hi there Steamfox! remember me? If not check out my gallery.. ;)

Johnny

Steam robot?...
Stampunk!?

originally publisheed in an issue of animerica before cancelation. ood to see it in a bigger size.

Shoot! I really wish I could have seen "The Iron Badger" gracing the pages of the magazine. I didn't find out it had been printed until it was too late, and I'm really sorry to read the magazine is now out of print. I especially liked the articles on building the battle robot model kits.

i've never understood why a mech would have a Melee weapon

Well, it has some advantages over traditial weapons, such as less likely to jam, overheat, or run out of ammo. Plus, a large blade like that with the full force of a mech's arm would have an easier time penetrating armor than some relatively-small chunks of metal pinging off the metal shell.

...Plus, it looks totally bad-ass. ^_~

yeah, vur if you miss you fall over.

Now That's a KNIFE!

Well, it'd look kinda silly if he had a giant spoon.

True, but it's not your typical epic-mecha sword, it's a giant "survival knife"... :)

They showed just how effective a knife weilded by a mech can be in the latest movie 'avatar' - kudos for showing this before it hit mainstream.

with a freaking knife.

very cool dude very cool

Awesome, I love it!

I thought you had seen this before.

You have really got badger spirit right!

You know? Most folks I've shared this image with dig the fact that this Giant Fighting Robot still carries a huge close quarter fighting knife. It's only logical as I tend to look at my Battle Robots as being similar to knights in plate armor. The "Tactics" take place on a larger scale though.

I have the utmost respect for the bravery and ferocity of badgers. Once I was walking around a ranch I was considering purchasing. I put one of my boots about 6" from a hole. In a fraction of a second, a badger darted out, bit the toe of my boot, and shook it so ferociously that I was almost knocked off my feet. Fortunately, I was wearing my construction boots with an ANSI steel toe protector and a steel sole plate, so I wasn't hurt, though I could barely stay on my feet. The badger was growling and hissing in a very ferocious manner while continuing to shake hard. I backed away with the badger still glommed onto my boot toe until I found a big stick. I half heartedly poked at the badger which made it even more pissed off. I didn't want to hurt him - I realized that not only had I invaded his territory, I had insulted him by stomping on his veranda. I also realized that if I backed out of his territory, that he would let me go. A couple of hundred feet of backing up with a growling hissing shaking (amazingly hard) terror biting my boot toe and I crossed the boundary of his territory. He let me go, and ran back straight toward his hole, turning around half way there for some more growling, snarling, hissing, and display of lots of very sharp teeth. He dived into his hole, popped out a second later to repeat his warning and to make sure that I wasn't coming back, and popped back in. It didn't bother him a bit that I outweighed him by 10 to 1. I have been very careful since then to NEVER step anywhere near badger sized holes. I also wear Kevlar and steel boots...

Badgers are exceedingly brave, ferocious, and territorial. I'd love to have a robot badger guarding my back on a strange planet. Especially one with a gigantic T-16 tool steel knife.

Ooooh! Where do you find Badger Proof Boots? Do they come in EEE Wide?

I'm a 13 EEE.

The construction boots with the ANSI steel toes that foiled the badger came from a construction clothing catalog about 18 years ago. Sorry, but I don't remember the brand. The sole contained a steel insert, too, so you could step on upward pointed nails without getting punctured.

I got my current Kevlar snake proof boots from Cabala's about 12 years ago. Other than smelling a bit like cow pies, they are still as good as new. They cost about $160, but have been worth every cent of it. They are comfortable for several mile hikes and have Thinsulate insulation. They are not laced, so air is pumped in and out so they stay dry rather than getting sweat soaked. My 501 Levis legs fit fairly snugly over the outside so nasty stickery plant debris cant get in, nor can snow and mud.

Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2010, page B1:
"Miner Digs for Ore in the Outback With Remote Controlled Robots"
"Rio Tinto is connecting its Australian mines to satellite links so workers more than 800 miles away can remotely drive drilling rigs, load cargo, and even use robots to place explosives to blast away rock and earth... "We have invested tens of millions of dollars," said John McGrath, Rio Tinto's head of innovation."
continued on page B8:
"Another concern was making sure there was enough security so a computer attacker couldn't electronically take over the mine..."

There is lots more far out good stuff happening right now! I'll bet that they would love an Iron Badger!!

i really love this~

I'm amazed I don't see  ironbadger having commented on this! Gawd, it's great!

Yeah. I drew the original line art in honor of Mr. Corbett's art page back in the days of Rich Chandler's "Gallery" Art Fanzine. He's always been stand-offish with me, but I figure that's the nature of Badgers.

Well, he's also busy as heck; I know that because we're close friends and *I* hardly ever hear from him! I dropped him a link though, just in case he mislaid it

I need to draw me some variants

Go for it. The "Koplev" series is about as varied as the Soviet built T-72, so there are desert, forest and flat plains versions. Let your imagination run wild. (How about a 105 mm auto cannon with a cylindrical drum magazine?)

I was thinking about variants, spin-off vehicles, other vehicles it might be seen with...

How about a jungle warfare variant with a tree cuter and flame projection weapon?

Sure! Why not? Do you want to draw it, or shall I?

I was thinking I would do one, or perhaps a similar one.

I'll let you do the Badger variant. I'll come up with something unique. ;)

...Gotcha!

Friggin' Daishi's! Allways camping the mountains of proud clan ghost bear!

Okay... I'm totally mystified here. What the heck is that Jargon referring to? (By the way. If the Daishi had to go up against the Ghost Bear clan regularly, they'd need Armored fighting suits for sure. Good thing I set up this rig to bite, as well as fight.)

It's a Battletech/Mechwarrior referrence, the iron badger here to me, resembles a mech called the daishi, (if I recall correctly it's been years), and well, Clan ghost bear is an organization of eugenically bred mech pilots. They just happened to be the first clan to come to mind.

Don't worry, about it I'm just being a snarky nerd over there, love your art though!

Heh heh! No big deal. I stopped playing Battletech around the time they had to switch the name from "Battledroids" 'cause Lucasfilm threatened to pull the plug on the RPG after copyright infringement concerns.

Excellent attention to detail! Makes me wish a new MECHWARRIOR game would be released ;)

You might have an idea there. FURRY Mechwarrior! (Let me see if I can find that old Albedo RPG...)

*grins* I experimented with mecha designs years ago...Check out http://www.furry.org.au/telbert/ima.....onCrescent.gif and http://www.furry.org.au/telbert/ima.....Doeminator.gif . Enjoy =0)

It's a Banana. I've never seen THAT before.

I like how grizzled it looks, not some namby-pamby japanese anime robot, like from the Gundam franchise.

I consider that a high compliment indeed. Actually, I based my idea from the Russian tanks in WW II which were whitewashed to blend in with the winter snowscapes. They had an "Antiseptic" look at first, but soon got covered in mud, rust and grime. Also, the snow melting or fording creeks would wash the winter camouflage away, making the armored vehicle look like it was wearing "Green Pants."

I feel model builders and Mecha enthusiasts alike should think of these giant battle robots as a cross between aircraft and armor models. Let's face it. Two mecha duking it out hand to hand are going to get pretty beat up, and in combat there's little time to do repairs. A Battle robot in a fine, shiny, automotive finish is either piloted by a fool, or perhaps someone who really knows what they're doing.

Way I see it, battle robots in a shiny, automotive finish are usually fielded by organisations with plenty of time and resources to spare. Or by particularly vain individuals.

Sooner or later, we're going to see such machines in real life.

Oh yeah. You also gave me the realization that some of these really fancy Mecha with the shiny automotive finishes might also be protected by over all energy shields that would protect the craft, it's pilot and it's paint job.

Hee Hee Hee! Renegade Rice Rockets and hyper velocity, Manic Motorcycles are bad enough out here in the Inland Empire," but can you imagine the mayhem caused by giant, rampaging robots? I had this vision pop up in my head of a "Customized" battle robot stomping merrily through rush hour traffic, happily flattening selected SUVs and Giant pickup trucks.

Did some searching, in response to Guillermo del Toro stating that Cherno Alpha was inspired by the Zaku series of Mecha from the Gundam series. So I searched it up, and saw how clunky and rugged said Mecha looked. As with most forms of fiction, such equipment and machines are used by poorly trained personnel as part of a "red-shirt" fighting force, whilst the shiny automotive Mecha are used by supposed "professionals" with plenty of resources to spare.

Then it's realized that these machines can still be upgraded and those who wield them can always become more effective through training, education and the willingness to fight in a dirty and underhanded manner. What follows next is perhaps an entire army of shiny, polished Mecha having their pride served to them when they go to war against such “Dirty and Bulky” but “Tough as Hell” Mecha whose pilots who have no qualms resorting to ripping out sensors, breaking off arms and legs, ganging up and pulling enemy Mecha apart, aiming straight for the cockpit, firing at vehicles and structures containing wounded and important personnel...etc, and all manner of dirty tricks.

https://youtu.be/tbqm5TtT_2E
https://youtu.be/mvtpixNSt6o
https://youtu.be/Kzm2mTGxYqI
https://youtu.be/1QORNglXjdI

Whoo... Great footage. I still hope one day to get that Gundam "Red Frame" version battle suit, but my finances and job searching have put quite a kink in my model building time. I never really liked the "Zaku" series as to me they were always the "Bad Guys" and they reminded me too much of the Cylons from the old 1970s version of "Battlestar Galactica." The last link with it's computer generated images was the most impressive to me though. It presented the probability of the infantry men and un armored ground forces against giant battle suits and I got the impression that unless there's a way to get these gigantic machines to move as quickly as a human can in plate armor, the battle robots could end up as nothing more than "Big, Tall Targets."

Great fun and very thought provoking. Thanks.