Demonwing MkII

Another of my original Zoid designs has gone through a bit of an update. And by 'update' I mean 'complete redesign from scratch'. Like my other designs, it was originally modelled in CAD, and felt very toy-like. This 'evolution' has been built in Maya, with design cues taken from fighter jets and motorbikes. Meet the Demonwing MkII, a swallow-type interceptor Zoid:

It keeps the overall proportions of the original design more or less intact, with the characteristic downwards-sloping wings and aerodynamic surfaces mounted to a hinged core.

Overall the bird has a very sleek design, while maintaining the classic 'Zoidy' design language of broken-up surfaces and joint caps. It hangs in the air in what feels like quite an unstable way - all the better to allow its quick, manoeuvrable airframe to slice through the air. Each wing blends into one half of the outer torso section, so as the Demonwing flaps it feels really dynamic and powerful.

The pilot has an incredible field of view from his or her's motorbike-style cockpit seat. You can also see the swallow's prominent intakes and engine clusters, that allow it to fly at obscene speeds. I've added a lot of small details like sensors and such, to break up the surface and help with sense of scale. 

Another view of the engine clusters. The MkII has four engines per wing compared to the MkI's two. that makes it cooler, right? Honestly it was mainly for the sake of proportions. 

A closer view of the wing. While in this configuration the alignment of feathers is almost perfectly smooth, each feather is articulated and can slide over one another as the wing retracts. Within the torso you can also see parallel support struts. This is design language I've picked up from studying the internal surfaces of airframes (such as those on weapon hatches).

An overview of some of the reference for this design. Top-left is the MkI (note the head is pretty similar, and the torso used to rotate around a single core rather than the two parallel hinges we have now). Top-right is the F22 - I took angles and sawtooth patterns from that. Bottom-left is the Harrier - the downwards sloping wings and little details come from that. And bottom-right of course is a swallow - the actual proportions are not far off, and its speed, agility and sleekness are the original inspiration for this whole Zoid concept.

I've even rigged it! The Demonwing MkII is good to go. Expect another post soon highlighting the articulation this bird is capable of.