Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Chimera; With Wings

It may seem like I'm on massive Chimera overload with the recent posts, but, I can't really help it.  I'm proud of this beast.  I've been asked by a few people about its wings, and why I decided to leave it out.

Simple:  It looks better without it.  Someone at HobbyFanatics noted it when I "revealed" a prepaint test-fit, tight-shot, silhoutte of the Chimera with wings mounted during its final WIP stage.



It looked kewl at the time, probably because it's a silhoutte, but as I painted the darn thing I was caught up in a problem I didn't anticipate that reared its ugly head when I was setting it up for the BMKWC.  The wings failed to hold, the Chimera's modified torso loosened, and I ended up changing the directions of the Chimera and the Angelus;  Instead of  facing each other, I was forced to put them at an angle from each other, just so I can have the Wings of the Chimera rest on the angled part of diorama.

Photo credit:  Paul Velando aka TVA
Photo credit:  Paul Velando aka TVA

Here are the Wings, mounted on the Chimera during a test fit.



As you can see, the mount held up, the torso held the weight quite well, and the Chimera can stand on it's own even when it's unbalanced with just one side open.  I haven't even cut the wing sections to reduce the weight yet, as shown here.


Aside from that, DC23 noted later on that the wings looked to plain that it drowned the Chimera in its kneeling position.  I agreed with him.

So there.  On its own, the Chimera looks great without wings, though I may still do something about those mounts.  I might still give it a smaller thruster pack using the thruster mounts of the Sinanju.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed building the Chimera's wings, especially figuring out how to make it retractable like bat wings (which took me a long while to do).

The Devil's Silhoutte

David D's comment on this entry prompted this addendum.  While I don't normally pat myself on the back (as the joke goes: "Confusion say:  He who pat himself on back would likely break arm), I have to agree with him.  The Chimera, so far, indeed has the most distinct v-fin feature (as far as I am concerned, having broken and made at least a few v-fins).  And it's all because I didn't want to waste the original stock fins.  Add the lengthened cheeks and you have this:



These pictures alone should have been enough for me to ditch the wings back then. 

I also made this silhoutte the Chimera's banner image, and a part of my MAC shirt emblem:


I'm actually working on a few desktop background images which will be available for download soon.

9 comments:

Tonythem / AgcSantos said...

You amaze me every time I see something from you, you really are an inspiration! Seriously, you got some dangerous skills out there xDD

SpeedStriker said...

You demon you, what dark magic is this!? Why can't I stop looking at the first picture in this post?! I already liked the way it looked before it had wings, but I realized that this Gundam now has one of the most distinguished silhouette in mecha!

The way the head's antennaes clashes with everything it comes into contact with is awe inspiring!

Matanglawin said...

@ David: You haven't seen it with Wings because I didn't post the BMKWC pictures, mainly because I was disappointed back then when the wings failed. As for the silhoutte, yes, I agree that The Chimera has the most distinct v-fin feature, mainly because it's a combination of both stock and scratch-build fins. I posted another pic, showing just the silhoutte, and it's my personal shirt emblem. The devil am I, indeed (my favorite line).

@ Tony: Thanks. You words are inspiring as well. I hope I can top this one with my next projects or so.

Zoidiect Archaea said...

Sir MatX, congratulations, you had just made my day. the wings somehow looks off on Chimerae, mainly due to the unfitting look with Chimera's sleekness. but then, the wing design is delicious, maybe will looks better on a deathscythe, just my 2 cents. Angelus looks grand there ^^

oh yes, dunno how to say it, but the wings looks like raw pla plates?

Matanglawin said...

Both the wings of the Chimera and Angelus are painted. Lesson learned, with the exception of the Chimera, I shant be using white or bright color schemes.

G-ZOP said...

Weaked skill sir angelus and chimera look killer

the virgin angel said...

i will never tire admiring this masterpiece of yours bro. it's just soooooo keeewl! ^^

Matanglawin said...

Thanks, Paul!

Anonymous said...

your scratch building skills is awesome... i really admire the design for chimera, its really really amazing, except the horn on the shield, and the wing, IMHO, it's not suitable with the basis design of unicorn which has more "cubical" design than "curvy" one. but still... your skill is really amazing....

isee you maybe already on par with julius lim, you guys just have different path in SB-ing:)

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