Centurion Mecha

[Munkey Joe]

Awesome.... Stuff like this brings me back.... Literally... LMAO!!

[Islacrusez]

Maybe do it as an optional version? Everyone loves customisation =D

And if I still have a job by the time this is released, I'm buying one... Maybe two.

[mangozac]

Yeah we'll see what happens. I might just do this cannon stubby and do a longer variant in the future

I'd better hurry up and get this finished so that you still have a job when it's released!

[mangozac]

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post! There's been a lot of non-hobby stuff going around here of late which has had me a bit preoccupied.

First off the big news is that Games Workshop have released their kit, causing a lot of chatter in the wargaming community. Now let's be honest, the Centurion is a similar size and type/role so one can't help but compare. I know I'm biased, but I'm really not a fan of the Imperial Knight design. It continues with GW's parodic style of the last couple of years and I just don't like the proportions. I'm obviously in the minority though, as overall the kit has been well received.

Anyway back to the Centurion!

In the small bits of hobby time I have been able to scrape together lately I've been focusing on finalising the cannon and making up more moulds. Oh and the undesirable task of some fine detailing. I pulled the first casts from the new cannon moulds last night (only the right hand side - I've still got to mould the left side cannon body) and am very excited about how great it looks in resin!



I've also abandoned the head with the extra sensor cluster, instead opting for a cleaner design with banding around the edge of the armour. The extra targeting optics were added to the exterior of the cannon bodies instead (as seen above).



I think this looks a lot better in-situ also:


One thing I have noticed looking at the silhouette of the assembled mech is that the areas to the sides of the chest armour plate feel a little bare. So I'm thinking of taking a design cue from many other sources and add in a pair of machine guns to provide close-in defence against infantry. The position means they could even swing around to be rear facing (or one front, one rear). The downside is that this is yet another part for me to fabricate...

[Xeones]

[mangozac]

[mangozac]

On the weekend I was Skyping with Dan (Arkangel) and gave him a look at the Centurion. I pointed out that I was feeling unsure about how far out from the shoulder the cannons sit - when viewed front on it didn't look quite right. Dan agreed with me and I thus decided something needed to be done about it.

I was going to hack up a resin copy of the cannon mount, however the existing mould was really poor and producing kind of warped parts. So last night I decided to take the plunge and just hack up the original master part.

The ball part was cut down smaller, the shaft shortened and the power cables shifted closer to the cannon end. Here's the original version (in resin on the right) next to the new version (on the left):



Here's what the cannon looks like mounted with the new version:


I don't have a great shot of the old version to compare with but this is the closest I can find:


I'm much happier with the result. All up I've shaved about 4mm in length and I think it looks much better. Yes, it has sacrificed some of the ability to yaw the cannons independently, but in this case we'll just go for form over function

[Xeones]

It definitely seems like the right call. Good idea.

Also this 3/4, top-down view is an angle I don't think we've seen before. I like the interplay of the armor plate shapes from this vantage.

[mangozac]

Yeah at no stage in the process of modifying it did I second guess my decision, so I'm pretty sure that's a good sign

I think you're right, I probably haven't shown this angle before!

One other thing I noticed while playing with the cannon last night is that the cannon body is very slightly warped. The problem is that the body itself is hollow and because I cure the silicone mould under pressure I'm pretty sure that the sides are being bowed in slightly. So tonight I'll drill a hole somewhere inconspicuous and fill it with resin.

[TomG]

Btw your mech can be used as Mechanicum Knight. Btw did you saw this?

Regular plastic knight and conversion set from Forgeworld.

[mangozac]

Yes, I saw the FW version the other day and am quite impressed. I like it far better than the original, although I hadn't realised just how insanely tall it is!

I did some work on the Centurion's close defence minigun last night and was going to post an update this morning, but forgot to take a pic before I left for work...

[Xeones]

[mangozac]

[TomG]

I agree that this lance/shield weapon version is a bit strange. Like use umbrela without cloth cover. But generaly is this knight desing much better, than plastic one.

As I remember FW WIP photos, where was some mechanicum tank, they still make it primary via traditional way than 3D.

Btw interesting link:

[mangozac]

You know what? I find the shield to be kind of cool! One would assume it's supposed to be some kind of energy force field.

Thanks for the link Tom, I think I've found the shot Xeones was referring to: