It dawned on me recently, but it seems that Kawamori is the only high profile mechanical designer specializing in transforming designs that aren't just bricks with wings.I'd like to be corrected if I'm wrong but I can't think of anyone else doing designs like this.
>>23060251Ikuto Yamashita did some decent variable mode aircraft mecha for Iconic Field.
>>23060251Kawamori is also the only known mechanical designer who tests his ideas out with Legos. He developed all of the Aquarion's transformations after playing around with the rough designs in Lego form.
>>23060251He tested them out with legos beforehand. I'm sure if 3d modeling existed he would have used that too. The only other designs that have non flying brick forms are from video games which use 3d modeling.
>>23060270>>23060273Why don't other designers take this approach? We even have 3D printing now, it should be much easier to prototype.
>>23060274because its actually really fucking difficult to make a mecha that looks good as a biped and a fighter jet that also doesnt have insane clipping issues that would make it a non-starter as a toy line.
>>23060275Man that's a shame, Kawamori is getting up there in age too. Glad to be alive in a time where I can appreciate his designs.
>>23060274The truth is transforming jets hasn’t been a huge money maker for a show outside of the original Macross. Its sequels also have the advantage of being an established franchise and can lean on other strengths (like the music) in a way something like Orguss never could. Well maybe if they made more Orguss they could market it as the NTR sci-fi franchise with transforming robots.
>>23060274Kawamori was raised near an airfield IIRC, he has the same plane autism as Miyazaki does
>>23060314His dad was an engineer iirc and Kawamori briefly considered becoming an aerospace engineer before his sidegig of working on anime took off.
>>23060332i heard the aerospace engineer part was a myth
>>23060411I heard your dad went into a restaurant and ate everything in the restaurant and they had to close the restaurant.There are multiple interviews and Kawamori's website that bring up his studying engineering, though it's usually "mechanical engineering" rather than aerospace specifically. He does typically say he wanted to design planes/cars. If it's a myth, there's been a lot of lying to support it.
>>23060261This feels ripped straight out of the Fallout universe, and I'm all here for it!
>>23060251Kawamori designed Convoy for the Diaclone toyline which became Optimus Prime.
>>23060261thumbnail looks like a horse
>>23060261Yamashita's aircraft designs are so sublime.
>>23060274For one its a lot of effort.Just look at the average VF, they are able to look like fighter jets BECAUSE the transformation system is able to hide all the robot bits in the fuselage of the jet. No part of the robot form shows itself in fighter jet mode, the arms fold themselves and fit nicely into the gap between the legs and is flush with the aerodynamic components seamlessly. The legs goes where the engines of a jet goes and the feet becomes the nozzle of the thrusters, the head retracts into the fuselage and the top of the head is flushed with the fuselage surface, etc. And all of that has to fit with the fighter jet bits that ain't involved in the transformation.And that's only step 1, Kawamori had to also translate the blocky lego aesthetics of that prototype into drawing while making sure the drawn design is still mechanically sound, with modern 3D modelling that is much easier, but the whole process to produce a transforming design like Kawamori does is extremely time-consuming.This is Kawamori showing off the lego YF-30 he built https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suCsM0t3jYEAquarion is easily Kawamori's magnum opus with its essentially being a Getter that is ACTUALLY mechanically sound and doesn't rely on shapeshifting.
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>>23066843I'm confused, wtf is going on underneath?
Anyone interested in Compile shootemups? This ship is called the Fantas by Toshiaki Takayama who isn't generally a mechanical artist. >>23066945it's basically "what if we had a normal futuristic fighter but">select front half of the plane>Ctrl+X>move cursor a bit higher and to the rear>Ctrl+V
>>23066959>"Yo dawg, I heard you like windows, so I made yo whole cockpit a window! 360 degrees of vision!"
>>23066843he mentioned in his twitter that fand was not his design but yeah he is good
