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 Building / Mecha / 14135
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Subject: 
Re: IRON MECHA Results!
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.build.mecha
Date: 
Thu, 9 Feb 2006 13:44:07 GMT
Viewed: 
2666 times
  
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



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: IRON MECHA Results!
 
(...) 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 (...) (18 years ago, 9-Feb-06, to lugnet.build.mecha, FTX)

Message is in Reply To:
  IRON MECHA Results!
 
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. (...) (18 years ago, 9-Feb-06, to lugnet.announce, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.build.contests, FTX) !! 

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