Scratch/Scrap Build Mech Warrior Alien Invasion - Original Design - WIP - Pcoz

Hello everybody....

I decided to take a break from painting my transformers wall and started a smaller side project.

I hadn't decided to post it until I stumbled upon TheNylonGag MK1 & MK2 threads and his fantastic scratch builds while I was doing a little research. I am by no means the engineer that he is but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. I am using mostly foam board, balsa, pvc pipe, and just about anything I can find in my house or garage ! This is my first scratch build project so any advise anyone should have, please feel free to dish it out !

The basis for this design is to have a two manned (one rear facing gunner) Mech Warrior on a foreign planet with multiple indigenous aliens attacking them. I have a loose picture in my head, but pretty much making this up as I go.......

Here we go:

My goal is to build out the larger shapes and then really pull it together with the details.....

Here is the base pod/cockpit where I will be attaching the arms, legs, weapons





Some details on the hand and the original control panel





potential rockets....haven't decided yet




Right Arm with Cannon yet to be attached





Parts and pieces




Did not like the original cockpit. had a cake topper golf cart laying around and cut it up for parts.







Foam filled with drywall plaster




sanded




just so happens the frame of the golf cart looks like the perfect joysticks to operate this mech !





golf cart greeblies....




I decided to start the pilot because i will need get all the interior done first.










Let the little dude dry for a day then started to carve him up....





dry fit...thumbs to delicate to carve will have to be added later





dry fit to cockpit






this is where i am now....just trying to figure out the style of the pilot and helmet.....

Thanks for checking this out and I will be posting updates soon.

Pcoz

Mech, scratch built. Awesome, subscribed. :thumbsup

Thanks Chaank.....

It looks a little rough around the edges but trust me, I will pull this one out....lol

Pcoz

*****UPDATE*****


Got a little more done today.

Decided to start working on the inside and try to get it finished so I can move to the outers.....





Of course my guys gonna need a fire arm.....Probably attach to his leg or maybe over his chest.





Painting the innards.... Used a drywall repair mesh for the floor. Thought it had a good look.



























This is about as far as I've got....Thanks for looking





Pcoz

Did a little more work on the pilot.....





Pcoz

*******UPDATE*******

Well, got a little more done with the project. It's been fun trying to figure it out on the fly and really making it up as I go along.

I find myself in stores looking at parts and pieces of things to see if they'd fit into my build.....kind of disturbing, but I'm sure most here would understand.

On to the pic's

Rockets or jet packs...not really sure why, but I wanted to include them. To that end, I will probably have to include some type of expandable wing system as if it really were able to fly.



I had a few items laying around...electrical ends, water test bottle containers, etc.





A few pvc 45 degree elbows, foam board...




Decided to use balsa wood for my frame work. Eventually I'd like to try Plastruct or something similar, but for now, I'll stick with good old readily available Balsa.
















dry fitting the main pod to test best location....



I don't have an engineering background, so bear with me on my lack of technical terms.
I thought a spark plug would work well to "drive" the jet pack in and out.




I used foam board to sculpt some details




covered the foam with drywall mud, let dry, and sanded....





Fixed to jets....pretty sweet looking if you ask me....lol




So, we took a spare room in our basement and turned it into "the family's" (MY) craft room.....

Thought it was funny because I don't have the blinds open much because I'm usually working at night. So one Saturday morning, I open them to this growing in the window well.....Yes, that's a big ass weed. But still adds a bit of ambiance... I kept it




With the main jet packs pretty much determined, I turned my attention to fleshing out the cockpit a little.




not sure where I was headed with this other than adding details




As I moved through, ideas and sections seemed to make sense and built themselves




I used the front of the plastic golf cart and some screen repair material to reinforce the top. I also added the hood for possible air intake














I used a small hinge and will conceal it within the build




Purchased some random wooden wheels and wafers to help with the round pieces needed for rotation.




Dry fitting because it will all have to come apart for final paint







So eventually the left arm will have a cannon attached to the top that he will be aiming/shooting.



I have a question if anyone would like to help me out...Should I leave the tops of the jets covered as they are now or open them up for air flow with exposed turbines ?

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas, I'd love to hear from you.

More to come soon.....

Thanks for looking !

Pcoz

****update****

Hello, it's been a while since I posted anything....

I have made much progress, so here is a bit.

I decided to move the cannon over to the left arm. So in doing so, had to change up a few things.



I ended up removing those awful black foam arm bands on the left arm.



working on the hand






here is the rough design of the cannon built from balsa, finger light, and parts from a cheap plastic hand held air pump












dry fitting on arm







Primed and ready to paint









I wanted to paint this up to see how it was going to come out




added battle damage





painting in some detail











ended up over spraying a light coat of that crackle paint to test



adding pipes and wires

























Welp, that's it for now.....I have made way more progress, so that will be coming soon

again, any suggestions / comments welcome

Thanks for looking

Pcoz

This project kind of sat around for a long time while I did other things. I did finally force myself to finish !

So, the more I worked on this, the more I learned...so naturally, the more I changed.

I changed a LOT from the original posts, so here are some updates:

I started working on the legs but I guess I didn't take any pic's until I got to this point.



I'm using parts from one of my son's toys he doesn't play with...beyblades maybe ? They are the thigh and shin sections



The rest are wooden wafers, tire patch tool kit, plastic shims, wire nuts, chair wheels, foam and balsa wood.
























I'll be throwing more updates up pretty quickly until it's done....

Pcoz

Great to see you back at it,

thanks ! this is one project I did in the interim. http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f22/purchased-disney-18-boba-fett-cut-into-pieces-figure-mod-52579/

Don't judge me, I know this workplace is a disaster...lol

As you can see, I'll be using a ton of household scraps, pc speakers, cables, etc for this build.

It's going to look a little crappy for a while until I can fill it out and get a coat of primer on to unify.

I'm mainly concentrating on the form now.







scavenging parts












working a bit on the arms



decided to redo the jet pack with a little more detail












used a foam ball to use as the a rotating base to the body



parts from a McDonalds happy meal toy



had this broken pc speaker I thought would be a good starting point for the mech body















More to come soon...

Thanks for looking

Pcoz

It's looking really good. Now I want to make one!

thank you... it was really a fun project. I definitely learned a lot in the process and refined things towards the end.

Back with a quick update....

working on bulking up the mid section / body



used an old key chain calculator cover for intake grill




a few flashlight ends for exhaust



Speaker cover for grill







I decided to do away the cannon on the arm...it just got too big, so I decided to put a gatling gun on the front
















Starting to build out the sides and front












I'm truly making this up as I go along, so you may see pic's where things may change from time to time depending on how things fit together.






















old mouse battery cover makes for a nice beetle type "hood"



More to come real soon...

Pcoz

Since this project is complete, I started a new one this past weekend...another Hasbro x-wing conversion. It should be fun....I'd like to have it complete in 2-3 weeks.

If anyone can point me in the right direction for any w-wing reference photos, I'd greatly appreciate it. I've found a few in my limited research on the internet.

ok, let's move on....



using the back of some flashlights....



....and parts from liquitite fittings




I fashioned some headlights to fix to the mech




Chrome reflective paper lined inside and back



Fed light through...will determine cover later




starting to build out more of the front and add some detail / greeblies



As I've said before... there is no method to my madness. Just winging it as I go. Some things worked and some didn't.



More wireless mouse parts I thought would be visually interesting



Used as some sort of guard / frame



Obviously ran into some attachment problems that needed to be solved









adding some more greeblies....from scrap electronic boards, wire, etc















looking to build out the sides a little more, I found these cable parts



wooden dowel and some balsa....



I start bouncing around different parts of this mech but soon the entire model will take shape with the addition of some new improvements.

Thanks for meching it out....see what I did there ?

Pcoz

quick update: did not like the hands too much so I decided to cut them off and rebuild

pic's speak for themselves....balsa & foam













































more to come tonight...

Pcoz

ok, back to finish up the new claws....




building some protective plates for each claw















the idea is to have it look like hydraulic actuators









with them fitting snug in the foam...



...i can move them to the desired position and glue










Thanks for looking !

Pcoz

This is one of the most anticipated ongoing build for me.
Very enthusiastic scratch build and great technique.
I am going to build a mech someday near future and this is very inspiring.

I can't wait to see the finished pics.

All the best

katsu