Dragon II preview

[Domi1981]

Ugh,, seems whatever I say its wrong. Yes, I know there are many details missing. But I think its the highest amount of detail they can get. Yes I wish it was that cool like the artworks but it seems to be impossible for IWM. All in all comparing wayfarers pics with the pics of the first post is a hugh difference. At first i though they have clued the cockpit onto the front of a torso and in wayfarers pics you see the correctly tilted angle of the torso, still the cockpit is just like a box with windows. looks rather cheap/beta. I wouldn´t something like that into production. But I´m a perfectionist. Maybe Games Workshop will do minis for BT one day  ::)
Sadly all the segments were clued into single surfaces. Look at all the lines depicting the single armor plates, the protection plate for the cockpit, the tilted angles of modules all over the torso, its all simpled down to one chunk of metall. If I was the artist who painted the artwork I would be pissed

[Gromik]

Sadly all the segments were clued into single surfaces. Look at all the lines depicting the single armor plates, the protection plate for the cockpit, the tilted angles of modules all over the torso, its all simpled down to one chunk of metall. If I was the artist who painted the artwork I would be pissed

A great deal of the armor plate lines are actually on the mini, they're just very light and subtle.  If you look closely at Wayfarer's second pic, you can see the panel lines on the torso, legs, etc.  Not all of them are there, but a lot of them are.  The armor panel lines on the shoulders are not there, for example.

Many thanks to Wayfarer for the pics!

Edit: Those pics confirm it, I'll have to buy a second one.  Haven't been able to assemble mine yet due to a missing leg sprue.   :'(

[Weirdo]

Maybe Games Workshop will do minis for BT one day  ::)

Why on earth would you wish a fate like that on a hobby people actually enjoy :o?

[Lorcan Nagle]

A grim future where every Battlemech stands with its legs apart, a ranged weapon on the right arm and a close combat one in the left

[Weirdo]

I'd be more worried about the price hike. I'd rather my minis not go from a few minis a year to a mini every few years...only way I could see that working out is if I turned to a life of crime.

[SteelRaven]

Maybe Games Workshop will do minis for BT one day  ::)

... and that will be the day I buying BT minis all together because I can't afford to spend that type of money on a table top game.

[RABIDFOX50]

Games Workshop and Battletech should not be used in the same sentence. It's like dividing by zero.  :-X

[DarkSpade]

Games Workshop and Battletech should not be used in the same sentence. It's like dividing by zero.  :-X

But you just...

[Wrangler]

Wow, that Dragon II really a big sucker. Its just about the same size as the Fafnir!

Thanks for sharing, Wayfarer.

[SteelWarrior]

I'd be more worried about the price hike. I'd rather my minis not go from a few minis a year to a mini every few years...only way I could see that working out is if I turned to a life of crime.

ROFL price hike..

You DO know that BT is about 1:1 price per mini as GW stuff right?   $60 GW box of 5 guys = $12/mini rounded....same as BT mechs.  Alot of missing reality in this here thread :p

[TS_Hawk]

Man, whatever it is you've had today that makes you think the cockpit is right...I think I need some of that. The cockpit is STILL off. Go back and look at the images of the cover & art inside of TRO 3145 Draconis Combine. You will see the cockpit is NOT right. Look at the overall angle of the cockpit, space between the front of the "glass" of the cockpit & the bottom where it meets the chest. Etc...

I too am amazed at the length of this thread. I figured it would have dropped by now.

Maybe I am confused but the cockpit looks fine to me.  Yes I see what it is that you are trying to point out but seriously it looks fine.  And if I remember something that somebody said in a previous thread or year on here is that mini's will never truly match up with the TRO artwork or something like that?

But I think what is bothering me about this is that this is mini for a game and yet there are those who are being so overly critical of something that is going to be handled on a regular basis?  This isn't some model that once it is done you put up on a shelf or in a display case and let people who come over and marvel at it.

[StCptMara]

Maybe I am confused but the cockpit looks fine to me.  Yes I see what it is that you are trying to point out but seriously it looks fine.  And if I remember something that somebody said in a previous thread or year on here is that mini's will never truly match up with the TRO artwork or something like that?

But I think what is bothering me about this is that this is mini for a game and yet there are those who are being so overly critical of something that is going to be handled on a regular basis?  This isn't some model that once it is done you put up on a shelf or in a display case and let people who come over and marvel at it.

One thing I have seen here in the miniatures preview, etc threads:
There are people who will love every mini, no matter what.
There are people who will hate every mini, no matter what.

These two groups will be the most vocal. If you give a balanced opinion, one side
will be upset at you for not loving the mini. The other side will be upset at you for
not hating the mini.

Eventually one of two things happen: people get tired of the arguing at each other,
(each side being conviced they are right, and the other side is wrong and unwilling
to listen to a compromise point of view) and the thread goes quiet and is forgotten.
OR: the two sides ratchet up the vitriol about their opinion, getting more and more
angry at each other until someone crosses a line, the Mod's step in, and the thread
gets locked, and warnings and bans get handed out.

Personally, I am hoping this thread goes the first option, because the second is always
kind of sucky..

[GunjiNoKanrei]

This isn't some model that once it is done you put up on a shelf or in a display case...

But that's exactly what I will do with it once I get my hands on a Dragon II. Actually that's what I do with most of my miniatures, because painting miniatures, not playing tt games is my hobby. So display shelf it is or rather a dark box never seeing the light of day again...

[Dragon41673]

One thing I have seen here in the miniatures preview, etc threads:
There are people who will love every mini, no matter what.
There are people who will hate every mini, no matter what.

These two groups will be the most vocal. If you give a balanced opinion, one side
will be upset at you for not loving the mini. The other side will be upset at you for
not hating the mini.

Eventually one of two things happen: people get tired of the arguing at each other,
(each side being conviced they are right, and the other side is wrong and unwilling
to listen to a compromise point of view) and the thread goes quiet and is forgotten.
OR: the two sides ratchet up the vitriol about their opinion, getting more and more
angry at each other until someone crosses a line, the Mod's step in, and the thread
gets locked, and warnings and bans get handed out.

Personally, I am hoping this thread goes the first option, because the second is always
kind of sucky..

Agreed...although I have been a little vocal about the mini, it didn't stop me from buying 2 of them for my personal collection. If it was closer to the art, even if it was a little off, I'd be ok with it. I just think the sculpt is too far off to be acceptably "close" to the art. If only 1-2 parts were off, it would be fine. As it has been said, we will never get a mini that is exactly like the art, but in this case...it's just not close enough.

[Domi1981]

One thing I have seen here in the miniatures preview, etc threads:
There are people who will love every mini, no matter what.
There are people who will hate every mini, no matter what.

These two groups will be the most vocal. If you give a balanced opinion, one side
will be upset at you for not loving the mini. The other side will be upset at you for
not hating the mini.

Eventually one of two things happen: people get tired of the arguing at each other,
(each side being conviced they are right, and the other side is wrong and unwilling
to listen to a compromise point of view) and the thread goes quiet and is forgotten.
OR: the two sides ratchet up the vitriol about their opinion, getting more and more
angry at each other until someone crosses a line, the Mod's step in, and the thread
gets locked, and warnings and bans get handed out.

Personally, I am hoping this thread goes the first option, because the second is always
kind of sucky..

Now thats a bit unfair to me. This is the first mech I am complaining about. I actually love the new Thunderbolt models. All of them. Although I think again there some details missing. but all in all Its great with the legs being in movement and the detailed cockpit. The new designs look like actual machines that can be sent out into a real battlefield and thats what I missed with the old figures. Remember the unseen Battlemaster? With a cockpit that exposed it wouldn´t last long. Or think of the useless clunky legs and feet of D. Loose? I´m glad that this time is over. The TRO 3025 was okay but after that Loose lost the ground under his feet. Now the Mechs look again like industrial robots, real robots. Its believable that they can move.

Now the only thing we have to deal with are faces and penises. Those have to go #P

[Dragon41673]

Now the only thing we have to deal with are faces and penises. Those have to go #P

Domi1981 likes faceless eunuch's.  ::)

I agree on the Thunderbolt, but that's a perfect example of a mech that is much closer to the art than the Dragon II ever hopes to be.

[RABIDFOX50]

But you just...

Oops!  :D

[StCptMara]

Now thats a bit unfair to me. This is the first mech I am complaining about. I actually love the new Thunderbolt models. All of them. Although I think again there some details missing. but all in all Its great with the legs being in movement and the detailed cockpit. The new designs look like actual machines that can be sent out into a real battlefield and thats what I missed with the old figures. Remember the unseen Battlemaster? With a cockpit that exposed it wouldn´t last long. Or think of the useless clunky legs and feet of D. Loose? I´m glad that this time is over. The TRO 3025 was okay but after that Loose lost the ground under his feet. Now the Mechs look again like industrial robots, real robots. Its believable that they can move.

Well, actually, I was more looking at this is a passionate fanbase. There people who hate every mini. There are people
who love every mini. Not, these are not necessarily the same people every time. I also was not singling you, or anyone
else, out. (Actually..I think this one has had a greater degree of reasonableness to it then similar threads in the past).

However, with minis(OK, and a lot of other things on here), a lot of people react emotionally first, and lock their opinions
in ferrocrete. It is the one downside to having such passionate fans. They are, well, passionate.

[Domi1981]

And as a Sociologist with focus on Advertising and brand sociology and can tell you that this is the best that can happen to company ;)

[IAMCLANWOLF]

I will say this; there are inspired moments when hand done work reaches a pinnacle that is simply unparalleled by digital. A true work of art.

Digital might be more consistent, and re-workable, but there's nothing quite like hand-done perfection. 



 

[Dragon41673]

I will say this; there are inspired moments when hand done work reaches a pinnacle that is simply unparalleled by digital. A true work of art.

Digital might be more consistent, and re-workable, but there's nothing quite like hand-done perfection.

Art will always be art, no matter if it was done by hand, or computer...but something done by hand can be a masterpiece & truly a skilled creation whereas a computer generated item will never be.

Granted it's technically done by hand, but entering a design on a computer is a million times different than actually "creating" something from scratch like a miniature.

[Psycho]

Or think of the useless clunky legs and feet of D. Loose? I´m glad that this time is over.

Oh, you poor (or maybe fortunate?) soul. You haven't seen what came out of the early DA. You don't know what useless and clunky legs are until you've seen a Legionnaire... And then imagined it trying to run at over 100 kph.  :'(

[Domi1981]

Which brings me to another idea: the power myomer bundles and how they are barely credible within most mech designs. i mean most mechs look like their arms and legs are operated with pneumatics and servos. That is actually cool to look at but it would not make it believable that such a Legionaire could run within 118 Km/h. I mean, in relation to an ant we look very clunky (not to think of elephants) but the strenght of muscles does incredible things (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFojqoAfJ7g)
With most mech designs I wonder where these myomer muscles are implemented. The old unseens had more room for this imagination. The concept of muscles being implemented into the unseen wasp was quite credible. The locust not so. But I´m getting off topic. Sorry.

[StoneRhino]

But you just...

Your avatar of a pony peeking nervously over something is perfect for that line. ;D