My tripod design + other vehicles
So I decided to make my own tripod design and the designs of a couple other Martian vehicles, so there's going to be a couple images here. First of all is obviously the tripod itself. Next are the three Martian vehicles the scout vehicles the handling machines and the buggies, next is a sequence that basically shows how the tripod unfolds cuz this tripod is also the landing vehicle instead of the Martians landing in capsules and building the tripods the tripods are also the Landers. Next is my Martian design up front. And then lastly is the different types of ends the Martian tripod arms can have.
Here's a description about each vehicle's design and it's purpose in The invasion:
The tripods AKA The Martian war machines: Okay so let's start with the legs obviously first and foremost are the claws at the end of each leg they're kind of like climbing hooks? That's not the right comparison what I mean is you know those kinds of grappling hooks the three-pronged ones you know hinged joints sharp, triangular, that's basically what the tips of these legs look like then it's a sort of Spike that leads into them and then it's these 2 sort of like cone shapes with the bottom sort of indented all the way up after that, and then those lead into the actual legs the first part has two fins and then the next part has one and both of them are connected via ball joints giving them this sort of claw like shape. The main body has sort of this v shape. While the head has this shape of like an upside down triangle that's slightly rounded with a dent in the middle and then a little spike in the middle of then making three spikes on each side are these headlight like things that swivel around they have these little hooked fins on top of them too the middle of the head has this heart-shaped window materially inspired by the ones from the musical where it's this sort of honeycomb compound eye-like looking material. And then behind that sort of faceplate for lack of a better term is this rounded structure that looks like flexible metal again sort of like a rounded cone and it goes more into a circle near the bottom with two fins jetting out. And then on the neck for lack of a speak are two holes where tendrils come out and there's also tendrils coming out the bottom and then on the lower portion of the body there's one arm with this sort of pincer crab like claw and then the other one has the all too important heat ray which sort of looks like a miniature version of the head but instead of the three I sort of look it's only got the one and instead of a more jutting out structure it's got more of an indented look to it. To be fair took me a couple tries to pin down what I wanted the legs to be like, originally I was going for something more closer to the 2005 versions where the legs split off into three smaller legs which is cool but I just couldn't really get it to work right with what I wanted from the rest of the design so I kept switching ideas until I found a design that worked with what I wanted.
The scariest part of my tripods is that they are also the Landers, they start folded up land on Earth and then unfold into the tripods. The knees of the legs are ball jointed and the calves for lack of a better word are the same flexible metal as the arms but the rest of the legs are telescopic. The left arm has a sort of pincer claw like a crab. The right one has the heat ray. And on the sides of the head of the tripod are two headlights with these shark-like fins, these headlights rotate 360° and basically act as eyes because this is a design is intentionally supposed to use the fact that the human brain loves to see faces and things to its advantage making it just close enough to where you can see a face but it's also still inhuman enough to not be fully anthropromorphized. On their back is the three pipes that I meant the black smoke and steam, these are obviously the main war machines designed to be able to traverse any sort of terrain and trample any sort of resistance.
the Martian scouts: a smaller version of a tripod instead of telescopic legs it's simple ball joints with spider like legs on a more triangular body, the crest is one rounded metal bit instead of 3, there's no tentacles, and the arms instead of having interchangeable bits are unretractable and have Spears at the end of them and the lights on these tripods aren't swiveling external parts but instead integrated lights which while it loses its maneuverability in terms of where it can move its lights it makes up because these are much smaller standing at around 25 ft, and being much faster, but they're also not as great for all-terrain movement, because of their sharp one-point legs. And their main body is essentially just 2 pyramids on top of eachother. Of course it's a bit more complicated than that they are not a perfect triangle they're more angled and the bottom half is obviously upside down but you get what I mean.
Then the Martian handling machines: only slightly taller than a human without the tail, it has five legs on each side it's head is a diamond shape with two windshields, instead of headlights the handling machine has pincer like extremities, which is it's only means of defense, it also has two clawed arms, and of course on the back of it is its tail which is similar to the tripod's foot but without the third prong, making it more of a pincer. The handler's job is repairs, construction, and capture. As noted by the hole in its body where captured humans are stored and materials for construction and repair are also stored. It's about 15 tall with the tail.
But we're not done there's one more vehicle. The Martian buggy: 6 ft tall. The smallest Martian war vehicle, it has tank like treads a particularly small body and it's the only vehicle where the Martian is actually exposed instead of a windshield it's got a sort of cage around it. Where the Martian connected to a breathing mask, controls it. A mix between a motorcycle and a tank to give clean design comparison, this thing's job is to collect scrap metal. A single big headlight on the front of its head, above the head of course is where the Martian sits, and the body has three wheels with tank like treads and the bottom of the head has a sort of claw like extrusion of metal prongs meant to trap metal into the neck of it where it goes inside the body for processing. this scrap metal is then recycled for the Martians use.