Blood Asp Concept Sketch (Patreon)

The Blood Asp! IT'S REAL! Another one you probably weren't expecting yet.

I love this design so when it came up in the Rec Guide design queue I slapped my own name on that sketch assignment without shame :D
There are so many versions of this mech, from the original TRO art, the IWM resculpt, Mech Commander 2, Mech Assault 2, Mechwarrior Online, and decades of fanart. I wanted to combine the best of them into one definitive version, putting a lot of effort into the proportions, and finding solutions to areas that have always been a bit weak or not quite there.

I think several fan versions have had better cockpits, so I went in a similar direction with my look, not stubby, more curves to go with the shoulder cylinders.
Definitely had to keep the large shoulder cylinder shapes, simple but iconic.
For the arms I didn't feel any version had appealingly presented the 3 lasers setup before, so I made the new sideways arrangement, while keeping the resculpt shapes.
Gauss rifle pods are also pretty close to the sculpt.
On the legs I hybridized a few concepts together, including pulling a little of the Mechassault toe design in.
Then, a whole bunch of putty holding it together :)

What do you think of it? What are you favorite bits from other designs that I missed here?