Questionable 'Mech Redesigns Part 5
Hello all, I am once again back with a few more questionably redesigned BattleMechs. I've meant to do more of these but I've been busy but I hope to be drawing even more soon.
First up, the Hauptmann. This one was kind of a struggle. I want to make it look like a bit more of a believable war machine without entirely losing the Dog With A Cigar design motif that the original designers worked with. I grew up with the MW4 version of the Hauptmann, but I wanted mine to be at least a little distinct from that. Also, side note, isn't it kind of weird that there are mechs named Hauptmann and Taisho? Wouldn't that be a little confusing in terms of communication in a military setting? IDK.
Next, the Thug. I actually like the current CGL design for the Thug quite a bit, but my personal preference is for mechs that aren't strictly humanoid in shape to lean into the inhuman proportions and design elements so I wanted to push that further with lil grabber hands and a more pod-like torso design. In reference to some of the older lineart, the current SRM positions are swapped to being baffled intakes and the launchers are moved up high into boxes on the upper torso.
The Lynx is a mech with an awesome statline but odd artwork. I appreciate the sci-fi vibes of Duane Loose's linework but it can make the actual proportions and layouts of some of these old mechs difficult to read. So I went pretty hard on this redesign, once again applying an aviation design with strong elements of the F-117. It's not visible in my drawing but I imagine when viewed from above this would have a strong delta silhouette.
The Hornet is a very goofy little guy. It's somewhat forgotten among the other bug mechs and because it can't generate very much TMM it's not that great on the tabletop. But all the same I wanted to make a design that feels at least a *little* bit like an actual military vehicle and not an early-game Sonic the Hedgehog boss. (Though then again the Catapults are basically Big Foot so... the metaphor is stretched thin). Also, all of the old lineart of the Hornet features two big thrusters on its back like a cartoon jetpack. But on the record sheets, the jump jets are in the legs except for one centrally mounted, so I changed that in my design while keeping the "jump pack" look.
Let me know what you think and give me your recommendations of silly mechs that could be redesigned! One I'm currently wracking my brain over is the Grasshopper. I'm sure I'll come up with something!