Painted Arc Fleet Armor by Mike Wikan
There's a nice little group on Facebook devoted to 15mm Sci-Fi Gaming. A lot of the manufacturers and hard-core advocates of the scale are there. If'n you're on Facebook, you should join.
Here's the link.
I saw one particular CMG Arc Fleet Tank from a gentleman named Mike Wikan, and complimented him on it. I then asked if I could use it in a blog post.
He ended up sending a dozen beautiful pics of his armored Arc Fleet detachment. Heavy tanks, Medium tanks, and APCs.
The heavies even have their own nose art and names. Hell's Belle, Black Cat, and Witchy Woman. Very nice personal touches.
Some APCs. A very utilitarian battle taxi. These shared the same basic hull as...
...the Medium Grav Tank. A very hard-hitting design.
A missile platform and a command vehicle were also created on the APC hull.
They're wonderful paintups of some of my favorite sculpts for CMG. These designs really stand up to the test of time.
My sincere thanks to Mr. Wikan for sharing them.
To buy some of your own, here's the link to the Arc Fleet section of Critical Mass Games store.
http://criticalmassgames.com/default.asp?category=arcfleet
Best,
JBR
PS, as an added bonus for those of you who scrolled all the way down, here's a couple new rendered screen shots of the CMG Arc Fleet Heavy Grav Tank.
Here's the Heavy Grav Tank, screen captured from my sculpting rig. The original source art/proposal sketch is in the background. Obviously, some things changed from sketch to final product, but I always like showing the roots of a project.
Here's the rendered beast with the "tuning fork" gauss cannon. This bad boy just oozes "drop in from orbit and crush your enemies."
Some folks left off the "ear" missile launchers, which is understandable, but it's always nice to give customers the option of doing so.
-JBR
Here's the link.
I saw one particular CMG Arc Fleet Tank from a gentleman named Mike Wikan, and complimented him on it. I then asked if I could use it in a blog post.
The heavies even have their own nose art and names. Hell's Belle, Black Cat, and Witchy Woman. Very nice personal touches.
A missile platform and a command vehicle were also created on the APC hull.
They're wonderful paintups of some of my favorite sculpts for CMG. These designs really stand up to the test of time.
My sincere thanks to Mr. Wikan for sharing them.
To buy some of your own, here's the link to the Arc Fleet section of Critical Mass Games store.
http://criticalmassgames.com/default.asp?category=arcfleet
Best,
JBR
PS, as an added bonus for those of you who scrolled all the way down, here's a couple new rendered screen shots of the CMG Arc Fleet Heavy Grav Tank.
Some folks left off the "ear" missile launchers, which is understandable, but it's always nice to give customers the option of doing so.
-JBR
Comments
I also like your technical details behind the finished model. Please keep doing that.
As an aside, I see the grav tank above as a early iteration in design. The looks are outstanding. In regards to a sci-fi technical standpoint, the exposed grave plates and gas tank-like mechanisms seem vulnerable. As a designer and a veteran who has been around military vehicles in real life, what is your design philosophy on this?
Thanks very much for taking the time.
I mean this completely as a compliment--I feel that you downplay your creativity and work sometimes(in past posts). You really are at the top of this field or else these companies would not use you. Please keep up the great work and show us more cool stuff!!!! :)
I'm humbled, and grateful.
As to the exposed grav pod issue, there are a few thoughts that went into it.
I got around the issue of severe shot traps by saying that the a-grav field provides a limited defensive shielding, or a "refractive slipperiness," that provides a limited degree of protection. Not full shielding, mind you, but a severe deflection of incoming projectiles, and refraction/diffusion of energy beams.
Also, I felt that the a-grav effect might be limited if the pods were enveloped by the hull.
That's the "rule of cool" mindset that went into design, as I recall. I was influenced, coming up, by FASA's Centurion ground combat game, which had a similar concept.
A more real-world aspect to the design was this: I wanted them to look different than a lot of what was out there at the time.
When I designed these, a large number of a-grav tanks had taken on the "cheese wedge of doom" look (understandable from a tactical viewpoint, of course, but they all looked the same). I wanted to differentiate these models from anything else out there.
So, I exposed their a-grav generators, while doing some "handwavium" rationalization about improvised grav-wave deflection.
;)
Thanks for the chance to explain.
Thanks very much for your thoughts on the subject.
In regards to "a-grav field provides a limited defensive shielding." I was actually thinking something along these lines as well! It would make for great game play and add a new element to an army.
I think you succeeded in making a more unique vehicle.
Thanks much!