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Description
The dichotomy between Western and Eastern mech design is fascinating.

Western designs tend to emit a sense of utilitarianism; repurposed farm equipment or maintenance machines with guns and missile pods slapped onto them when war breaks out. They are weather-worn earthy colored mechanical chickens or frogs, occasionally sporting urban camo with the possible expectation that a 20 foot tall mechanical biped can blend in with buildings (like a tree in a forest) if it stands perfectly still. Designed with practical sensibilities -- their cramped cockpits are stuffed with monitors, switches, dials and fuses, each with a distinct purpose and mathematical formula behind it. Piloted by trained, gruff and usually older combat specialists, they are tools of war and lack the merchantability of their Eastern design philosophy polar opposites -- most likely a conscious choice by Western artists to emphasize their "realistic" qualities.

By contrast, Eastern mechs are generally primary colored affairs, personified giants with metal mustaches and impractical weapons. Alien in creation, they are piloted by space babies who are not cursed by the retarding effects of gravity. Their cockpits are spartan; simple systems controlled by an array of neatly placed buttons, dual joysticks, or the brainwaves of the pilot and almost always driven by the bond of the souls of the pilot and machine. Their prepubescent pilots will save the universe with song and the strength of their emotions, of which they will scream about and lecture on to anyone within earshot. There are no fire extinguishing systems, no redundancies for major circuitry, no emergency pilot extraction systems -- the pilot must fight because once their single gimmick fails, they are naked and are in peril of their lives.

Of course this is all just a major over generalization, but I think the point is clear. The distance of an ocean makes different ideas good ideas. I remain ambivalent towards giant mechs; presentation is a big part of it for me and most games about them are lacking.

Anyway, this model was most likely ripped from Mechwarrior 3 or 4. I have no idea because I've never played either one; I'm not even sure of the name of the mech. Simplified to a reasonable level, there was nothing too off putting about the pattern -- aside from being one of those "parts on top of parts" designs I dislike so much. It could have been slightly more complex, just to make it look more interesting and less texture dependent. As it stands, it's a fairly average build and probably more so aimed at fans of the series rather than someone like myself.

I used Staples basic glossy photo paper for my last attempt at replicating a metallic look (the model choice was pretty much a test of the paper). The paper was a usable weight (about 200 gsm^2) and the glue bonded a bit better than the other brands I'd used, but I decided to give up on glossy photo paper altogether as it just didn't come together as well as I would have liked.

What I will probably try in the future is to use a spray on acrylic, which hopefully will not cause the ink to run or the paper to sag.

Description
The dichotomy between Western and Eastern mech design is fascinating.

Western designs tend to emit a sense of utilitarianism; repurposed farm equipment or maintenance machines with guns and missile pods slapped onto them when war breaks out. They are weather-worn earthy colored mechanical chickens or frogs, occasionally sporting urban camo with the possible expectation that a 20 foot tall mechanical biped can blend in with buildings (like a tree in a forest) if it stands perfectly still. Designed with practical sensibilities -- their cramped cockpits are stuffed with monitors, switches, dials and fuses, each with a distinct purpose and mathematical formula behind it. Piloted by trained, gruff and usually older combat specialists, they are tools of war and lack the merchantability of their Eastern design philosophy polar opposites -- most likely a conscious choice by Western artists to emphasize their "realistic" qualities.

By contrast, Eastern mechs are generally primary colored affairs, personified giants with metal mustaches and impractical weapons. Alien in creation, they are piloted by space babies who are not cursed by the retarding effects of gravity. Their cockpits are spartan; simple systems controlled by an array of neatly placed buttons, dual joysticks, or the brainwaves of the pilot and almost always driven by the bond of the souls of the pilot and machine. Their prepubescent pilots will save the universe with song and the strength of their emotions, of which they will scream about and lecture on to anyone within earshot. There are no fire extinguishing systems, no redundancies for major circuitry, no emergency pilot extraction systems -- the pilot must fight because once their single gimmick fails, they are naked and are in peril of their lives.

Of course this is all just a major over generalization, but I think the point is clear. The distance of an ocean makes different ideas good ideas. I remain ambivalent towards giant mechs; presentation is a big part of it for me and most games about them are lacking.

Anyway, this model was most likely ripped from Mechwarrior 3 or 4. I have no idea because I've never played either one; I'm not even sure of the name of the mech. Simplified to a reasonable level, there was nothing too off putting about the pattern -- aside from being one of those "parts on top of parts" designs I dislike so much. It could have been slightly more complex, just to make it look more interesting and less texture dependent. As it stands, it's a fairly average build and probably more so aimed at fans of the series rather than someone like myself.

I used Staples basic glossy photo paper for my last attempt at replicating a metallic look (the model choice was pretty much a test of the paper). The paper was a usable weight (about 200 gsm^2) and the glue bonded a bit better than the other brands I'd used, but I decided to give up on glossy photo paper altogether as it just didn't come together as well as I would have liked.

What I will probably try in the future is to use a spray on acrylic, which hopefully will not cause the ink to run or the paper to sag.