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Wallpapers Wednesday : Classic BattleTech

July 22nd, 2009

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Wallpapers of ‘Mechs from the Classic BattleTech universe, originally published by FASA and now by Catalyst Game Labs since 2007.

I have always been a fan of ‘Mechs and giant robots, especially after experiencing the marvellous Mechwarrior 2 on an ancient 486 some ten years back – the feel of piloting a blocky mess of polygons with a incredible arsenal of death-dealing firepower was an intensely novel experience for that time.

Image stolen from Jay Barnson’s very readable Tales of the Rampant Coyote blog.

The later sequels didn’t have that same magical feel despite their superior graphics – perhaps it was technically the same gameplay in a prettier package of sorts or maybe it was just my nostalgia for Mechwarrior 2, plain and simple

OK, I think I should stop rambling now but these wallpapers for Classic BattleTech do bring back good memories of those good old days. Below, I showcase several of my favourite pieces, like this faceoff between a Timbercat (left) and a skull faced Atlas (right).

Now this one below is reminds me of the box art for Mechwarrior 4.

One for Gundam fans, does this look like a Zaku I (note pinkish red monoeye) with a Darth Vaderish head or is it just me?

Download these Classic BattleTech wallpapers. The same gallery also includes a good selection of high-res cover art for Technical Supplements that have not been resized as wallpapers.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
The BattleTech Foodchain
Alien+Mecha Designer Tham Hoi Mun
Awesome Gundam Renders by Ivan Sanchez
Titans of Steel – Warring Suns (Freeware Mecha Wargame)
Keith Thompson – Macabre Mecha Illustrator

Art Friday : Alien+Mecha Designer Tham Hoi Mun

May 15th, 2009

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First encountered Malaysian artist Tham Hoi Mun‘s (aka NuMioH at deviantART) artworks though his Dominance War III entry Garabath – a alien mechanical hybrid bristling with spikes from head to toe and looking awesomely badass. If Garabath’s isn’t awe-inspiring enough for you, the wispy, smoky Cursed Soul of Garabath should do the trick:)

More ominous half-alien, half-machine entities await at his deviantART gallery including a lethal chainsaw chopper (above) and a couple of Japanese-inspired mecha designs (no, not Gundam ) – Ameterasu and the lion masked, ebony-armoured Bishamon.

A couple of my favourite mecha designs by Hoi Mun. Menacing, aggressive and bloody red stuff

Not every mecha in his gallery is mean and spiky though, there’s Zierneth (below), one fine example of his sleeker and more streamlined designs.

Besides the mechanical designs and illustrations, there’s the more organic, fantasy stuff like this an fearsome undead king wielding a murderously huge mace, a mantis warrior as well as a well-fed zombie (finally a zombie who doesn’t look like a walking sack of bones )

Check out other artworks in Tham Hoi Mun’s portfolio at their original high-res glory at numioh.deviantart.com. Alternatively, visit his blog More Ink Please where he posts doodles and sketches on top of his usual works at deviantART.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
My Favourite Dominance War III Wallpapers
Awesome Gundam Renders by Ivan Sanchez
Titans of Steel – Warring Suns (Freeware Mecha Wargame)
Keith Thompson – Macabre Mecha Designer

Tags: Art Artists Mecha Recommended

Art Friday : Concepts & Wallpapers from Iron Grip : Warlord

February 20th, 2009

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A selection of concepts from Isotx’s fascinating Iron Grip universe as seen in their RTS-FPS offering Iron Grip : Warlord. This richly detailed steampunk-ish universe specially created for Isotx’s Iron Grip series of games draws so many constrasting influences from the past, present and future that it’s incredibly diffcult to pigeonhole the world of Iron Grip as being defined by any single time period.

Below are just some of the combat scenes featured on the offcial Iron Grip : Warlord website.

There’s a Herran Legion General of the invading Fahrong Army in Napoleonic dress (complete with the trademark bicorne hat) and scale armour (!) on horseback leading a line of the dreaded Herrad Legionnaires in gasmasks and armed with WWII bazoookas.

Armour of the elite Herrad Legion is distinctively WWI (also note Prussian-style spiked pickelhaube helmet) together with the inclusion of kneepads and the occassional ancient/medieval helmet – note 11th century Italo-Norman helmet influence (inset).

Confederate troops with WWII-vintage bolt-action rifles and a S54 Scarab which looks suspiciously like a British Daimler Dingo armoured car (right) on the advance supported by a trio of the spiderlike steam-powered walker tanks aka Arachs in the background. The above artwork by Slawomir Maniak.

Concept art for the Confederate S75 “Ontos” tank by Keith Thompson. More concepts of the vehicles of Iron Grip at his personal website (yep, the same awesome Keith Thompson I wrote about some one and a half year back after a tipoff by the mysterious e)

The varied arsenal of the Atelian militia (the faction that you play as in Iron Grip : Warlord) – there’re revolvers and assault rifles, a Praetorian heavy machine gun (top left) which resembles a man-portable Browning M1917 machinegun and even an antiquated Gamonov Autofiring Handgun not unlike one of those early firearms (a flintlock possibly?) modified to load from a magazine.

A motley militia of poorly-armed and equipped Atelians illustrated by Slawomir Maniak. Of special interest is the foremost character (probably an Atelian warlord because of his better equipment) wearing a helmet partially inspired by that worn by a Roman murmillo gladiator (either that or the morion of a Spanish conquistador).

Check out more fantastic artwork from the official Iron Grip : Warlord website, devinatART, grab the wallpapers or explore the world of Iron Grip. There’s also a demo for Iron Grip : Warlord – more on that in the near future.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Keith Thompson’s Macabre Mechas
Killzone 2 Concepts
AT-43 Concept Art & Wallpapers
Command & Conquer : Red Alert 3 Units – Past and Present Inspirations
Metal Gear AC!D 1 & 2 Concept Art

Tags: Armour Art Artists Firearms Games Mecha Recommended Wallpapers

Art Friday : Awesome Gundam Renders by Ivan Sanchez

December 26th, 2008

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Meticulously detailed Gundam renders are a hallmark of Ivan Sanchez aka sandrum‘s deviantART gallery which showcases over 60 renders of his shiny mecha models from Bandai’s Gundam meta-universe.

I especially like his more dynamic works where the models are superimposed over images of fiery explosions or serene spacescapes that actually complement rather than distract from the models themselves.

A selection of my favourites below.

A Shin Musha Gundam surveys a battlefield of dismembered GMs and Zakus.

Wing Gundam Zero, rendered in classic MG model kit style.

A bright orange Gouf Ignited from the Gundam Seed Destiny’s timeline.

A trio of FAZZ Sentinels in space.

Available as high resolution downloads, these renders make perfect desktop wallpapers too, like this stunning image of Akatsuki Gundam below .

The massive GP-03D Dendrobium.

Ivan Sanchez’s gallery is definitely a site not to be missed for fans of the ever-expanding range of mecha in the Gundam meta-universe.

Check out more of Ivan Sanchez’s works over at sandrum.deviantart.com. Be sure to also check out his Anaheim Machines Project where he posts more renders of WIP mechas.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Zaku II CG Artwork by Tetuya Watanabe
Gundam Papercraft Downloads
Mecha Image of The Day (miotd.com)
Gundam Musou / Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Game Intro Download
Mecha Galore in A.C.E 3

Tags: Art Artists Mecha Recommended

Art Friday : Cool Papercraft Links From MIT

October 10th, 2008

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Guess what I found at MIT (yes, the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology) – two very cool papercraft sites recommended by the Toy Product Design course at the MIT OpenCourseware site.

The first one is PaperRobots1999.com where you can find plans for building a series of papercraft figures with articulated limbs, which of course makes them far more posable than the typical static papermodels. Don’t let the site name fool you since it’s not all paper robots over there – there’s Spiderman and Ash Williams from the Army of Darkness among the classic Transformers like Optimus Prime, Megatron and even a transformable Jetfire.

The other papercraft site featured was Fwis’ Readymech series – somewhat similiar to the designer papercraft of Shin Tanaka. The main draw of these papertoys are the colourful illustrations on the majority of these cute little toys. Some of my faves below.