Image "Landsuit_Above_Patterns30%" is terrific - and shows why I wanted
the SMS touch.
Quibbles/praise follow:
"Scream" of the mask may be interpreted too literally. Perhaps
needs to be altered? Horizontal louvres are too obvious...?
It's true, horizontal louvres are the
first port'o'call. Vertical louvres are the other. Other detailing is, natch,
poss.
It must be pointed out, this is a study
for the suit (And, not the Quints neither).
The actual pic will involve both Our
heroine and Pallin in this kit and the Quints in summat more
streamlined.
Diskos, to be a practical weapon, needs to have its full perimeter or as
much of that as possible exposed. I also imagined it having a subtly
double-curved shaft, like a scythe (expediters as Grim Reapers - why not?) -
Now, that is a nice image!
however, the dimensions and shape, I appreciate are subordinate to
composition. The implication that it is a double-ended weapon, the heavy
powerpack or whatever it is at the end opposite the blade is interesting -
never thought of it,
It seemed the obvious thing to do
- to a large extent, for balance.
but the martial arts taught to expediters would no doubt involve the use
of a diskos as an impact as well as cutting weapon, so a substantial mass
opposite the blade could be handy. In some short story or other, I
described training/use of the thing and noted that there would be a lot of
inertia tied up in a rapidly spinning blade, and so combat would appear to be
a rather formalised dance... rather like Kendo...
Well, I inevitably drew the lines in the
disk as a design wotnot but, i'truth, I'm expecting the finished image to show
diskos disks as simply white, possibly distorted by the arc of their
movement.
AND the Eater wrapped around
Meyr.
It occurs to me that, as I've only drawn
'layout' sketches for this, I've not sent 'em to you chaps.
Oops.
Love the composition!
Ta. Andy's 'Fractal' point is
noted.
Again, I must point out, this is just a
'costume study'.
Ruff and helmet crest work for me. Love the "explosive" shape of
the ground.
This image doesn't need to be more complicated, as far as I'm concerned -
I leave this to your judgement, but depicting a specific incident with all
present, accounted for and in their appropriate poses is not an issue for me.
This says enough - as the drawings are a suite, we'll see the faces of
Meyr and Pallin elsewhere.
This image doesn't yet show all the
detaioling of the suits that I'm expercting. I'm still trying to settle on the
basic outlines of the thing, and to make sure the thing looks like it works as
a piece of engineering - I'm still concerned that it's top-heavy This is, it's
true, my fault 'coz I really want a headlight /sensor array in the helmet, a
'Tesla coil/plasma repulse' valvepunk ruff, a 'power pack' type backpack and a
serious chest/shoulder arrangement. All this, before they start swing ruddy
great weaponry...
Oh! - One thing I'm doing is bearing in
mind the suited figure in one of the 'Eater' illos. I'm trying to make 'em
look like they have the same sort'v Tek and similar aesthetics.
Best:
Smuzz
Yeah, what he said.
Also, one notes there is no reason for all diskoses to
be the same size, shape, etc. In TNL it's a hand-and-a-half weapon
- may be used two handed or at a pinch one handed - and so must be about 3 ft
long or slightly longer. In some of John C Wright's stories it's
like a polearm, with a shaft at least six foot long. And the heavy
pommel/counterweight seen here is consistent with a one-handed weapon, but
it's all good.
One/Two-handed seemed to make sense to
me too.
However I agree with Brett about having the whole arc
of the blade exposed.
Additionally, the "below shoulder angle" sketch is
really fine. Lots of dynamic motion trapped in the
metal.
Goody.
About armour:
Lames. Armour is essentially composed
of overlapping lames, which are ring-shaped, cylindrical, or
slice-of-cone-ical pieces of metal assembled to cover a limb or body;
lames overlap downward, that is, where two lames overlap, the larger
lame goes on the outside; lames may be partially cut away where the limb
intersects the body or another limb, in which case the segments of lame
remaining are held together by pin-and-slot constructions to stop them
gaping.
Where does the arm attach to the body? NOT THE
SHOULDER, BUT THE INNER END OF THE COLLAR BONE. The construction
of the arm armour and especially the pauldrons (big stuff covering the
shoulder) reflects this. Practicable pauldrons are split up into
multiple lames and can fold up like a concertina so you can raise your
arm. SEE GOTHIC SUIT. Armour that does not follow this rule
is usually ultra-heavy tournament stuff not designed for much mobility,
overrepresented in surviving suits.
Ok. That makes lotsa sense.
Wilco.
There's a looooong tradition of 'Cool
looking armour' in Fantasy/SF which simply wouldn't articulate. Judge Dredd
and the Warhammer 40K stuff being two highlights.
Actually, if you google 'Space armour'
you'll find the tropes for this stuff is prety well-worn. In the case of this
kit, I'm trying to avoid most 'o'them.
The "neutral" position for the knee or elbow is half
bent. Not straight. The swollen-on-one-side-cut-away-on-the-other
lame covering the knee or elbow (called a COP) reflects this fact.
The pauldron is also a sort of cop.
That's the sort of thing I need t'know.
Thanks.
Lames look ok in these pix.
Whew!
Looking very good.
((but Vertical "scream" face not quite right
somehow.))
Hmnn... I certainly want to retain this
'coz it has an expressionist/ symbolist wotsit to it (I particularly like it .
It's also - vide the images Bret sent - summatt that the Battlestar
GalacticaTNG Cylons seem to have (I've never actually seen the series myself
but understand that it's on my List sometime after finishing the West
Wing). I did spend some time experimenting with various other Helm shapes,
particularly the 'No mouth, just the slit of the visor and thepeak of the
mouthpiece directly below the visor' one but felt happiest with the present
variation on the classic Athenian helm with those cool
cheekguards.
The mouthparts as a 'Open mouth' has
been used pretty often in SF 'Armour' but I've never seen 'em used in such a
'Munch' manner, but suggestions are - obviously - welcome.
Thanks for this.
Enclosed;
Some 'back of the envelope
-type sketches of the sort of layout I'm planning. At this stage it's best to
keep it loose to let the fugures work out where they work best. Knowing
their morphology/balance is going to affect this.
Rest assured, there are lots of
rought sketches like this, often too 'scribbly' to make any visual sense but
just testing patterns...
Best:
Smuzz