I was not able to join the previous Splinterlands arts contest as the Gobsons offered me a project.

They asked me to make a modern prototype of their current Goblin Mech!

They said that they’re tired of manually turning gears and pulling strings.
They want a mech that can only be piloted by one and not run by several goblins.

I accepted and constructed a modern mech based on what they currently have.
This one runs on DARK ENERGY CRYSTALS so only the pilot is needed to operate it.
I also made the pilot more protected by using a metal cover for the cockpit. This serves as a hatch as well.

It took me few days to make this one so I was not able to participate in the previous arts contest.
No hard feelings though, I had a lot of fun making this one. 🙂

I did not put more details as they only give me few days to work on it.

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Constructing the Mech

The construction generally started with modeling. It is followed by rigging, animating, shading and then compositing.

Research and Reference Image Phase:

To start things off, I browsed some mech designs on Google. I want to see how this things are made and interconnected.
It is also interesting how other people make their mech.
I cannot show the images here as I am not sure if I am legally allowed to do so.

Here is my main reference image:

Reference image from Splinterlands.

After that, I sketched the main body of the mech and on how I am going to approach the joints.

The Modeling Phase:

As always, I started with blocking out the main parts of the mech. This helps me a lot in ratio and proportions of things.

When it comes into the detailing, I generally switch from one part to another.

The Rigging Phase:

I made a simple rig with this one. The part that took my time rigging was the claws.

The Animation Phase:

I want my mech to move. But I want more than just a walk cycle.
That’s why I came up to a dance move instead. 😁

I had to face a mirror and create a simple dance move for this one.
Please bear with me with the dance move as I am not a dancer.
I enjoyed around a 5 minutes dance because of this. 😅

The Shading Phase:

Once I was satisfied with the animation, I proceeded with the coloring or shading as we call it in Blender.

I ended up with a brushed metal texture.
I don’t want it looking pristine so I also made it scratched and rusty.
I hope the Gobsons liked it. 😁

I ended up with this procedural texturing - with little modifications of course. 🙂

The Compositing Phase:

This phase lets me add simple gradient background and also made the eyes glow a bit.

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Final Thoughts:

There are a lot of things that can still be improved here.

One of the main things I did not place was the piston to move the limbs.

The animation can also be improved a lot.

If I will have more than enough number of 3D models in the future, then maybe, I can make a simple CINEMATIC TRAILER.

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I want your feedbacks.
Please don't be shy and drop them in the comments below. 🙂

Thank you for taking the time reading my post.
I hoped you like it.

Thank you and more power!

Modeled, rigged, animated, texture and rendered with Blender.
GIF animation made with Krita.