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Black Python Concept Sketch (Patreon)

Published:
2020-05-23 07:49:16
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Some have asked if I'd keep doing design work after the kickstarter, or if I'd finish off more of the remaining unseen. Yes and yes.

Here's a Black Python I completed recently.
This is one of the worst looking mechs in the franchise IMO. The melted lumpy form of a fighter jet riding on top of pipe stilts and sheet steel.
Luckily that means no one can tell me I "went too far", when there's nothing sacred to save :D

I took the YF-23 as inspiration for a jet torso and ran from there. Took similar solutions on the legs to the Marauder IIC. Referenced the Nightstar claw pods for the arms.

Zoom zoom.

Files

Previews only

Comments

Anonymous

Hell yes! This is great, I love the throw back to the original Unseen as well as the updated look and feel. My only issue is that it appears like the torso is a little too far "forward" from what appears to be the balance point for the legs, almost like it's leaning out over its own toes.

Anonymous

Looks real good. I won't even think twice about shelving my existing Turbo Chickens for this redesign. Another winner out of the gate.

Jordan G Roberts

One of the most overpowered stock builds in all of battletech now has some style. Looking slick. : D

Alex F

I think that you might have gone a bit too far the other way and made the torso a bit too small now. I do like the idea though, even if the proportions might need to be tweaked. A definoite improvement

Carlos Sempere

Looks great. I don’t really get a heavy mech vibe from it, though. I hadn’t heard of this one and was surprised to see that it was a 75-tonner after seeing this image. (Then I saw the original art and the current mini… wow.)

Taylor Shead

I love it 1000%. Makes top 5 list on favorite Scrogseens. Have to have it. YF-23 is also one of my favorite aircraft.

ShimmeringSword
>>37398123

We've got several mechs that just don't look their tonnage. Some skinny, some fat. Luckily with proper scaling they still kinda fit in and work well to define what the outliers of our visuals are. It's another factor that would just add to the "they all look the same" crowd's ammo if we kept "bulk" and proportions consistent.

Cookie

Completely agree with your assessment of the original art, really like what you´ve done with it!

Nyxus

This is no slight against you Anthony but I truly think that the Black Python is one of those designs that are beyond saving. This is a big improvement over the source materiel, but over all it is one of the few designs that I don't care for, and that is just down to the nature of the mech itself not the artist.

ShimmeringSword
>>37399507

At the end of this KS we're gonna have a massive selection. Considering CGL will likely want even more plastics after, to me, says too many options lol. So not wanting/liking a mech is totally valid IMO. Even this KS has mechs in it that I don't think deserved to be redone, that should have been forgotten :)

James Hauserj

Anthony, how much latitude are they giving you in taking these designs in new directions, just out of curiosity?

ShimmeringSword
>>37401118

As far as I can convince the bosses haha. Most of the time we're in fairly good alignment on which designs should b changed as little as possible, and others like this that I can change as much as I want.

James Hauserj

This isn't a criticism, but the Black Python torso looks like a Kirghiz omnifighter. There are bound to be jokes. It is probably the best that can be done considering the original art.

MechaParade

I find it funny that I didn’t recognize this mech by the proper clan name😂. Design wise it looks more like a bird to me than a fighter plane in the original. This is kind of cool though.

Anonymous

Looks amazing. Such an improvement from the original.

Steven Cross

A vast improvement over the original which looked like a fat duck with chopsticks for legs. This is FAR sleeker and more dangerous looking!

Anonymous

The original was a straight dog. There was, to my knowledge, nothing redeemable about the original TRO. I still think this thing is a little too Gangly - but that’s just me. To also be fair... I have family members that were on the ATF project from the late 80s - and they worked for the competitor to the YF-23... so... you know... YF-23 SUCKS AND F-22 RULES!!! GO LOCKHEED BEAT NORTHRUP!!!

Robert Moore

Vast improvement over the PP version, never was a fan of that TRO

Anonymous

Still the bastard love child of a fighter jet and ED-209. :) But now it's a threat. :) Love it.

Anonymous

I love that you kept the smoothness of the original with this redesign. The hand manipulators are really cool too. Overall, a vast improvement that is still complimentary to the original Black Python.

Anonymous

I've love the YF-23 for a loooong time. I see the resemblance. I approve. When can get a mini of this? 😄

James Bixby

One of my favorite concept ever planes!

Mike

Is this one off to IWM?

Sapphirus

Nice! I'm glad you've gave the legs more bulk than before. Speaking of clan 3055 2nd lines and IICs, when are you gonna do the Rifleman IIC?

James Hauserj

Now that I think about it, this art screams "LAM".

Robert Schuster

I disagree that the original looks bad, *but* it certainly doesn't look... like it's from BattleTech. The Project Phoenix version is pretty solid, but I really like this take on it! It preserves some of the "fighter-jet" look of the original while also... well... making sense. I do like that you kept the fins and made them more akin to the Marauder IIC's fins. That makes sense as a shared design cue.

Joe Wright

That’s a MUCH better take on a mech that other than project Phoenix, was a really ugly mug

Ryan de Haas

This looks amazing! Now I really wish this was part of the Kickstarter, a sentence I never imagined saying. I do agree that I think it would work better as a 50 ton mech than a 75 ton mech, but that is a problem inherent in the stats,. I'm guessing they aren't giving you that much freedom to change that.

Anonymous

The mech itself, don't have too much of an overall opinion on.... Maybe to get away from the "fighter jet" look, remove the top fins? Or maybe angle them inwards instead of outwards? (just random thoughts there.) But I really like the look of the knee joint here, with the lower leg on the "outside" of the joint. It would be nice to see that a little more often on Mechs that have the reverse-canted leg.

ShimmeringSword
>>37404803

I think the F-35 only won because the competitor was so damn ugly with that huge scoop haha. But while the Raptor is a good looking fighter, the YF-23 looks so damn cool, almost straight out of Macross, that I'm sad it wasn't picked.

ShimmeringSword
>>37492359

In this case I don't have any shame about it looking like a jet on legs. Sometimes you just roll boldly with the oddities.

Anonymous

I never liked the art for this mech; though, your interpretation is a vast improvement. How closely do you have to adhere to the original design? To me, the mech is akin to a pocket Marauder II. Could you push the design in that direction, making it share visual cues from other mechs in the MAD series?

James Abbot-Cole
>>37515001

He's said many times it depends on the powers that be. Some mechs he can push some mechs he is restricted.

Jeffery Smith

an improvement over the original.

James Bixby

I would prefer fists to claws. But that is just me