Author Topic: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.  (Read 3810 times)

marauder648

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 8157
    • Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs
A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« on: 18 September 2017, 11:20:53 »


The original Gyrfalcon art had some issues in my books.  First there was the AC-2's that looked like WW1 machine guns, and then there was the ER Large lasers that you could probably park a mini-van in.  They were absurdly huge bore, if you look at the cockpit and assume that is at least 5 feet tall on the original art, you could easily have a laser barrel that was 5 feet tall and at least 3 - 4 across.  In short, absurd, unless the Falcons just used a NL-55 barrel instead because they had some laying around.

This version has more proportioned guns, and is more slender and leggy, echoing the long legs of the Eyrie as well as the more slender, less blocky look of the re-done (again, non canon) Shrike I had Plog commissioned to do.

What do you folks think?  She's obviously not finished yet.
Ghost Bears: Cute and cuddly. Until you remember its a BLOODY BEAR!

Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs - https://thezhukovau.wordpress.com/

Maingunnery

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 7185
  • Pirates and C3 masters are on the hitlist
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #1 on: 18 September 2017, 11:46:44 »

It appears to me that the location of the lasers and the ACs have been switched, but it is quite a good look.
Herb: "Well, now I guess we'll HAVE to print it. Sounds almost like the apocalypse I've been working for...."

The Society:Fan XTRO & Field Manual
Nebula California: HyperTube Xtreme
Nebula Confederation Ships

marauder648

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 8157
    • Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #2 on: 18 September 2017, 11:54:52 »
It appears to me that the location of the lasers and the ACs have been switched, but it is quite a good look.

Aye, it made more sense to have the AC's on the arms, you can mount the ammo alongside the guns then instead of having to run it up the arm or across from the torso through a very hard working and complex joint.  Instead you've got the smaller power couplings for the lasers going through and the AC's will have their ammo with them in the gun mounting/forearm itself.
Ghost Bears: Cute and cuddly. Until you remember its a BLOODY BEAR!

Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs - https://thezhukovau.wordpress.com/

Wrangler

  • Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 25018
  • Dang it!
    • Battletech Fanon Wiki
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #3 on: 18 September 2017, 13:21:27 »
It looks great what you got, Marauder.

I have to disagree with the re-design. I wasn't happy with the TRO art they used from Chris Lewis, the sculpt from the original MWDA was much better and was less cartoonish.  However, the Gyrfalcon is suppose to be able to can flip it's arms like a Rifleman. Which makes it good design feature. Your redesign makes it look like smaller Shrike or even a winged version the Battle Armor used in MechAssault2 the main character was using.
"Men, fetch the Urbanmechs.  We have an interrogation to attend to." - jklantern
"How do you defeat a Dragau? Shoot the damn thing. Lots." - Jellico 
"No, it's a "Most Awesome Blues Brothers scene Reenactment EVER" waiting to happen." VotW Destrier - Weirdo  
"It's 200 LY to Sian, we got a full load of shells, a half a platoon of Grenadiers, it's exploding outside, and we're wearing flak jackets." VoTW Destrier - Misterpants
-Editor on Battletech Fanon Wiki

Bren

  • Warrant Officer
  • *
  • Posts: 632
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #4 on: 18 September 2017, 18:08:12 »
Really dig the art and design, but In my eyes it's a bit too much of a departure from the original. I liked the Shadow Hawk lineage. Personally if I was going about a redesign I'd make something somewhere in between the original art and the Shadow Hawk II. The original is a bit too anthropomorphized for my liking.


Maingunnery

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 7185
  • Pirates and C3 masters are on the hitlist
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #5 on: 18 September 2017, 18:16:39 »
It looks great what you got, Marauder.

I have to disagree with the re-design. I wasn't happy with the TRO art they used from Chris Lewis, the sculpt from the original MWDA was much better and was less cartoonish.  However, the Gyrfalcon is suppose to be able to can flip it's arms like a Rifleman. Which makes it good design feature. Your redesign makes it look like smaller Shrike or even a winged version the Battle Armor used in MechAssault2 the main character was using.
What about if the side-torses and wings were moved/stretched to give the weapons more room to flip around?
Herb: "Well, now I guess we'll HAVE to print it. Sounds almost like the apocalypse I've been working for...."

The Society:Fan XTRO & Field Manual
Nebula California: HyperTube Xtreme
Nebula Confederation Ships

Easy

  • Warrant Officer
  • *
  • Posts: 591
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #6 on: 18 September 2017, 18:49:05 »
That's the way it's going to look when I imagine it now.

marauder648

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 8157
    • Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #7 on: 19 September 2017, 01:27:07 »
It looks great what you got, Marauder.

I have to disagree with the re-design. I wasn't happy with the TRO art they used from Chris Lewis, the sculpt from the original MWDA was much better and was less cartoonish.  However, the Gyrfalcon is suppose to be able to can flip it's arms like a Rifleman. Which makes it good design feature. Your redesign makes it look like smaller Shrike or even a winged version the Battle Armor used in MechAssault2 the main character was using.

I wasn't a fan of the big long rifles look of the art, and whilst yes the arm flipping is good, you can't do it the normal way IE going clockwise and 'over' the shoulder' with it due to the Partial wing system being in the way, or potentially being in the way if you need to jump.  So instead you have to go counter clockwise and rotate the arms down to point backwards and that just puts a whole extra level of stress on the shoulder joint as it has to rotate all that way around.  You'd also have to sacrifice any real ability to move the arms, they would have to be fixed rifles that could only elevate and depress. You loose any flexibility of them being arm mounted because any aiming would have to be done with the torso as there's no left or right panning with the guns otherwise.  And then there's there's the AC's on the shoulders.  Not a bad thing in itself, they were on a gimballed mount so you could at least pan then and seemingly elevate them too.  But I don't even wanna think of how complicated you'd have to make the ammo feed for the guns if they went from the torso into the shoulder if you've got to have a fully rotating shoulder mount that goes the 'wrong' way when it rotates. 

By massively shortening the lasers from their NL-55 mounts and swapping positions with the ACs to get some actual arms you get a lot more flexibility.  With hands you can move things aside (trees etc) or punch a hole in something to stick your gun through rather than having to use the barrel of a laser as a club.  You'd also have a damn sight easier time trying to stand up with a hand and bendy arm than trying to use the lasers as stilts. And that got me thinking about how hard it would be to stand up with arms like that. Something like a Warhammer could do it by resting on one arm as they have an elbow joint, and then jamming the other gun into the ground and using that as a stilt until you get your feet under you and can stand. But without an elbow joint it would be a bloody nightmare. 
You'd have to like..roll onto your belly and then it all depends where the arms are.  If the arms were forwards and I would now assume pointing 'up' past your head, you'd have to either do it entirely with the legs or spin the arms round over your shoulders , digging one or both guns into the floor to lever yourself up until you can get a leg under you.   (and now I'm wondering how something like a Vanquisher or Stalker would stand up, unless they scooted along on their 'nose' and then slammed it into reverse, making the Mech rear back enough for them to shove a leg forwards and get it under them enough to stand, otherwise they'd basically be doing this - https://imgur.com/gallery/nJGuVl8  :s )

I know i'm over thinking this and I'm not criticising your points, but rather pointing out what I didn't like about the original art/design.  The 'mini-Shrike' look is kind of deliberate and perhaps a 'subtle' (in a Clan way) attempt at deception.  Think of this as the Hipper to the Shrike's Bismarck.  The Germans very deliberately made their battleship and heavy cruiser look the same in almost every regard (apart from scale obviously) so to trick and decive an opponent or someone who spots one. 
Same kind of thing here, some PBI sees a Mech coming towards him (or a group of them) and radios it in, and its a 'big thing with wings' and his commander could now be thinking "Oh god, its an assault Mech."
« Last Edit: 19 September 2017, 02:46:32 by marauder648 »
Ghost Bears: Cute and cuddly. Until you remember its a BLOODY BEAR!

Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs - https://thezhukovau.wordpress.com/

Siden Pryde

  • Warrant Officer
  • *
  • Posts: 531
  • Papermaster
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #8 on: 19 September 2017, 21:57:16 »
Lovin the new look.  Look forward to seeing the finished piece.

marauder648

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 8157
    • Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #9 on: 23 September 2017, 12:46:43 »




Deployment complete!

Done by Matt Plog.

Ghost Bears: Cute and cuddly. Until you remember its a BLOODY BEAR!

Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs - https://thezhukovau.wordpress.com/

Wildonion

  • Warrant Officer
  • *
  • Posts: 741
  • I'm just a few onions short of a patch.
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #10 on: 26 September 2017, 17:42:51 »
*grabby hands* That is such an awesome redesign! It feels more in keeping with the other Dark Age 'Mechs that the Falcons were spitting out, rather than an odd Rifleman-esq blend.

Phobos

  • Warrant Officer
  • *
  • Posts: 664
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #11 on: 29 September 2017, 05:54:07 »
MUCH better than that rather disappointing interpretation in the official TRO...

Black_Knyght

  • Captain
  • *
  • Posts: 1897
  • Nisi mors certum est in bello
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #12 on: 13 October 2017, 13:59:38 »





Interesting enough, the unfinished artwork immediately made me think of some kind of cool Jade Falcon battle armor for some reason!

marauder648

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 8157
    • Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs
Re: A new (non canon) Gyrfalcon look.
« Reply #13 on: 17 October 2017, 01:49:08 »

Interesting enough, the unfinished artwork immediately made me think of some kind of cool Jade Falcon battle armor for some reason!

That works too :D
Ghost Bears: Cute and cuddly. Until you remember its a BLOODY BEAR!

Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs - https://thezhukovau.wordpress.com/