1/6 MOSPEADA Rider Project Proposal

[captain america]

New Moscato Hobby Models project proposal: 1/6 Motocycle Freak. The kit would consist of all the body armor for the rider, designed to fit a MX02-A figure. The head will come with a separate, realistic (non-anime) removable face and posable visor. Abdomen parts would be molded in flexible material for better posing mobility. Decal markings will be included, as well as gloved hands. The pre-order (first 30 kits) will include the rifle/stock/barrel, which will be extra once the pre-orders are filled. Please note that the MX02-A figure body is not included. You'll need that and the onesie of your preferred color to complete the build.

Price: $310 Canadian + shipping.

The project will only go ahead if I can fill all 30 spots. Please post 'WANT' only if you're serious about making a purchase for this. Any post that doesn't meet the previous criteria will not be counted.

So what say you?

 

[captain america]

39 minutes ago, Chunky001 said:

Oooooooo, that's cool.

-Would it need to be painted? YES

-Where can the onesie's be sourced? Ebay, anywhere 1/6 figure accessories are sold

-12" tall? Yup!

Thanks

 

 

[Big s]

I’m curious as to the mx02-a body. 

[Convectuoso]

Is this the required body?

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by Convectuoso

[Big s]

16 minutes ago, Chunky001 said:

Also on Amazon, $26.

https://www.amazon.com/ANTSIR-MX02-Scale-Europe-Figure/dp/B07PGSQQ48

Thanks for the info 

[captain america]

5 hours ago, Convectuoso said:

Is this the required body?

 

That's the one! You'd need that figure and also a set of 1/6 tights in the color of your choice. I'll provide several MB logos to denote different ranks so that the builder will have more build options.

[captain america]

4 hours ago, Chunky001 said:

@captain america do you have paint codes for those of us that will be painting?

I'm very interested in this, but I'll need paint codes.

I'll see if I can provide some useful Mr. Color paint colors if the project goes ahead. You can also eyeball the colors on the 1/12 Sentinel figues. I will also correct some of the detail shortcomings from the Sentinel figure, so it would be more faithful to the MOSPEADA COMPLETE ARTWORKS cover illustration.

[Big s]

6 hours ago, Chunky001 said:

@captain america do you have paint codes for those of us that will be painting?

I'm very interested in this, but I'll need paint codes.

You might just see if the old kit instructions have a relevant paint code. 

[Tober]

So these are basically upscaled Sentinel figures, not upscaled Beagle figures, right? 

If this succeeds would you do a female version? 

[captain america]

1 hour ago, Tober said:

So these are basically upscaled Sentinel figures, not upscaled Beagle figures, right? 

If this succeeds would you do a female version? 

q1: correct.

q2: If there's enough demand for the female armor, I'd definitely make it.

Edited October 14, 2022 by captain america

[CoryHolmes]

15 hours ago, captain america said:

 

q2: If there's enough demand for the female armor, I'd definitely make it.

Would that go on the same base body figure?  Or are the proportions just not proportionate enough?

[Big s]

5 hours ago, CoryHolmes said:

Would that go on the same base body figure?  Or are the proportions just not proportionate enough?

I’m betting there’s a female body for that

[Major Tom]

Sign me up Captain. I want a Stick and Rey version.

[captain america]

On 10/15/2022 at 9:09 AM, CoryHolmes said:

Would that go on the same base body figure?  Or are the proportions just not proportionate enough?

The female armor would be taylor designed around a female body figure.

We're already half way there, way to go!!

Edited October 16, 2022 by captain america

[DarkArchon3000]

I "WANT" it all!  Male and female armors for the whole team plus the ride armors as add on "accessories"!   

Please count me in for one 1/6 Freak!

[Boobytrap]

WANT!

[Tober]

Will R2KF be distributing this for Aussies? 

You can put me down for three sets at this stage. Thanks. 

[captain america]

38 minutes ago, Tober said:

Will R2KF be distributing this for Aussies? 

You can put me down for three sets at this stage. Thanks. 

Yes, they sure will.

Added, thank you!

[captain america]

Looks like the project will go ahead, because demand is surprisingly high. Will open the pre-orders October 28th. 

[CoryHolmes]

On 10/19/2022 at 7:26 PM, captain america said:

Looks like the project will go ahead, because demand is surprisingly high. Will open the pre-orders October 28th. 

Hnnngh.  Imma hafta see what the final cost is before committing.  I want one of each gender, but dunno if I can afford either of them at the moment.

 

Pretty please consider doing Dana Sterling's ASC armour next?  Pwetty pwetty pweeeeave? 

[captain america]

Pre-orders are open!

[captain america]

Hey y'all!

I have already begun drafting the parts, so I can hit the ground running. I'll have a first update on Friday... oh, and a third of the pre-orders are already in--keep it up!

[captain america]

Captain's log: Friday, November 4^th, 2022

I've been secretly churning out technical drawings for this new project for the last few days. I've decided to work directly from Aramaki-chan's MOSPEADA COMPLETE ART WORKS cover illustration, and as such I was confronted with quite a few discrepancies between it and the actual Sentinel 1/12 figure. While the latter is still very nice, it cuts quite a few corners on detail. As such, this 1/6 version will not be a purely upscaled figure, but a much more authentic and accurate three-dimensional rendering of that artwork.

Also, because the 1/12 Sentinel figure took some, er—creative liberties with human anatomy, there will be some other, subtle, but very important alterations to this 1/6 model.

Let's begin by looking at pic 01: on the left, the Sentinel figure with battle armor. On the right, a 1/12 Body-Kun figure. These are both in the same scale, with the major joints of both figures lining-up almost identically. If I scale-up the Body-Kun, it produces a man who would be roughly 171cm, so a bit on the short side. As best as I can discern, the pilot's feet do not extend all the way down into the armor boots, but more on that later. By contrast, let's look at pic 02. This is an MX02-A figure with an aftermarket head, which at full size would stand a hair over 177cm. It wasn't as easy as doubling the Sentinel figure dimensions, so I worked from scratch to create armor adapted specifically to this figure and its body proportions.

As stated above, based on what I've gleaned by watching the original series, building the kits and examining the line-art, the pilot's feet only come down to roughly ankle level in the armored boot, with the boot foot being a prosthetic of sorts. Aside from giving the soldier an impressive appearance, I do believe this boot concept offers some notable advantages: the most obvious being protection from mines or other buried explosives. From a pure model standpoint, this will make the figure extremely tall, exceeding 13 inches (32cm) in height, and that's without the boot extension that happens in Armor mode!

One of the first orders of business was designing a helmet and visor, with special emphasis on the latter. I want the visor to be as good and optically clear as possible, so I enlisted our very own Macrossworld member Sergio D (mechaninac) to help me with creating something that has just the right shape, and he does not disappoint! Pic 03 shows the almost complete rendering of the part, which will then be printed and cast in optically clear resin.

Pic 04 shows the results of my drafting, which is still a work in progress. Here you can clearly see how the pilot's foot would fit inside the boot. While the MX02-A allows you to pop the feet off the figure for easier mounting, I still wanted to design something as realistically as possible, and take all those tolerances into consideration. Though there's still quite a bit of tweaking left to do, I might be able to start cutting as early as next Friday—stay tuned!

[CoryHolmes]

Maybe I'm just slow tonight, but how do you have a finished piece beside the body in photo 01?

[tekering]

2 hours ago, CoryHolmes said:

how do you have a finished piece beside the body in photo 01?

Photo 01 depicts a 1:12 scale body, next to the Sentinel figure. ☺️

[CoryHolmes]

18 hours ago, tekering said:

Photo 01 depicts a 1:12 scale body, next to the Sentinel figure. ☺️

Oh.

 

Um.

 

I blame sleep deprivation.

[captain america]

Pre-orders are now half filled.

[captain america]

1/6 Motocycle Freak Scratchbuild Project

Captain's Log: Thursday, November 10, 2022.

 

Construction goes forth at a break-neck speed. Thanks to the time I invested in the diagrams earlier, I was able to begin the building process with confidence. Pic 05 shows the customary basics from which each mode is birthed: some pieces of modelling board, and printed diagras to be used as cutting templates.

Pic 06: the first order of business involves cutting out the templates I need for certain parts. I avoid cutting them all at once, otherwise I'll lose them in the process of preparing the carving blocks.

Pic 07: to avoid wasting material, I measure the rough size of the parts needed, and trim the blocks accordingly. This actually saves time too, because I don't need to spend extra time removing excess material from the blocks in the sculpting process.

Pic 08: the surface of the block left by the saw blade is rough, so each new cut part goes under the face end mill to be smoothed out. The large cutting area of this tool is also a big time-saver.

Pic 09: some of the major components are now ready to be trimmed. This is phase one, and most parts only require one template, but some of the more complex pieces will require a secondary template. I'm thinking specifically of the multi-component chest armor.

Pic 10: in this initial stage, as much of the excess material is removed with the band saw. I go the extra mile here, because it produces less dust and saves time.

Pic 11: here's a bench sander I don't use nearly often enough! This comes in handy for convex curvatures, provided the curve isn't too tight.

Pic 12: once the part has been sufficiently trimmed, it goes to the milling machine, where more precise operations are performed.

Pic 13: here I'm preparing to make a mold of Mr. Holland's head, so that I can get a face inside the visor of the helmet. The mold setup is crude, but works perfectly.

Pic 14: while that mold cures, it's back to the milling machine I go. This is the outer knee armor assembly. You may not have noticed, but in Aramaki-san's original artwork (pic 14B), the knee geometry is different on the inside and outside, so I need to make mirror parts. Sentinel took a more “efficient” route by making the knee identical left and right, and just inserting a different part for the inside and outside.

Pic 15: that same knee part is then given a quick bit of sanding in the right places, and chamfer lines are added with a pencil...

Pic 16: then comes the grinding tool. I almost always need about ½ mm of material, which I will then remove with manual sanding for better control.

Pic 17: on the left, the lower boot structure and the knee modules on the right, undergoing a quick putty repair.

Pic 18: this is the upper body armor plate which covers the back, and is one of those parts which requires more than one template. Because it will be a crude C-shape, careful removal of the innards is needed, and I have to perform some unusual cutting with the band saw.

Pic 19: so far, this is what the foot looks like.

Pic 20: a crude mockup of the lower leg. This part was absurdly complicated to make, but it came out great so far.

Pics 21 and 22 show the helmet coming along nicely! The 3D printed visor fits like a glove, and is being kept in its raw form the time being. I'm still adjusting the position of the face, and will then create the necessary molding around the perimeter. The face itself will be separate, so you'll have the option to put a different one in there to avoid clone syndrome. That's it for this week—stay tuned for another exciting update next time!!

[CoryHolmes]

I'm always amazed at your ability to break a subject down into simpler shapes, and then combine those shapes into a 3D object.  Plus the patience to actually see it through, since I'd never get past cutting out the images and gluing them onto the blocks...

 

Though at this stage, Pic 20 has a surprising similarity to an Alpha Fighter's leg assembly.  Makes it easy to believe it came from the same human service.

[captain america]

14 minutes ago, CoryHolmes said:

I'm always amazed at your ability to break a subject down into simpler shapes, and then combine those shapes into a 3D object.  Plus the patience to actually see it through, since I'd never get past cutting out the images and gluing them onto the blocks...

 

Though at this stage, Pic 20 has a surprising similarity to an Alpha Fighter's leg assembly.  Makes it easy to believe it came from the same human service.

I've done something "interesting" with the foot on this figure, because of the need for good overall mobility of the soldier, in spite of him/her being on stilts! I've made the toe of the boot separate, which will then be hinged. Then, I will mold the sole in rubber to allow it to flex without compromising the aesthetics, just like a real steel-toe boot.

[captain america]

1/6 Motocycle Freak Scratchbuild Project

Captain's Log: Thursday, November 17, 2022.

Now that I have most of the boot fleshed-out, I need an ankle joint. Admittedly, the artwork shows all the components fitting tightly together, which does absolutely nothing to promote mobility. Once again, I've carefully crafted some strategically located gaps to remedy that problem, and now in pic 23, I've turned some resin stock on the lathe to create that much needed joint. Agin, because everything is so tight, I couldn't use an existing ball/socket joint because the ones I'd made previously weren't the right size: too big won't fit, and too small won't be able to manage the load, so that's why I don't cut corners on details like these.

 

Pic 24 shows the abdominal armor being machined. This is a direct succession to pic 18, in which I removed as much of the inside cavity with the band saw, and now back to the mill for some more precise work.

Pic 25: the upper component, because of its complexity, was initially segmented into front and back sections for individual machining, and has now been recombined.

Pic 26: I took the time to begin shaping the upper back, now that I can hold the combined part sturdily. It may not show, but once again, I have to be exceedingly careful with the shaping of these parts: there are compound curves everywhere that have to be identical left & right, as well as interface with each other.

Pic 27: the back of the abdominal armor, looking very nice! A few little fit issues, but nothing I can't adjust.

Pic 28: the frontal area of the abdominal armor. You have no idea how trying and tedious this module was to make! In fact, this is probably one of the most delicate and complex parts I've worked on in recent memory. I'm using hot glue on the outside to hold the parts together because there's no way to tack them from the inside and still fit over the mannequin properly.

Pic 29: the boot assembly has seen a lot of refinement since the previous update. Lots of puttying and re-puttying to get shapes just right in a long and frustrating process that yields great finished results.

Pics 30-32: now it's starting to look like a Motocycle Freak! You can see how all the armor components fit together beautifully. Crotch armor is also well underway, and will be another tedious unit to adjust in conjunction with the upper abdomen unit, because these two will form a cohesive trio with the flexible midsection, and all these have to fit over the onesie. For those who are curious, the figure will stand at just about 34cm tall: the enhanced MOSPEADA boot adds about 9 inches, plus whatever the helmet also adds.

By the time the next update comes around, the pre-orders will be closed. You'll still be able to get the kit and the rifle upgrade, it'll just be $35 CAD more. Stay tuned!

[CoryHolmes]

It seems to me that you normally complain endlessly about how these poorly-designed mechas don't translate well into 3D shapes.  Is this project different or easier?

[captain america]

2 hours ago, CoryHolmes said:

It seems to me that you normally complain endlessly  rightly criticise  how these poorly-designed mechas don't translate well into 3D shapes.  Is this project different or easier?

Fixed it for you. 😆

Some designs are better than others. The SC Bioroids were hands-down the worst offenders, whereas something like this is the result of some more careful consideration and went through an extra level of refinement by Aramaki for the modernization, which helps a lot. The ankle joint seems to be the worst of it; the rest is just tweaking aesthetics and the slow process of making any body-glove armor fit properly. Thankfully, it's a big scale.

[Tober]

Coming along nicely Capt'!

Is there any recommendations for the onesie/jumpsuit brand to use?

I'm finding red and blue easily enough, but the Lavender color for Yellow's figure might require buying a white one and dying it slightly... 

[CoryHolmes]

11 hours ago, captain america said:

Fixed it for you. 😆

Some designs are better than others. The SC Bioroids were hands-down the worst offenders, whereas something like this is the result of some more careful consideration and went through an extra level of refinement by Aramaki for the modernization, which helps a lot. The ankle joint seems to be the worst of it; the rest is just tweaking aesthetics and the slow process of making any body-glove armor fit properly. Thankfully, it's a big scale.

Hey, at no point did I say that you didn't have very, very good reasons for your colourful commentary

 

Yeah, the Ride Armour does seem to be better thought-out than the SC mecha.