PointBlankSniper Posted October 23 Posted October 23 New shield definitely looks the part now. Take your time on this, no rush, no pressure. I'm sure the few of us here understand it's your little pastime project and aren't concerned with the speed of updates Have fun on your trip 😁 Quote
guyxxed Posted November 10 Posted November 10 Hey, all, finally back in the US and puttering around on this once more. I did some boring cleaning up of bad geometry and recalculating normals, but the more interesting thing (to me, anyway) is that I've started prototyping head ideas. These are just quick concepts I'm throwing together from bits and pieces to see if anything promising emerges. Standard 25A on the bottom for reference, with the 31A just above. First idea was just to squash the 25 head to be less of a football shape and add some armor, next above that is something loosely based on one of the Halo Spartan helmets to follow on the "heavy brow" concept, and the last one on top (which I'm kind of liking so far) is derived from the Nousjadeul-Ger head to take things in a more Zentradi direction. I'll probably keep bashing some more concepts like these together for awhile and haven't settled on a solid direction yet, so feedback, suggestions, ideas all welcome, Quote
PointBlankSniper Posted November 12 Posted November 12 Welcome back! NGL, I'm not into cyclops buggo looks, so I'm no judge of these, especially the side profiles. The Kairos head would be what I would lean towards for being the farthest from that style lol. But I think the front profiles with trooper helmet vibes is worth exploring. The idea of it reminds me of the YF-30's head Quote
guyxxed Posted Thursday at 12:33 PM Posted Thursday at 12:33 PM I get what you mean, and I was tempted to just use the 31A head and be done, but wanted to at least give it a try. I like the Zentradi based head because it's different and a bit mean looking, but it's definitely not a design I would buy a toy of. 😉 We'll see, I still have a few other ideas to try out, but I'm trying to steer away from visors and other "hero" designs since, as Seto pointed out above, no CF A model has ever used that. More to come hopefully soon. Quote
TG Remix Posted Thursday at 02:38 PM Posted Thursday at 02:38 PM Considering that by the time of the 5th Generation Variable Fighters, most of them are derivatives from the YF-24 which are intended for their local government or to sell to other governments. I don't imagine the Zentradi head being on the "stock" VF-24A, but a for a VF-24 for Zentradi pilots like what the VA-14 was to the VF-14 I'm all on board with! It'd probably be the only way you would get me to buy a VF-24/25 toy of lol As for my personal pick, I do agree the VF-31 head is the best one as a reference, but from the YF-24 diagram it seems like it's head wouldn't be too far from the VF-25's. Though comparing it to the G types, which is the same as the A type, the head of the Evolution is noticeably less wide, so the Halo inspired one seems to be on the right track. Quote
Seto Kaiba Posted Friday at 03:59 AM Posted Friday at 03:59 AM 15 hours ago, guyxxed said: [...] but I'm trying to steer away from visors and other "hero" designs since, as Seto pointed out above, no CF A model has ever used that. More to come hopefully soon. Pedanticness train pulling into the station! I didn't say that no CF model has had "visor"-type optics... I said: On 10/12/2025 at 9:25 PM, Seto Kaiba said: "Visor" type optics tend to be more of a "hero" option. While most CF variants tend to have "monoeye face" with a single large polarized cover over a multitude of optics and other sensors, there are a few out there that go against the grain. The VF-4A has a visor-type monitor turret, as does the VF-5000B Star Mirage, and the VF-14A Vampire. The VF-171 Nightmare Plus is also a visor type, as does the Sv-262Ba. ... if not for the VF-5000B's presence on that list, I would say all of the exceptions are General Galaxy's fault.😆 (Well, the Macross II Valkyries all go in on visor types too... since they've largely gotten rid of the A-type head in that timeline as of the 2070s or so.) Quote
guyxxed Posted Friday at 06:22 PM Posted Friday at 06:22 PM Appreciate the feedback, all! And, I agree with the observations that the 24 head seems to be narrower. It seems the helmet design is getting the most votes, and after trying a few more things I think I'm in agreement. The Zentradi head is a bit too bug-like for a Valk, but when I combine it with the helmet, I think I tick all the boxes. The helmet gives me the heavier/armor look I had in mind, the NJ eye gives it some distinction from the 25 and 31, and the combo still (mostly) fits the profile seen in the art. I'm stitching things together now and working on propotions, and I still need to add the sensor bubbles to the top, but I think this looks like a winner (at least for now). Added bonus: it's both a cyclops AND a visor, since it has the Zentradi squint! 😉 Quote
guyxxed Posted yesterday at 07:08 PM Posted yesterday at 07:08 PM (edited) Minor update. Still working on colors and proportions, but here's the completed new head in place. I like the overall feel of it (though that black eyeball needs to change), but think it might be missing something, or is maybe too helmet-like. Will continue to refine as I get the rest of the battroid together and see how it looks as a whole. Bit by bit... Edited yesterday at 07:08 PM by guyxxed Quote
guyxxed Posted 21 hours ago Posted 21 hours ago A quick update today after a few tweaks and remappings. A bit further along on the head and all the body parts swapped out for something like the intended battroid mode. Plenty more to do, but getting close! Feedback and ideas welcome! Quote
PointBlankSniper Posted 20 hours ago Posted 20 hours ago Think it might be that the ears and cap are too detached from each other, both by shape and paint job. It makes the top actually look like a seperate helmet from some angles. The camera looks a like a swollen eye and is kind of uncanny imo. Thats just my taste I guess. Since it's vaguely conceptually similar to what you have, here's the new samus helmet that just dropped a few days ago. Maybe it will be some inspiration for angles and layering of components, idk lol Quote
guyxxed Posted 6 hours ago Posted 6 hours ago So, all I have to do is paint everything bright red and we're good to go! 😉 It's a good point about the colors and the top looking separate. I like the feature of the black stripe around the edge, but as soon as I saw it in place I knew it was probably going to have to go. That space behind the eye and under the brim (the temples?) needs something as well to help tie the two spaces together. Don't know if I can just add colors or stripes there or if it will need an actual feature, but it's too blank right now. I'm also less than enthused by the front view, and want to find a way to give that profile some more shape, but it may also just be the stripe working agianst the flow again. The shape looks okay from the side and 3/4 views (in my opinion), so we'll see. It will be funny if in the end, I just give up and slap the 31A head on it. 😄 Appreciate the feedback! Quote
PointBlankSniper Posted 5 hours ago Posted 5 hours ago Was too lazy too look it up earlier, but these Zelda creatures were what the eye was reminding me of lol Anyway. For the top, you've got that crew cut FAST helmet look. Will probably take some additional geometry to move away from that silhouette. Quote
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