CMG Astagar Volos Assault Mech WIP, Part 4

So, as I said back in part three of this WIP series, I just thought I was done with the Astagar Volos Assault Mecha, working title "SnakeMech," for Critical Mass Games. Fate had a different path in mind, in the form of a redesign.

After the segmented body version of the Volos was turned in for approval, I moved on to a power armor for the Astagar. Using many of the components and design features from the Volos, the work went quickly on the smaller power armor.

The smaller size of the Astagar Power Armor, though, precluded the used of the "one torso, one segment repeated over and over" theme. So, I made a long torso, fused a series of segments together, and created a "stalk" torso that would plug into a lower body that was also a series of fused segments. The above pic uses some substitute arms from the Ygs Power Armor, but the important thing was to illustrate the point of the "stalk torso."

The concept worked so well (I'll do a separate exposition on the Astagar Power Armor later), that I asked Craig and Dale if I could revisit the Volos, and see if we could apply the same "stalk torso" concept. They agreed.


So, here was the preliminary of the SnakeMech Mk.II, side by side with the Mk.I. The concept had legs, figuratively. Approval went ahead to finish out the work, and to give them a total of three "poses" for the lower body. One, long trailing body, and a pair of curled bodies oriented in mirrored directions.


And here are the final parts layouts, courtesy of the forums at Critical Mass Games.


This was a great build. I appreciated the chance Craig and Dale gave me to revisit the design, giving them an improved product. This is one of the beautiful things about rapid prototyping and digital sculpting. If your design isn't quite where you want it, you can just scramble up some electrons, and presto, SnakeMech Mk.2!

I'll be sure to let you know when the Volos is up for sale, and get some painted images of production mechs.

My thanks to Critical Mass Games for the work, and the chance to flex my creativity.

Best,
JBR

Here are parts One, Two, and Three of the WIP series on the Volos Assault Mecha.