of the 4x4 round brick. Really think the MF escape parts restricted your sculpting too much. And they further throw off your color scheme. Aaron S.
|
| | 23
| | Peter Blencowe
| | Renault FT-99x
| | 28.50
| | Micro-scale can be even harder than minifig scale. Although I like the ‘official set’ building style, it’s not quite as polished as the Creator robots are. I like the interesting parts you used in the legs. Aaron S.
|
| | 24
| | Brian Pilati
| | not named
| | 26.50
| | Some interesting components, but hard to tell what the end result will be. Color scheme didn’t seem finalized. Hope to see it when you do finish. Aaron S.
|
| | 25
| | Christopher Snead
| | not named
| | 24.00
| | Your joint technology is brilliant. And I think you provided a lot of assistance to other contestants. Would love to see what you make of this mecha if you decide to ‘skin’ it. Aaron S.
|
| | 26
| | Howard C. Willis, Jr.
| | not named
| | 16.00
| | Intriguing toe shape. At the scale you’ve got, I think the legs would be hard pressed to support the finished model. Thanks for participating. Aaron S.
|
| | 27
| | Sam Pagel
| | not named
| | 12.00
| | Very hard to see what you were going for. You’ve got some cool looking hip joints started. Aaron S.
|
Thanks again and I only have one question remaining, do you want to do it again?
Your Iron Mecha Host
Mark Neumann
|
|
| |
In lugnet.announce, Mark Neumann wrote:
| |
Greeting my Iron Mecha masters!
Welcome to all the spectators!
The judges have given me their results and I have tallied them.
First, I’d like to say that this has been a blast, and quite the competition.
I also have a few thanks I’d like to say.
Thank you to EVERYONE whom entered
IRON MECHA. Without you there would be nothing to celebrate.
Thank you
Aaron, Steve (H) and Steve (W), our IRON MECHA judges, for their time,
diligince and opinion.
Thank you to all those that participated in
discussion on IRON MECHA.
Our IRON MECHA Champion is:
Mark Stafford
|
WOW, that rocks! That is a great entry! Congrats to Mark Stafford!
| |
Congradulation Mark! You’re our IRON MECHA Champion.
|
-Snip-
| |
Thanks again and I only have one question remaining, do you want to do it
again?
|
Yes! At the begining of the next month, challenge us again with a new sketch!
| |
Your Iron Mecha Host
Mark Neumann
|
|
|
| |
In lugnet.announce, Mark Neumann wrote:
| |
Our IRON MECHA Champion is:
Mark Stafford
|
Congrats!
Btw, is “You go from studless to many studs in places” supposed to be good or
bad? :)
Mike
|
|
| |
| |
Our IRON MECHA Champion is:
Mark Stafford
|
congratulations!
well, it was named Humphrey, but I suspect it was wise of you to ignore this, I
may not have come 5th... I’m well pleased with this result! I think I shall
celebrate by shaving all my hair off. Well, I was going to do that anyway, but
still, now I’ll do it smiling :)
| |
Thanks again and I only have one question remaining, do you want to do it
again?
|
Thankyou Mark. This has been a joy.
The answer to your question: Oh god yes.
|
|
| |
I won? How in the heck did that happen?
Wow! Thanks judges... the cheques are in the mail! :)
What a week! My Cthulego gets Boingboinged, then that’s picked up by the Sci-Fi
Channels Sci-Fi-Wire website then I’m contacted by Bizarre magazine who are
doing an article on it!
Then to top it off I win the Iron Mecha Competition!
I have to say I didn’t think I stood a chance, some of the entries are so
magnificent. Technical masterpeices with worm joints and gears, truly inspired
ideas like cranes and transformers and off the wall ideas like centaurs and
Clikit mechs, (I’d be saying that even if Megan wasn’t my girlfriend!)wonderful
micro-mechs and just darn cool MOCs all round.
Thanks to the judges, thanks to CSF for helping identify what was and was not
working halfway through, thanks to Megan for telling me when something looked
sucky during the build and thanks to Mark Neuman for arranging all this in the
first place!
Let’s do it all again soon!
Cheers,
Mark.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi
|
|
| |
With this collection of creations arrayed here, I think it would be interesting
if we had a discussion on what we each think defines a good mecha model. My
favorites in the list seem spread all over the place, so I must have different
notion.
Mecha to me are primarily serious realistic things, machines made by people (or
other machines, or maybe alien beings) to serve a function. I want to see in the
design that practical requirements are being met. If it looks flimsy, I want to
be made to think it is constructed of some weird super strong material. If it
has a particular color scheme, I want to be convinced that there is a reason for
it, like camouflage or gang colors. If it looks whimsical on the outside, I want
a panel to open up that shows me it’s really powered by a cummings turbo diesel
inside. If I’m not made to believe in the design, then it seems like a toy
version of a mecha, rather than a model of a mecha.
There are elements of a number of the entries that “convince” me.
Here are some examples:
The Angels became perfection in their scene. Their clean, simple shapes were
undeniably engineered,not cobbled together.
The Hitachi crane could be real. The details all make sense.
The Gentleman Crab was made real when it put its legs in the water in that
scene. You can’t deny the reality of something that clearly exists.
The Jumping Flea absolutely convinced me that humans hadn’t conceived of it.
Dave Johann’s creation was plausibly, disquietingly, techno-organic.
Adrian Drake’s transforming mecha looked like it could really take to the skies.
There were many other entries I liked that were expertly constructed and very
detailed, but weren’t made real by those details. It’s a difficult thing to
generate, the illusion of reality for something that isn’t real (just one small
design inconsistency can spoil the illusion), but this is what I look for.
(Mladen’s work is a good example of creating realistic mecha models.)
K
|
|
| |
| |
With this collection of creations arrayed here, I think it would be
interesting if we had a discussion on what we each think defines a good mecha
model.
|
I don’t have enough experience to be up to a serious discussion on this point,
beyond the subjective platitude of ‘if I like the way it looks then it’s a good
mecha’. I mean, the only lego mecha I’ve seen in real life are my own!
But: I’m not entirely convinced by the ‘practical requirements being met’ idea;
perhaps if it was modified with a fair bit of aesthetic leeway. I mean, I
remember reading on lugnet.space here,
Tony Hafner talking about how a ship ‘wouldn’t work’ because the engines aren’t
positioned correctly - no offence to Mr. Hafner, but I don’t really care about
that sort of thing, as long as it looks good. It should be noted that he goes on
to say in a later reply, ‘This is Lego, where for the most part style trumps
reality’. My attitude is: if you want to build something that would work in real
life, build a train. Conversely, if those engines were way out, then not only
would it be ‘unrealistic’, it would probably look pants aswell.
I suppose we could have a philosophical argument here ;) what is beauty?
| |
If I’m not made to believe in the
design, then it seems like a toy version of a mecha, rather than a model of a
mecha.
|
I’m not sure that being a ‘toy’ version of a mecha is such a bad thing; this is
lego we’re playing with here, after all!
For the record, my favourite entries were Fradel’s ‘Thundersnatch’ and Marco’s
‘Little Fist’. I don’t think I could quantify what it is about them that I
prefer over the other entries.
mo.
|
|
| |
In lugnet.build.mecha, Matthew Evans wrote:
| |
But: I’m not entirely convinced by the ‘practical requirements being met’
idea; perhaps if it was modified with a fair bit of aesthetic leeway. I mean,
I remember reading on lugnet.space here, Tony Hafner talking about how a ship ‘wouldn’t work’ because the
engines aren’t positioned correctly - no offence to Mr. Hafner, but I don’t
really care about that sort of thing, as long as it looks good. It should be
noted that he goes on to say in a later reply, ‘This is Lego, where for the
most part style trumps reality’. My attitude is: if you want to build
something that would work in real life, build a train. Conversely, if those
engines were way out, then not only would it be ‘unrealistic’, it would
probably look pants aswell.
|
This is like the difference between Fantasy and Science Fiction, which I often
like to explain. :-) Science Fiction requires some intellectual rigor and logic.
You can certainly make up weird new science, but it has to be self consistent.
Similarly, you can come up with a totally bizarre mecha, unlike anything that
has ever existed, but every single detail has to conform to some sort of
rationale or it’s just a form of junk art - interesting to look at, even
beautiful, but not in any sense realistic (conforming to any possible reality).
If you look at anime mecha designs, even the outlandish ones, the best ones
(IMO) have reasoning behind their details, and are thought out to the level of
having practical internal structures, even if they are never shown!
K
ps - If a rocket motor isn’t positioned to give thrust behind a ship’s center of
mass, it isn’t going to fly very well, and a top heavy mecha with tiny legs also
isn’t going to walk very well. Realistic considerations. ;-)
|
|
| |
In lugnet.build.mecha, Brian Cooper wrote:
| |
This is like the difference between Fantasy and Science Fiction, which I
often like to explain. :-) Science Fiction requires some intellectual rigor
and logic. You can certainly make up weird new science, but it has to be self
consistent.
|
Philip K Dick, among countless others, has also addressed this. His distinction
between sci-fi and fantasy was similar but more fundamental: if an element of
the story is considered impossible, then it’s fantasy. Not “improbable” or
“currently unavailable,” but impossible. He asserts that no hard, fixed
distinction between the two is possible, because our notions of the “impossible”
tend to fluctuate.
The self-consistency aspect is less of a distinction, since a good story in
either genre must entail sufficient self-consistency to maintain a
comprehensible plot, IMO.
| |
ps - If a rocket motor isn’t positioned to give thrust behind a ship’s center
of mass, it isn’t going to fly very well, and a top heavy mecha with tiny
legs also isn’t going to walk very well. Realistic considerations. ;-)
|
I’m not a physics guy, so forgive me this question: we’re talking about the
“net” center of thrust being directly behind the center of mass, right? As
opposed to an engine placed exactly there?
Dave!
|
|
| |
In lugnet.announce, Mark Neumann wrote:
| |
Greeting my Iron Mecha masters!
Welcome to all the spectators!
The judges have given me their results and I have tallied them.
18
| | Leigh Holcombe
| | not named
| | 31.00
| | Really cool hip and knee joints, and I like the grabber too. I wish you’d not used KK2 hinges on the weapon pods. Could use some color. Nice micro scale version. Aaron S.
|
|
Sorry, not up on the lingo - What is a KK2 hinge? So that perhaps I can avoid
them next time.
Appreciate the compliments. Congratulations to every entrant, especially the
winner’s circle.
|
|
| |
In lugnet.build.mecha, Dave Schuler wrote:
| |
Philip K Dick, among countless others, has also addressed this. His
distinction between sci-fi and fantasy was similar but more fundamental: if
an element of the story is considered impossible, then it’s fantasy. Not
“improbable” or “currently unavailable,” but impossible. He asserts that
no hard, fixed distinction between the two is possible, because our notions
of the “impossible” tend to fluctuate.
The self-consistency aspect is less of a distinction, since a good story in
either genre must entail sufficient self-consistency to maintain a
comprehensible plot, IMO.
Dave!
|
Another interesting study of Sci-Fi vs. Fantasy can be found in Henry Gee’s
The Science of Middle Earth. His point is that science fiction has at least
some focus on the technology that makes the ‘impossible’ possible. Fantasy, he
suggests accepts the impossible with little attention on how. His examples come
mostly from The Silmarillion and Tolkien’s notes of Elven ‘technology’.
Basically, Tolkien invented the how, but then simply doesn’t focus on the how in
his stories.
Side note, I have read many of the ‘Science of...’ books on SW, ST, Harry
Potter, etc. This book references more actual science, and yet stays accessible
much more so than it’s fellow books. ie I recommend it to fellow science and/or
fiction geeks.
Aaron
|
|
| |
> This is like the difference between Fantasy and Science Fiction, which I
> often
> like to explain. :-) Science Fiction requires some intellectual rigor and
> logic.
> You can certainly make up weird new science, but it has to be self
> consistent.
> Similarly, you can come up with a totally bizarre mecha, unlike anything
> that
> has ever existed, but every single detail has to conform to some sort of
> rationale or it's just a form of junk art - interesting to look at, even
> beautiful, but not in any sense realistic (conforming to any possible
> reality).
Hmmm, good explanation. If we're equating 'self-consistency' with 'realism'
then I agree with you. A good mecha design is not going to have any
'out-of-place' details. I guess I misunderstood your initial argument.
but on the other hand:
> ps - If a rocket motor isn't positioned to give thrust behind a ship's
> center of
> mass, it isn't going to fly very well,
yeah, but if the ship is lego, it's never going to fly anyway!
> and a top heavy mecha with tiny legs also
> isn't going to walk very well. Realistic considerations. ;-)
Well, this is more true. Perhaps the realism thing is more applicable to
mecha; an unstable mecha is just going to look silly. Spaceships get to
operate in a vacuum where things like gravity and aerodynamics don't really
apply. And as this discussion is supposed to be about mecha, it was probably
amiss of me to bring up the space thing in the first place!
I've though a bit about why I like Thundersnatch and Little Fist. I reckon
it's because they're nice and clean. Now that's a word that's been used more
than once to describe my Iron Mecha, which is fine, of course I'm likely to
build models that end up fitting my idea of a good mecha. In my mind, clean
isn't opposed to detailed; but it's the 'intensity' of detailing on mecha
like Eric Sophies QWelder that turns me off I think - although I can still
appreciate the brilliance of the design! (This may be just a feature of
larger models, I'm not sure). Also, I think they're very well proportioned,
is this where 'realism' comes in?
mo.
|
|
| |
In lugnet.build.mecha, Dave Schuler wrote:
| |
Philip K Dick, among countless others, has also addressed this. His
distinction between sci-fi and fantasy was similar but more fundamental: if
an element of the story is considered impossible, then it’s fantasy. Not
“improbable” or “currently unavailable,” but impossible. He asserts that
no hard, fixed distinction between the two is possible, because our notions
of the “impossible” tend to fluctuate.
|
The extreme definition: Science fiction is an extrapolation, linear perhaps.
Fantasy is a random point, connected to nothing.
| |
The self-consistency aspect is less of a distinction, since a good story in
either genre must entail sufficient self-consistency to maintain a
comprehensible plot, IMO.
|
Self-consistency of pseudo science is a drag on the plot. It spoils the fun in
Fantasy realms. :-)
| |
I’m not a physics guy, so forgive me this question: we’re talking about the
“net” center of thrust being directly behind the center of mass, right? As
opposed to an engine placed exactly there?
|
Yes you can certainly have motors on pylons hanging way out, but if you add up
the 3D thrust vectors you’ll want them to not make your ship spin around like a
pinwheel (over taxing your attitude control thrusters to compensate for the
misaligned main thrust). People have a more instinctive feel for what sort of
things can walk without keeling over than what can fly well in space.
K
|
|
| |
Congrats Stafford! First a mention on the SciFi wire, and now this. Kudos to
“Ironmecha Stafford”, as you should be addressed from now on. I also must dole
out some kudos to Fradel because I called him out to enter, and he beat me like
a red-headed step-child in the rankings. Dan Rubin though...Oh Danny
Boy...failed to enter, and deserves anti-kudos for being a cowardly lawyer.
Well, at least for being a lawyer. Oh, and although I hate to say it, kudos to
my illegitimate son Derek for a 3rd place finish. When I see your momma tonight
on her corner, I’ll let her know.
-Keith
|
|
| |
| |
Sorry, not up on the lingo - What is a KK2 hinge? So that perhaps I can
avoid them next time.
|
He means the Knight’s Kingdom (action fig) joints. I wouldn’t avoid them.
They’re nice and strong and bloody useful.
Really the legs just look a little small for the arms, if you used the joints
again in the legs and covered the actual hinge portion, I think you would of
gotten a really coheisive and tough look throughout the mech.
| |
Appreciate the compliments. Congratulations to every entrant, especially the
winner’s circle.
|
Right on.
Mark
|
|
| |
In lugnet.announce, Mark Neumann wrote:
| |
Greeting my Iron Mecha masters!
Welcome to all the spectators!
The judges have given me their results and I have tallied them.
First, I’d like to say that this has been a blast, and quite the competition.
I also have a few thanks I’d like to say.
Thank you to EVERYONE whom entered
IRON MECHA. Without you there would be nothing to celebrate.
Thank you
Aaron, Steve (H) and Steve (W), our IRON MECHA judges, for their time,
diligince and opinion.
Thank you to all those that participated in
discussion on IRON MECHA.
Our IRON MECHA Champion is:
Mark Stafford
|
Thanks for having me as a judge, and for all your efforts. The creativity and
variety was great.
I’d like to say that this was a difficult set of MOCs to judge, and there were a
lot of entries I saw that I really liked. In the constraints of this
contest-using the artwork for inspiration, etc., I was surprised by my own
results.
So I’d like to give a round of applause for some of my favorite MOCs, ignoring
all contest restrictions:
Allister and his Centaur- barely even counts as a mecha, but is SO rockin!
cool. Would score very high in a fantasy creature contest for sure.
Fradel- I thought this was an excellent mecha, very anime and rounded. Should
be in the running for the next My Own Creation set.
Brian Cooper- I hope you publish a horror comic through Dark Horse soon, I
want to read more.
Keith- Your dioramas continue to inspire me. As always with your scenese, the
architecture, storyline, and details of this diorama always have me looking
again and again.
Christopher Sneed- Your joint technology, and the amount of assistance you
provided other builders really highlight the purpose of the AFOL community.
Again, thanks to all who participated in the contest, and those who followed the
events. Until the next Iron (theme) contest...!
Aaron Sneary
|
|
| |
In lugnet.build.mecha, Mark Neumann wrote:
| |
| |
Sorry, not up on the lingo - What is a KK2 hinge? So that perhaps I can
avoid them next time.
|
He means the Knight’s Kingdom (action fig) joints. I wouldn’t avoid them.
They’re nice and strong and bloody useful.
|
Ah, I had no idea those were Knight’s Kingdom, since I don’t/wouldn’t own any
KK. Mine came from the Creator sets - I privately refer to them as Dino-joints.
I used them because they seemed to be the correct size for what I needed, and
provided lots of rotation in a small area. However, after a disastrous attempt
at a non-IronMecha, I now know that those things are not suitable for all
joints, and should be used only sparingly, since building around them can give
unwanted results.
Thanks for the clarification.
|
|
| |
In lugnet.build.mecha, Brian Cooper wrote:
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This is like the difference between Fantasy and Science Fiction, which I
often like to explain. :-) Science Fiction requires some intellectual rigor
and logic. You can certainly make up weird new science, but it has to be self
consistent. Similarly, you can come up with a totally bizarre mecha, unlike
anything that has ever existed, but every single detail has to conform to
some sort of rationale or it’s just a form of junk art - interesting to look
at, even beautiful, but not in any sense realistic (conforming to any
possible reality).
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Hmmm... Science Fiction has little to do with reality. Allow me to use my
absolutely most favorite sci-fi space ship, Imperial (Imperator) Class Star
Destroyer. I love Star Destroyers, I drool over any image of a Star Destroyer,
however, at the same time, it is the most idiotic design when it comes to real
physics: ISDs have no maneuvering thrusters, have no thrusters to stop the ship
out of light speed or any other speed for that matter, the main cannons are
aligned, they can’t fire forward at the same time!!! the main hangar bay has no
door, the bridge, which is quite exposed has a clear see through windows with
nothing as simple as an armor plating that can go over them in case of shield
failure or even better, the whole bridge can simply sink into the internals of
the ship. Continuing further: the armor to internal system ration is terrible,
shield generators are exposed, no practical device for fleet control ever
illustrated, heavy reliance on computer controled inaccurate beam weaponry with
no alternatives... do I have to keep going further? Yet with all its flaws and
stupidity, there is no ship in the sci-fi universe that I will ever love or
respect more than the Star Destroyer!!!
So is it fantasy or sci-fi makes no difference to me, and please don’t let me go
into Gundams and how ridiculously improbable it is to build one with current
technology (hence, fantasy, the idea behind new materials that will allow cheap
mobile suit construction).
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If you look at anime mecha designs, even the outlandish ones, the best ones
(IMO) have reasoning behind their details, and are thought out to the level
of having practical internal structures, even if they are never shown!
K
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Anime mechas have the advantage of being animated, we get to see how they move!
Sadly, with Lego we rarely have this luxury.
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ps - If a rocket motor isn’t positioned to give thrust behind a ship’s center
of mass, it isn’t going to fly very well, and a top heavy mecha with tiny
legs also isn’t going to walk very well. Realistic considerations. ;-)
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Let me say clearly that I completely agree with you. I like mechs in general,
but I LOVE mecha where I can see the actual details: power supply, extra fuel
tanks, sensor array, power transfer system, protection of the frame vital
points, good articulation even if the mecha will never be animated, correct
balance... but at the same time there is a flaw with this reasoning and
competitions because: I have never seen a 3meter + robot in real life!
example of above idea: how thick should the iron mecha legs be? I believe that
the legs shown in the image are absolutely, unquestionably too large, too bulky
and far too long, impractical, no wheel mechanism even! yet, I can bet that
there are many people that thought the legs were either just right or perhaps
even too small!
So, for the past week I have been toying with the idea that for the next contest
there could be multiple categories. For example:
Best Color Design,
Best Copy of Image,
Most “Playable” (Sturdy to handle by kids)
Best microscale
Best minifig scale
Best large
and why not,
Most realistic/believable
Most unusual brick use (example: helm visors for armor plating / brick separator
for legs)
why have all these categories? Because we all interpret mecha differently.
Bobby
p.s.
I haven’t posted in a while so once my enthusiasm starts wearing off a bit my
posts should become much shorter and more to the point : p
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In lugnet.build.mecha, Bobby Marinov wrote:
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Hmmm... Science Fiction has little to do with reality. Allow me to use my
absolutely most favorite sci-fi space ship, Imperial (Imperator) Class Star
Destroyer...
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Sorry, but Star Wars isn’t science fiction.:-) Really, it isn’t. The technology
is contrived for the sake of the story, which is why it’s unrealistic. The space
ships have windows! Cap ships exchange broadsides a few feet away from each
other! Dramatic but absurd. It seems realistic because they are familiar
terrestrial concepts, but they are inapplicable. Read true science fiction and
you’ll have an image of a realistic space battle. Even old fashioned sci-fi like
EE Doc Smith had a better grasp of space battles. Star Wars so pales by
comparison, it’s... staggering, even though it rips off many if its ideas from
him. These are the sci-fi concepts the “Doc” invented, in the 1930’s!:
Science Fiction
Inventions I think I’ve read all his books. :-)
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So is it fantasy or sci-fi makes no difference to me, and please don’t let me
go into Gundams and how ridiculously improbable it is to build one with
current technology (hence, fantasy, the idea behind new materials that will
allow cheap mobile suit construction).
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If you had a compact fusion powerplant you’d have no problem building virtually
any kind of anime mecha with current technology (materials, computers, joint
actuators...).
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Best Color Design,
Best Copy of Image,
Most “Playable” (Sturdy to handle by kids)
Best microscale
Best minifig scale
Best large
and why not,
Most realistic/believable
Most unusual brick use (example: helm visors for armor plating / brick
separator for legs)
why have all these categories? Because we all interpret mecha differently.
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I’m not sure it could still be described as a contest then. Everyone would win.
;-) But if that’s what it takes to encourage building, then that’s good.
K
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In lugnet.announce, Mark Neumann wrote:
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Greeting my Iron Mecha masters!
Welcome to all the spectators!
The judges have given me their results and I have tallied them.
First, I’d like to say that this has been a blast, and quite the competition.
I also have a few thanks I’d like to say.
Thank you to EVERYONE whom entered
IRON MECHA. Without you there would be nothing to celebrate.
Thank you
Aaron, Steve (H) and Steve (W), our IRON MECHA judges, for their time,
diligince and opinion.
Thank you to all those that participated in
discussion on IRON MECHA.
Our IRON MECHA Champion is:
Mark Stafford
Congradulation Mark! You’re our IRON MECHA Champion.
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(snip)
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Thanks again and I only have one question remaining, do you want to do it
again?
Your Iron Mecha Host
Mark Neumann
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Congrats Mr. Stafford!! I’m thinking along the lines of Goldie. But you should
be called “IronMecha Quad!”
Thanks to all the participants, judges, lurkers and especially our host, “The
Chairman” Mark Neumann for bringing it all together. I hope this can become an
annual event. I don’t know about monthly like Eric is hinting at. You know
there still is the Soren Building Challenge AND isn’t there 8 more months left
on that clock???
Best,
Jeff
PS thanks Mr. Cooper for the remarks on my freaky bug. Personally I like mechs
that just look cool and nothing else.
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For what it’s worth, I think Brian Cooper’s Bandolero was my favourite right
from the start. The story was lost a little on me since I don’t hardly speak a
word of Spanish. I am grateful for the recently posted unedited shots of the
finished mech. That thing is amazing! It seems to mee that every single stud
and plate is placed deliberately and with a purpose.
Bring on the next competition! (I’ll be sure to name mine next time, it might
gain me a couple of points.)
Nathan
p.s. Now I would really like to see what Mark Neumann’s interpretation of the
inspiration art would be. Come on Mark, it’s your turn.
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In lugnet.build.mecha, Nathan Proudlove wrote:
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For what it’s worth, I think Brian Cooper’s Bandolero was my favourite right
from the start. The story was lost a little on me since I don’t hardly speak
a word of Spanish. I am grateful for the recently posted unedited shots of
the finished mech. That thing is amazing! It seems to mee that every single
stud and plate is placed deliberately and with a purpose.
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Thanks. I had some requests to see the unaltered pics of the Vore Del Mecha,
though that’s sort of like seeing a picture of a guy in an Alien suit sipping
coffee before the camera rolls. ;-) It’s just not scary without the flashing
strobes and smoke that obscure the Alien as the Nostromo computer counts down to
self destruction.
Maybe I should have done a mockumentary, “The Making of Bandolero!”, without
making the actual horror movie... the model would be revealed to be a facade
containing puppeteers/animatronics operators. :-)
K
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Thank you all for your kind words regarding my nearly-studless mecha. You all
understood what I was going for: techno-organic in an unusual colorscheme. Just
finishing this model was a labor of love and was far more difficult that I could
have ever imagined given that I had few parts to work with.
Thanks to our glorious host, the over-worked judges, and my buddy Bryce for
making the entry post for me. I hope we all get to do this again sometime.
-Dave
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My congrats to
Mark Stafford
Congradulation Mark! You’re our IRON MECHA Champion.
Thanks to everybody who participated and all the lurkers.
Special Thanks to the judges for doing this hard job so fine. For me the best
in this contest was to be a participant and not a judge!!
And last but not least, I want to thank our host Mark Neuman. You had a great
idea and you brought it all to live!
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Thanks again and I only have one question remaining, do you want to do it
again?
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Sure! But please don’t make it a monthly competition. It’s too hard if you
have to work on the side. I’d prefer an annual contest or two per year.
Thanks again.
‘Til next time
Marco
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In lugnet.build.mecha, Dave Johann wrote:
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Thank you all for your kind words regarding my nearly-studless mecha. You all
understood what I was going for: techno-organic in an unusual colorscheme.
Just finishing this model was a labor of love and was far more difficult that
I could have ever imagined given that I had few parts to work with.
Thanks to our glorious host, the over-worked judges, and my buddy Bryce for
making the entry post for me. I hope we all get to do this again sometime.
-Dave
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Dave, dear friend, you were robbed... ROBBED I tell ya’!
j/k
I still can’t get over how cool that entry of yours was! It made me feel guilty
for not entering the contest myself. We mecha builders have to stick together...
A la band of brothers. :-p
Mladen Pejic
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