Having posted the model to both the MekTek forums and the Minecraft forums, I thought it would be fitting to post it to the official Battletech forums as well. It is unfortunate that the CBT forums were hacked.
Source:
http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=1041&t=247395Here is my artistic interpretation of a voxelized Timberwolf battlemech in Minecraft. It is based on a front and side view of the Timberwolf from the following schematics:
http://ppc.warhawkenterprises.com/diagrams/timberwolff.jpghttp://ppc.warhawkenterprises.com/diagrams/timberwolfs.jpgI accomplished voxelization by importing the images into a paint program and overlaying a grid on both images. Unfortunately, details are lost both in the schematics not showing all details, in the fact that the schematics do not coincide (the arm size and positions differ), and in the conversion to large pixels, so I had to guess on some things and take artistic license in some areas.
The mech is ~4.5:1 scale. It is 63 blocks high, which corresponds to a 63 meter-tall mech and at 1:1 scale a height of 14 meters at the top of the LRM racks. The footprint is 46 (from left outer toe to right outer toe) and 39 from front of the cockpit to the rear of the knees at the scale I was using. The mech took I would guess about 18 to 24 hours of work spread out over two weeks, non-stop (including planning). I completed the one half of the mech on the 12th of March, 2011. My friend HandOfCode (who also provided the multiplayer server and helped hollow out some of the body parts) mirrored the mech on the 13th using a map editor, and I took the screenshots on the 14th. In hindsight I should have removed the front and side projections that I used for aligning blocks before I took the screenshots, but I did manage to remove most of the scaffolding around the mech.
All in all, it was a large challenge to build mostly due to having to visualize the three-dimensional model from the two images and use artistic license for the obscured parts (like the rear of the mech). I hope you guys enjoy it.
EDIT:
*Alarms sound*
Comms: "This is HQ to any available units."
Comms: "We have 'mechs down at NAV Gamma."
Comms: "Bravo cadet reports four Summoners on site."
Comms: "Bandits are hostile!"
Comms: "I repeat: Bandits are hostile!"
*You enter the black cockpit hatch*
*You begin the battlemech's start sequence and inspect the cockpit*
Computer: "REACTOR:
ONLINE"
Computer: "SENSORS:
ONLINE"
Computer: "WEAPONS:
ONLINE"
Computer: "ALL SYSTEMS:
NOMINAL"
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Misc additional screenshots can be found at my imgur album:
http://kargoneth.imgur.com/minecraft_battletech_timberwolf_battlemech
