The final Scorpion mecha would have:
* The thick, axe-like pincers from the cardboard version
* The central-pillar cockpit controls from Dermot’s concept
* The giant flywheel and spiked tail from Roger’s concept

The last stage of the process was the above diagram from the art director, showing the invisible lines formed by the Scorpion’s proportions. It was vitally important that these proportions be preserved when bringing all the components together.

It took many designers and modelers countless rounds of revisions to create the Scorpion mecha, but I hope those of you reading this would agree that the results were well worth the effort.

Model by David Alvarez, Sandi Dolšak and Magne Lauritzen

Model by David Alvarez, Sandi Dolšak and Magne Lauritzen

Model by David Alvarez

Our Scorpion was finally in 3D form, and it looked pretty neat. But something didn’t feel right. This was supposed to be an unholy offspring of a scorpion and a motorcycle, only it looked more like some sort of mobile vending machine. With a tail.

The art director and I determined that there were three areas of improvement we needed to tackle.

Problem 1: The cockpit

One of the signature aspects of a motorcycle is the riding position. Our current cockpit looked more like it came from a mini-submarine, or an autogyro.

Model by David Alvarez

To fix it, we pulled the seat out of the cockpit to work on it in isolation. We studied a ton of motorcycle reference photos, especially the low-rider chopper style popularized by Easy Rider, and after about a dozen rounds of trial-and-error revisions, settled on the design below. We knew we’d have to rebuild a new cockpit shell around it, but the seat was perfect.

Model by David Alvarez

Problem 2: The segments

Insects have a very recognizable body shape and locomotion style. Our current Scorpion model had none of the segmentation that we associate with real-world scorpions, and would probably not scuttle across the ground in an insect-like way.

We needed to break the cockpit apart from the main engine/body, and connect the two pieces with a flexible shock-absorbing junction. This would allow the two sections to move independently of each other, allowing the animators to create a more unsettling, scorpion-like walking style.

It was a daunting task, creating a junction design that was both powerful enough to support the cockpit and its oversized claws, but with a wide enough range of motion to allow for both lateral and axial movement. It ended up being one of the last pieces of the Scorpion to be built, due to its complexity.

Artwork by David Ward

Even now, we’re not entirely sure how we’re going to rig it.

Problem 3: The tail

The plated tail design had been introduced in the earliest concept sketches, but over all the revisions it had gotten increasingly slender. By the time it was in 3D form we’d taken to calling it “the watchband.” The art director felt it wasn’t compatible with the heavy, brutal look he was after. So, he went back to his workshop and came back with the most brutal-looking tail design imaginable.

Sculpture by Matt Evans

The Scorpion design was complete. All that was left was the remodeling.

Continued in part 4…

Sculpture by Matt Evans

The first thing we did to make the Scorpion more menacing was to beef up the limbs. We decided that the legs would consist of a piston-driven set of joints attached to a large shield piece and an integrated shock-absorption system. The claws, rather than oversized shears, would be immense axe-like crushers. Matt updated his cardboard mockup with the new additions.

Next, we reached out to Roger Oda, a concept artist specializing in precise, hand-rendered linework. Roger went all-out on the detailing, building up an elaborate structure of pipes, gears, hoses and rotors. He even introduced a hefty flywheel at the base of the tail, to lend the Scorpion that extra dieselpunk touch.

Art by Roger Oda

We finally had enough detail to move to the 3D modeling phase. But we soon discovered that bringing all the pieces of the Scorpion together would prove more challenging than we expected…

Continued in part 3…

The initial concept for the Scorpion wasn’t much to look at. Built by art director Matt Evans out of MDF and wire, it had no legs, cardboard pictures for claws, and a paper clip where the stinger should be. But it established the basic proportions of the beast, and that was enough to get started with.

Sculpture by Matt Evans

We knew we wanted the Scorpion to ride like a motorcycle—a monstrous, eight-legged motorcycle. We’d given the Rider a cruiser riding position and an exposed chopper-style engine. We just needed someone who could fill in the details and bring the Scorpion to life.

The pencil stage

Concept artist Dermot Walshe had a whole section of motorcycle art in his portfolio, so we knew he’d be a good fit. Indeed, his take on the Scorpion was a marvel of exhaust pipes, chain gears and springs.

Artwork by Dermot Walshe

He even whipped up an animated “harpoon” attack for the battle scenes!

But something was off. Even with the multitude of leg designs that Dermot provided, the Scorpion just didn’t seem aggressive enough. We decided to make some adjustments…

Continued in part 2…

Concept artist Sergey Popov really nails the look, with this imposing trio of opponents:

Artwork by Sergey Popov

Model by Magne Lauritson

Mecha-flea is based on this lovely painting:

Concept art by Vincent Morin

The earliest prototypes

The initial designs for the medina were drawn up by Dimitri Avramoglou back in 2008. His concepts were later converted into a blocky 3D model which we’ve been using for pre-visualization and tests. As you can see in the image below, the medina features buildings only where the camera can see them.

3D model by Gavin Reed

Architectural upgrades

Now that we’re nearing the end of our pre-vis phase, the medina is due for an overhaul. The first step: a library of detailed building designs with which to populate the medina. Some of Tom Woode’s concepts are shown below.

Artwork by Tom Woode

To ensure that these new buildings are laid out as realistically as possible, art director Matt Evans is developing a heavily researched map of the walled city for the modelers to build upon, complete with streets, archways and marketplaces.

Artwork by Matt Evans

It’s an impressive start to what is sure to be a massive undertaking.

This model is really shaping up nicely.

3D model by Michael Marcondes and Sandi Dolšak

Below, in no particular order, are a few of my favorite panels from the collection.