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mikkow β€” Ghost in the Shell: Model Box

Published: 2004-03-14 00:24:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 19856; Favourites: 248; Downloads: 1338
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Description Photoshop 7 for ~15 hours for mech.

Paint Shop Pro for ~3 hours for the rest.

Staring and thinking what would look better ~4 hours (at least)

Procastrination ~no limit - took 1Β½ month from start to finish with long periods of inactivity.

References: The pose was referenced from episode 24 of "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex". A quite crummy rip of it to be exact.

What you see is how I imagine the box-art of a plastic assembly model (scale 1:72, heh heh)of a MSDF 303 Armored Suit might look like (as far as I am aware, there are no such models on sale yet). I started out with just the mech, but then someone said "it looks like a model box art", I got the idea to make it look like such, complete with Japanese descriptions.

The unit itself originates from my favourite TV show, the anime "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex". It has two pair of arms because the smaller pair belong to the pilot. The mecha arms merely mimic the movement of the pilot arms perfectly, making it very maneuverable and easy to manipulate the surroundings. The legs are straddled into the thighs. The suit itself has two knee-joints, and is essentially a chicken-walker.

Production was initiated in 2030 and it was developed by the (what is now) Japanese Marine Corps own development contractors, MSDF. The unit is intended for urban combat as it is too slow, immobile and large to deal with outdoor terrain combat. Despite it's tall height of 3,9 meters when standing fully extended, it can crouch down to 2,5 meters, enough to squeeze into many buildings, corridors, industrialized areas, etc.

The armor is APC like in strength, and is thus strong enough to deflect small-arms fire up to large bore armor-piercing bullets. Realistically, one needs anti-tank weaponry to disable a MSDF 303 quickly.

The suit has camera/sensor clusters in multiple places, including the wrists, back, thighs, shoulders and knees, giving it an enormous level of awareness of its surroundings. The knee-cameras will even allow the pilot to see what he is stepping on - literally! The pilot interfaces with the machine through his cyberbrain connection, and it is through that which the camera images are displayed to the pilot.

The pilot hands remain the achilles heel of the unit - direct hits can seriously injure them. A newer, heavier version exists with shielding over the hands, but at the expense of being more cumbersome and less dexterious to handle.

"MSDF 303" and "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" are copyright of Production IG [link]

EDIT: Due to my monitor settings being far too dark when painting this, it appeared too bright. Gamma has now been reduced by a massive 25% to get it back to the way it looked like to me when painting it.
Related content
Comments: 69

Revenant-Wolf [2013-04-14 19:38:27 +0000 UTC]

Looks like the hardsuits in Blacklight: Retribution.

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Astartes101 [2011-07-23 06:11:28 +0000 UTC]

I need a Plasma Cannon on the Arm Suit!

Awsome mecha.

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cyberpunk1210 [2010-12-31 22:53:46 +0000 UTC]

Oh, cool man! This is awesome!!!

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Midsummersnow [2010-08-05 14:25:14 +0000 UTC]

this mech reminds me of the mechs out of APPLESEED

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HotelMoscow [2010-01-11 13:44:32 +0000 UTC]

awesome, i like armsuits, vitalsuits, gunsuits, and however they`re called. great job!

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techloveroneofakind [2008-11-22 21:01:54 +0000 UTC]

so gonna make this real one day

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gouf753 [2008-11-04 01:53:59 +0000 UTC]

that suit is SOoooooooooooo bad asssssssss. that thing rocks!!!!!!!!! you did a great job on it. lololololololololololololololol

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EugeniusMaximus [2008-08-20 20:55:22 +0000 UTC]

I remember that episode! You did a #1 job on the mech! Very well done!

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black-tachikoma [2008-05-16 15:41:02 +0000 UTC]

Cool, I wish they really made a model kit -_^

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Wraith-Phoenix [2008-01-30 14:58:44 +0000 UTC]

I've loved these suits for ages. Fantastic work here, Fav'd. (if only there was a model, i'd buy one )

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VyeNevan [2007-10-28 03:26:21 +0000 UTC]

is nice when Motoko do this^^ Tachikoma save her, vy nice friends ty for share this^^

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theamazingbaghead [2007-07-30 04:35:38 +0000 UTC]

love the anime great job with the rendering

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no-nam3 [2007-01-15 06:25:28 +0000 UTC]

kool didnt realize SAC had a mech like that,ive seen that arm concept on that appleseed movie

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Paran0id42 [2006-10-25 23:20:46 +0000 UTC]

Damn! Those arm suits do kick ass (kicked mine in the PSP GITS game ;-_-) great job!

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chriswilkinson123 [2006-10-11 22:41:05 +0000 UTC]

wow amazing work, brillient work in photoshop

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Evalenge [2006-10-11 15:14:43 +0000 UTC]

my god thats amazing.

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Mk-8 [2006-08-28 11:24:22 +0000 UTC]

Nice one dude. That was a cool scene.
You should check out my Tachikomas. ([link] )

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Jh2tc [2006-06-07 21:04:59 +0000 UTC]

Excellent; the episode where the Major takes out some revenge on this mech is very memorable, good pic.

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Peg4sus [2006-01-15 20:59:13 +0000 UTC]

Very nice picture man, a great job you did!
I'm a fan of Shirow too and I really like this mecha stuf
by the way I'm gonna check the rest of your gallery, it looks very interesting

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Samurai69 [2005-12-30 16:46:15 +0000 UTC]

Nice ACPA.

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Proiteus [2005-11-24 01:19:31 +0000 UTC]

WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT!!! I'VE JUST GOT GHOST IN THE SHELL VOLUME 7 AND I WANT ONE HOW BIG ARE THEY?

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mikkow In reply to Proiteus [2005-11-27 23:37:52 +0000 UTC]

Oh you dork, why didn't you read the artist's comments? lol. I made this, it is meant to look like the cover of a model kit. Photoshopppppp baby.

btw just for fun, if the original would be 3.9 meters tall or whatever I said, the model which is 1:72 would be.. 5.4cm tall. That's about 2 and a quarter inch. Tiny..

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Proiteus In reply to mikkow [2005-11-28 15:19:55 +0000 UTC]

blush: Whoops! Guess i overeacted


and i'm not a dork, I just like mech suits

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Deborah-Valentine [2005-07-10 17:27:01 +0000 UTC]

i love robots! in the 80's i used to put the macross models together and paint them leopard and zebra and wild surreal shapes flagrantly ignoring the recomended coloring. i dont know what happened to them . i had maybe 25 or so...

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mikkow In reply to Deborah-Valentine [2005-07-10 17:30:33 +0000 UTC]

Dear lord, such mutation. Your abstract perverted nature was making itself heard early This isn't Macross though (I'm sure you are aware of that), and I do have two macross fanart pieces (that you no doubt saw, so what am I talking about it for).

I had an older friend when I was a little kid, who could assemble and beautifully paint awesome complex models (highest difficulty) when he was 8 even. I liked it. But even when I was quite older, I still sucked HARDCORE at all that model building. Sniff. I still like even seeing the boxes.

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Deborah-Valentine In reply to mikkow [2005-07-10 18:31:30 +0000 UTC]

ys, the artwork on the boxes is realy good

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Teikon [2005-07-08 10:38:36 +0000 UTC]

The more common name for these type of Mech are Land-Mates, you'll see alot more with this design in alot in Masamune Shirow's works.
AppleSeed, Gundress, and Dominion Tank Police (and I'm more refering to the Manga and Radio Shows)
It's just a more common design for him.
I've always loved GIT and SAC is a favorite of mine now.
Maybe I should pick up mechanical designs again. It's been along time since I've drawn anything other then woman.

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mikkow In reply to Teikon [2005-07-08 13:21:01 +0000 UTC]

Yes, I've seen the Appleseed movies It's one of Shirow's favourite designs I guess (the arm thing). As with the technical writeup, it presents a real volunerability to have the fingers and hands exposed like that. It makes no sense to show the fingers - they could at least be inside a far more heavily armored sphere or something.

I don't get it though - Motoko and tons of others can hack cyberbrains, even of dead people - and androids too, and make them do tons of detailed maneuvers in real time at distance. Why on earth can't they design mechs then that are remote controlled by someone's ghost?

SAC is my veery favourite show.

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Teikon In reply to mikkow [2005-07-09 04:43:04 +0000 UTC]

SAC is very true to what Shirow had in mind when it came to an animated verson of his Manga.
It fits very well with everything.
As for the land mates not being able to be used by remote. Well, I don't know how to anwer that one.
I guess the land mates are just like a normal mech suit, no A.I.
As for the Tachikoma, they have an A.I. system, so they can act on their own, but can be linked by remote if needed.
But they are mainly used as support.
But I can understand your viewpoint on the Exposed arms on the Land-mates.
But like you said, must be his design.
But I do like what you have done.

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mikkow In reply to Teikon [2005-07-12 15:34:33 +0000 UTC]

You are aware of that that thing is from Production I.G. right? It's not one of my own designs (Just to make sure).

I think that two easy improvements on the arms would be:

1. Encase them in a bubble on each side (of armor). Nothing will really change in movement ability and dexterity. May even improve due to very light if any armor required on the wearers real arms.

2. Add more armor, especially a bubble around the hands.. very stupid compared to idea 1.

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Teikon In reply to mikkow [2005-07-13 00:09:06 +0000 UTC]

yeah, I know, it's Shirow's design.
I don't understand why he has the pilots arms in such a dangerous place.
But oh well.
I agree with you on that non safety of that.

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sideshow-pin [2005-07-03 09:59:40 +0000 UTC]

Very nice layout.

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mikkow In reply to sideshow-pin [2005-07-03 15:02:54 +0000 UTC]

Glad you approve of it. I tried to make it have that 80's 90's model box feel you see in stores. I loved buying model kits but I sucked at building them

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SubtleFury [2005-06-09 15:00:06 +0000 UTC]

Awesome work, I love everything about GITS and Masamune Shirow.

Why don't you try the tachikomas next?

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mikkow In reply to SubtleFury [2005-06-09 16:35:37 +0000 UTC]

The Tachikoma seems so 'typical' clichΓ© -- but nothing is impossible. There are two types of Tachikomas also, and I do like doing mechanical things. Right now though, for once, I'm painting a human, from Macross/Robotech. Since I haven't shown anyone of my latest progress I'll just spam it right in your face now. [link] SPAM! TAKE THAT!

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RedimusPrime [2005-03-08 11:33:15 +0000 UTC]

the reason i mentioned gasaraki was that there mecha remind me a lot of that one, but squarer and with only one set of arms.. there suposed to be one of the first parctical walking weapons (and kick serious ass)

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mikkow In reply to RedimusPrime [2005-03-14 17:17:40 +0000 UTC]

I've been doing many thought experiments on bipedal mechs versus other alternatives, such as battle tanks. The mechs are too complex, too many moving parts, not enough armor, require too much energy, are far too volunerable to maintenance flukes and minor damage in the field, can't carry enough weaponry and they pose far too large targets and are not mobile enough.. lol.

A tank is basically superior in basically every way, at a fraction of the cost.

I did however find one area where tanks cannot compare. It would be very small mechs in tighter urban areas. They could be hardcore there. Especially if they could interact with the surroundings. And still they would be easily killed off by simple AT RPG's.

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RedimusPrime In reply to mikkow [2005-03-15 00:29:35 +0000 UTC]

all good points.. , but to be honest, most mecha animes dont use them for similar situations to where tanks would be used... *except gasaraki oddly enough* *also oddly enough, gasaraki uses mechs to defeat tanks in an urban test...* gasaraki is an odd case, cause it also covers mistical and legends n stuff, its not simply about some new technology.. damnit i need to watch that again... *plans to steal gasaraki off a mate... * lol

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RedimusPrime [2005-03-06 21:12:49 +0000 UTC]

thats pretty damn cool... ive only seen the first few episodes of Ghost in the Shell... (manga are takin for F-ing ever to release it over here, though i think we might have finally got a few more now...) have you seen gasaraki.. thats a great mecha anime with a cool story

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mikkow In reply to RedimusPrime [2005-03-08 09:15:19 +0000 UTC]

I have not seen Gasaraki. Mechs CAN be cool.. but often they are ridiculous (meaning, very unbelievable and unrealistic). I'll dive into it starting on [link]

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tichondrius [2004-04-10 07:05:30 +0000 UTC]

Like wow that robot rox,

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mikkow In reply to tichondrius [2004-04-10 07:39:38 +0000 UTC]

It does indeed rock! The design, I mean.
It's not a robot though, it's a mech, or a kind of mechanized suit that you wear. With pilot and all.

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tichondrius In reply to mikkow [2004-04-11 08:51:23 +0000 UTC]

i know the term mech i just say robot though cuz im stupid

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mikkow In reply to tichondrius [2004-04-11 08:52:35 +0000 UTC]

No thou art not

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tichondrius In reply to mikkow [2004-04-11 08:58:08 +0000 UTC]

very well

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captivx [2004-04-07 18:11:36 +0000 UTC]

This is fantastic, I love mechs and this is just great. Great texturing and all, especially loving the mounted gun on the right appendage. Almost makes me think this is totally 3D, that takes skills.

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mikkow In reply to captivx [2004-04-07 18:36:38 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much! Glad you like it.

The gun is actually hand-held. The smaller arms at the front of the torso are the pilots real arms. The big mechanical arms of the mech simply mimic (exactly) what the pilot arms do. It's written in that loong story/tech stuff I wrote to go along with it. So you can see that the pilots hand has the index finger pointing out - which the mech arm mimics. So that there won't be any risk of accidently pulling the trigger.

You can only just see parts of the mech fingers at the lower side of the assault rifle.

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labrynth [2004-04-07 07:37:00 +0000 UTC]

wow.. you've got some uber skillz
nice work!

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mikkow In reply to labrynth [2004-04-07 12:27:36 +0000 UTC]

Maybe you are just a GITS-maniac?

Thanks, I shall keep making things better and better. and more GITS later for sure. I'm watching the second season of the show now.

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Tanqexe [2004-03-31 02:55:46 +0000 UTC]

Oh man, I remember when the Tachikomas went up against this mofo....so sad.

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