New Imperator Mech From Gruntz

Robin over at Gruntz has commissioned a series of large to mid-size mech kits. His newest is the Imperator, designed by none other than David White, of Mechazone fame.

The kit is scaled for 15mm, and is about 80mm tall to the top of its pods, and is what I am starting to consider the perfect Main Battle Mecha size. 3 to 3.5 inches tall (76 to 89mm for you metric types) is a great size for your average, line-of-battle mech that would be taking the same theoretical role as the modern main battle tank.

Here was Robin's design process, as he wrote...

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I decided I wanted to put some art into the Gruntz rules to cover the fact that I had Mecha's featured in the rules. Given that I have a background in mecha gaming and love walking robots I was keen to get some in the rules.

Once I had that sorted I went out to find an artist and went with David White who is a well known mech artist. He designed a mecha for me which I called the Imperator based on a brief I gave him. The brief for the concept art was for a chunky older-school design for a mecha with large retro style feet and a bulky central hull with a glass canopy where I could imagine the pilot.

I like the early Japanese style mecha which have the chunky style with bulkier legs and bodies. This is what I wanted with a humanoid feel to it not a chicken walker. Having a clear large canopy also gives a focal point on the model where you can imagine a pilot seated. I do like mecha with very small view screens (which make sense from a protection for the pilot perspective) but for this first model I wanted to go with a large canopy in place.

I struggled to find someone interested and capable of making the model in resin in the UK, so the final production is going to be metal. This puts up the price a bit but will be a very fine quality miniature. Pricing details will follow soon when I have the full metal costs and details finalised.

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Great news, and a great looking model. And metal, to boot! Yay!



Here's Robin's October Update on Youtube (subscribe to his channel...I enjoy watching the interplay between him and his comrades when all three are together). At 3:35 of October's short update, you can see the Imperator's master model being discussed.

Stay tuned for more, or pop over to Gruntz to keep updated directly.

Best,
JBR