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mikkow — 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 1½ 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.
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Comments: 69

mikkow In reply to ??? [2004-03-31 04:55:04 +0000 UTC]



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Super-Duper-Dot [2004-03-30 03:09:48 +0000 UTC]

cool ass robot..

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mikkow In reply to Super-Duper-Dot [2004-03-30 03:13:28 +0000 UTC]

It's not a robot it's a mech (a mechanized suit you wear). The forward smaller arm pairs belong to the pilot, and the big arms mimic what he does. I know what you mean, doesn't matter. Glad you liked it.

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Super-Duper-Dot In reply to mikkow [2004-03-30 03:36:06 +0000 UTC]


I is sorry. COOL still

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Yasutsuna [2004-03-29 09:38:26 +0000 UTC]

March 29, 2004

To Mikkow

You should try contacting the Japanese model makers - this is excellent stuff, very professionally done. (^-^) Serious.

Man, you really inspire me. I think I'm going to go and draw up the mech designs I cooked up from Armored Core: Project Phantasma. (^-^)

Great stuff! Keep it coming! (^-^)

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mikkow In reply to Yasutsuna [2004-03-29 09:45:49 +0000 UTC]

oohhh inspired happens to me frequently when just browsing this place.

You do realize I didn't desing this mech, right? I don't know the exact name of the mechanical designer, but he most likely is either Masamune Shirow himself or some of his staff at Production IG. I did think I produced a pretty cool rendering of their designs however. Heaps more detail than you would ever see of those mechs somewhere else (anime style often leaves out details in favour of speed rendering). And of course the shading.

The Japanese on the box should be readable and correct (Thanks to Minami, a nice friend).

You doing mecha stuff? I'd love to see that! Try to squeeze them into interesting angles, actions, lighting and scenery.. yes, all four or five at the same time! I think a good scene and perspective, you can get away with pretty sloppy sketchy styles because it looks so interesting and cool anyway. I'm trying to learn how to do those things. Again I recommend *ukitakumuki 's stuff.

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dmbadcat [2004-03-29 04:14:22 +0000 UTC]

this is pretty dang good for not using a 3-D modeling app! I mean... paint programs! wow, good job

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TDBK [2004-03-29 00:54:12 +0000 UTC]

This is awesome dude!!! That's all I can say!

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ashitaka-sd [2004-03-17 17:44:09 +0000 UTC]

thats awesome..i wish i could get that look in photoshop, that semi-rendered look. Only thing is I wish it had better colors.

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mikkow In reply to ashitaka-sd [2004-03-17 18:44:41 +0000 UTC]

It is easy!

Just paint say, a bodypart with one main colour. Then choose a darker version of the colour, and mark the shadows. Then a brighter, and mark the highlight area.

Then.. out comes the SMEAR brush you use it and smear it back and forth so these areas become a smooth gradient. Also, make sure you don't let any 'black' outlines show through when you colour, they make it look quite unrealistic.

After you smeared, you can also use the dodge and burn brush to apply a bit more or less of whatever shading you want. Then more smear, etc.

Try it and tell me if it works.

Are you a warhammer fan, by the way?

Thank you for the nice comment

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ashitaka-sd In reply to mikkow [2004-03-17 19:24:54 +0000 UTC]

somewhwat, and thanks! This is actually something I've been trying to figure out for a while! thank you so much!

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mikkow In reply to ashitaka-sd [2004-03-17 19:49:50 +0000 UTC]

How about you give me a shout when you finish something in this style? You have neat drawings on your page, though they'd look a looot nicer coloured properly.

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ashitaka-sd In reply to mikkow [2004-03-17 20:31:25 +0000 UTC]

sounds good! I'll let you know and I'll give it a try!

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spritefic [2004-03-15 08:25:24 +0000 UTC]

yanno... i swear i commented on this before

chill out - sprite

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ukitakumuki [2004-03-14 06:17:55 +0000 UTC]

WAHHHHHHHHH I LOVE THE ARRANGEMENT and composition of the art!!!!!! TRUE retro!!!!



nothing more to say.. lighting seems a lil too 'clean' .. makes it look like a boring scene, and the lightsource doesnt seem to reflect on its surface( it strikes)s properly. esp at the rounded bits

all in all, i love it, would be nice to see some weathering.. but then again its box art, and most profile shots like this are ;clean'.. so.. Bravo!!!!

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Sixdotcom [2004-03-14 00:25:27 +0000 UTC]

thats great good job

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mikkow In reply to Sixdotcom [2004-03-14 00:29:02 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much! Considering the huge amount of time I spent on it, I'm glad someone actually sees it.

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Sixdotcom In reply to mikkow [2004-03-14 00:36:46 +0000 UTC]

yea, most people miss all the really good ones. T.T

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