The Blitz Panther MkIII

Yes! It's time for some content! We've reached the moment where we commit! The moment you start sharing interesting stuff with your audience! We're going in.

This whole project actually started much smaller than how it's turning out. Originally this guy was it. I was just going to design this cat robot as an exercise in modelling, texturing and lighting. It's the fourth iteration of my panther Zoid that I've designed, and it's very much the main character of this animation. It is ... the Blitz Panther MkIII. (Look, we're going to get a lot of these types of names as we go on, get over it).

Look at it! All strong and angular and stuff. It shares some key design elements from previous versions but it is all new and built from the ground up in Maya.

From the start I wanted to give the panther some proper grounding in real life. So you can see pistons, bearings and vents in places that make sense.

Like the leg (shoulder?) joint here. Three degrees of freedom in a layout that feels strong and weighty.

Here we have the business end of the main weapon in the undeployed state.

I wanted to make the proportions of this design relatively realistic. They're based on that of a lion.

As such it's quite narrow and lithe. The main body is split into three sections - torso, waist and abdomen, so it's pretty flexible and light on its feet.

And here we have the cockpit. It's a bit of a squeeze but the pilot sits here in the head.