Super cheap VOTOMS and its gone again.

[Grimmnar]

I may have bought 10...

I might have done the same...

I might have bought 10 right after the GF made an order for 10. :-)

Grimm

[eilif]

Grabbed another 10 when I realized they could be used like infantry/elementals in our 28mm scale mecha games.  Gonna be absolutely bananas if I can get them all painted up.  Also grabed a plarail train for my son. I've never seen them for 12 bucks before!

For anyone who might be interested, my buddy just showed me where they're selling Starblazers mini kits for $2.50 each.  I don't know the exact scale, but he's building a Full Thrust fleet out of them.
http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?rel=nav&GenreCode=Sci&MacroType=InjKit&Scale=0&DisplayMode=images&Dis=2&Sort=std&qid=13AKUHTU38B0Q&set=1&SeriesID2=5880

I guess there's the upside of a weak Yen...

[Inso]

I hope that when all these VOTOMs start arriving they are unpacked and photographed in their horde-like glory

VOTOMs look so cool when ranked up

[YPU]

...when all these VOTOMs start arriving...

And so they did. I only opened one for now to test painting a few parts to be sure it can be done, but this stuff feels like your average Japanese model building plastic, which is very paintable. In fact the whole model is simply slotted together quite loosely, it took me less then ten minutes to dissemble the first one, and I was being careful. (there are a grand total of 3 screws tough!)

Potential poses are very good, most things move in every direction, head and eye move separately even. The gun looks better in person then I had expected, but its still not great so I think I'm going to try and print some replacements. Could any VOTOM nerds tell me what this gun is supposed to be anyway?

No ranked up pictures yet, but I'll do a nice dissembled anatomy type shot tomorrow if I have half decent light.

[Rhoderic]

Could any VOTOM nerds tell me what this gun is supposed to be anyway?

Some sort of autocannon or rapid-firing RPG launcher. In the original VOTOMS anime it's depicted with the sort of artistic license that's common to anime action sequences, so its function appears a bit different from scene to scene. In one scene it seems to be firing rocket-propelled grenades/shells, in another scene it's more like a machine gun and in a third it even seems to be firing an energy beam. I think the lattermost is likely the least accurate depiction.

In the classic Japanese tradition of awkward Engrish names for things, it's called a "catapult launcher". More specifically, it's a "G-BATM-04 catapult launcher", although mahq.net seems to have mixed it up with the "G-BATM-02 hardblade gun".

Fatties start appearing halfway through the original anime, at the start of the "Deadworld Sunsa" story arc. The catapult launcher is their most commonplace armament.

[YPU]

Right, that does not make it any easier, thanks for the thorough explanation though.

My main problem with  The weapon is the barrel size, and the fact there are four of em, the wheel like side pod could be ammo, but its slimmer then the bore of the weapon. It just doesn't make sense. Still beyond that its a nice kit, and it gives me another 3d print target.

[YPU]

Not a bad idea, though then I would probably use my regular methods of doing cables. Golden hammer rule and all that.

But even then I just dont like the weapon, too many barrels too large bore. So at least a barrel topper at leas, if not a whole gun.

Also, a few hours later and I have openned all the boxes and put the mechs up for parade.

[Rhoderic]

My main problem with  The weapon is the barrel size, and the fact there are four of em, the wheel like side pod could be ammo, but its slimmer then the bore of the weapon.

If that's the case then I suspect it's an inaccuracy in the model. In the gun as depicted in the anime, the wheel (which I likewise assume to be the ammo magazine) looks to be just barely thicker than the the bore, at least in the more well-drawn frames (perhaps not in some of the more fast-and-loose frames wherein the object in question is shown mid-motion).

In the first battle scene featuring Fatties (end of episode 29), their catapult launchers are absolutely definitely firing physical projectiles which I would best describe as rockets, rocket-propelled grenades or unguided missiles (take your pick) of a diameter consistent with the bore. They're certainly rocket-propelled and they explode impressively upon impact. They launch out of alternating barrels.

In the second, third and fourth battle scenes (beginning of ep 30, end of ep 30 and beginning of ep 31) they're firing at a much higher rate and the projectiles are not as clearly visible (appearing more as streaks of light, like tracer rounds from a machine gun), giving a more autocannon-like impression, but ultimately I think the projectiles are still the same. They still explode upon impact. The fourth battle scene also has the shot in which a catapult launcher appears to be firing what look like "slow" energy beams, but upon further review that may just be a mistake or an instance of corner-cutting by the animators - the same shot has Fatties with hardblade guns (which confusingly seem to be energy weapons despite their name) and both gun types are animated as firing the same type of beams. I think the animators just made things easier on themselves. Anime is like that. Action scenes are fast, loose and impressionistic. I advise against overthinking it.

I'll leave it at those four scenes as I for one am fairly convinced of the nature of the beast by this point.

[YPU]

If that's the case then I suspect it's an inaccuracy in the model.

Yeah I might have been talking out of my arse there. The guns are actually in parts (rest of the model is pre-build) I only build one of the guns and then disposed it into the box without really looking at it. On closer inspection they are indeed wider then the barrels, but there is your typical plastic saving cut-outs on the inside of the wheel, which make them appear a lot more flimsy in my minds eye then actual fact.

I like the multi barrel.

Figured you would, you went crazy over gun fingers on the last Japanese kit.  

Still tough, they entire thing is just too retro-raygun shaped for my taste. But the fugly green plastic isn't helping that so I really ought to paint at least one gun up in slightly more realistic colours and see how I feel about that. Problem is I'm having mayor doubt as to how I'm going to paint them in general.

Scurv, last time I heard about metal storm I don't recall mention of back loading new stacks. The whole notion that its even a functional mechanism just blows my mind, it sounds to under engineered. Just stack bullets atop each other and start firing from the front.  

Also I have this image of a tank gun sized FN-p90 in my head ever since I ordered these guys and I might just need to do something bout that.

What I will say for these guns, while the stock shape only enforces the retro-raygun look it does actually sit pretty decently against the upper arm when held in a L armed position. Not how a human would (or should) use a stock but then its not human, just humanoid.

Roderick, I noted the ground fatty has a similar weapon but with longer barrels and only 3, but identical ammo wheels.

EDIT: I keep harping on these things, but also the jet-pack has a thruster array in the middle exactly the same look as the barrel of the gun.

[Rhoderic]

EDIT: I keep harping on these things, but also the jet-pack has a thruster array in the middle exactly the same look as the barrel of the gun.

Yeah, I noticed that in the anime too

As for the gun, I agree that it's one of the more wonky-looking designs of the VOTOMS franchise. Personally I find it rather endearing, but only within the framework of an anime-style setting. I know VOTOMS belongs to (and to no small extent pioneered) the "real robot" subgenre of mecha anime, but still, it's not supposed to be all that realistic. Obviously, if you want to "convert" into a more realistic design (to whatever extent humanoid fighting vehicles can be realistic), that's perfectly fine and in that case the gun may have to go.

I never thought of the gun as "retro" before, but you may be right. VOTOMS is over 30 years old by now and in some respects it may not have aged well. I do think of my Heavy Gear project as having an ever-so-slight retro (1980s) slant to it, so I won't have to justify some of the less realistic aspects of it so much against ultra-modern hard sci-fi. It represents a slightly aged and naive, but romantic and endearing, vision of the future.

[BlackWidowPilot]

That gun... is so easily modified, but unexpurgated makes a passable Multilaser for WH40KRT if ya ask me...

[eilif]

All 20 of mine are still in my "personal warehouse" as I wait for another item to become available so they can ship together.

This to say, please post some pics to help me with the wait!

Very good to hear that it's good model styrene and easily dis-assmblable. I'm particularly interested to see how the pilot fig scales with 28mm.  Could he take a 28mm head swap and not look distorted?

As for the weapons, I'm not fussed either way.  If it looks great, fine, but no worries if not.  I won't be using them in the Votoms universe so I can go any number of directions. I've got a batch of extra Tau weapons, tons of sci-fi, model parts, bits, etc....

I've been wanting some power suits and I was briefly regretting selling a batch of Tau stealth suits I had. I regret no longer!

[YPU]

Very good to hear that it's good model styrene and easily dis-assmblable. I'm particularly interested to see how the pilot fig scales with 28mm.  Could he take a 28mm head swap and not look distorted?

Don't pin me on the type of plastic. It does have a oily kind of feel to it so I would recommend a good wash before paint at the least. The gun I painted I gave a plastic pre-primer and army painter primer over that and it went fine, no flaking after pretty rough handling for now.

Size wise the pilot might be more 25mm sized then 28, marbe true 28 but I think to slender for heroic 28 at least. (then again what isn't) The cockpit its pretty decently sized for fitting 28mm models though I think.

[eilif]

Don't pin me on the type of plastic. It does have a oily kind of feel to it so I would recommend a good wash before paint at the least. The gun I painted I gave a plastic pre-primer and army painter primer over that and it went fine, no flaking after pretty rough handling for now.

Size wise the pilot might be more 25mm sized then 28, marbe true 28 but I think to slender for heroic 28 at least. (then again what isn't) The cockpit its pretty decently sized for fitting 28mm models though I think.

Good to know. I'll probably be using these guys to go along with my Ventaurans, so if they're 25 or true 28 the Ventauran heads (available separately in a pack) should work just fine.

[eilif]

All right, mine are on the way now.

My order was big enough that their automated system didn't want to give me the cheapest long-wait-no-tracking option which is usually half the price of the others.  However, by removing and then putting back the items between my "personal Warehouse" and my "order" I was able to trick it into somehow giving me the lower cost option.   20 Fatties and a pack of Tomy Plarail trestles shipped from Japan for only $18 is a pretty great shipping cost.

Just a tip for anyone looking to get in on this deal since they still look available.
http://www.hlj.com/product/TAK14139