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Scorpion451 — Pathmaker
Published: 2013-03-02 22:32:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 2357; Favourites: 45; Downloads: 0
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Description
Photoshop, about 20 hoursMy entry for this week's contest, magic phrase: "Unstoppable War Vehicle"
I really think I'm starting to get the hang of the whole "bloom lighting" thing. HUGE shoutout to Rogue for the pointers on this type of painting!
The concept:
The Pathmaker may be the ultimate case of beating a plowshare into a sword. Originally designed for use in stripmining and demolition work, modified versions of these brutal vehicles have found a new purpose as a front-line urban assault vehicle. Once outfitted with armor platting and an upgraded engine, the spacious interior, meant for ore processing equipment on the civilian model, allows a plenty of room for a pathfinder to be equipped for mission roles ranging from front-line surgical hospital to mobile command station. Their most common application, however, is as the darling of the engineering corps in several nations. The same vehicle can clear landmine fields, uproot bunkers, dig foxholes, and demolish enemy resources with ease...and allow the creation of instant highways through a city by removing pesky obstructions. Like buildings.
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Comments: 12
Nice work Josh!. I sense some minor perspective errors in the cannon housing as it goes into the background but nothing overt. Bloom is cool, but I don't really see any here? Good luck in the poll.
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Thanks!
Might need to note that about the bloom- I did some washes after they extended the deadline that knocked out a lot of bloom in the focal area, never added it back. There still is some of it left where the light is hitting the edge of the hole and the grinding wheel, though. Thought the hazy high-contrast areas made a nice frame for the focus. (dang it, should have brightened the sky, too... hindsight is always 20/20 
Yeah, that armature there was a problem child, its actually a mining drill/extraction claw and its sitting at a downward angle (the idea being that its on a rail-and-piston setup that lets it tilt down and forward, kind of like one of these: [link] I figured it made sense for the whole "reworked mining rig" and would make a great secondary attack for a boss battle- or if you're driving the thing, cue "crane game"/"operation" hybrid mini-game. 
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Congrats Scorpion ! I think we have a winner for the contest !
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this is awesome! adheres very well to the theme and is one of the few mobile fortresses i've seen that actually seems plausible.
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I really like your eye for mechanical design, this vehicle is a monster that really lives up to the phrase that inspired it 
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Thanks!
I was at one point going to go with a sort of grey-blue-brown urban-camo paintjob, but as I was going I realized that it would be like trying to hide an elephant in a cornfield by painting it green. If you're trying to find one of these, just follow the flattened trail of destruction toward the sounds of the two-story behemoth tearing down buildings.
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This design is really good - and I thoroughly enjoyed the description you wrote! I've always loved the idea of civilian or industrial vehicles/buildings transformed into war machines and fortresses during violent times (especially in a post-apocalyptic setting, but it works in any genre). I grew up around big, working-class machines, and bypassed many hours of boredom by imagining them as makeshift fighting vehicles (a-la John Deere armored tractor [link] 
And of course, mobile fortress/siege tower invasion craft have always been a favorite vehicle class.
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Yep. Rubble-days on the other hand...
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