"[Z4Miniatures] 'Pendekar' Battlesuit Released" Topic

(Posted into here because the Submit News on the main page seems borked?)

The Type-32(G) 'Pendekar' battlesuit is the latest addition to Z4Miniatures range of 28mm science fiction miniatures. Each model stands 56mm to its tallest point and comes with four different weapons, with empty fists and clear mounting areas for you to add your own if so desired. Four arm variants along with a ball-and-socket shoulder joint give excellent poseability, and the legs and pelvis are now fused into two variants, streamlining assembly, and eliminating the previous requirement that you have four hands to hold the entire assembly together.

Size comparison, from left to right: GW Tau Battlesuit, Z4 Pendekar Battlesuit, Infinity Marut TAG, Z4 Bouncer Battlesuit.

Detail shots. (R) hand: Assault Rifle, (R) shoulder: Missile Pod, (L) hand: SMG with grenade

Also, the battlesuit is fully compatible size-wise with the weapons from the Games Workshop Tau Battlesuit. The weapons can mount with minimal fuss onto the shoulder mounts, or with a little trimming (or putty) will fit onto the forearm.

This release encompasses the following:

SF00001 – Type-32(G) 'Pendekar' Battlesuit 1x metal miniature, random variant. GBP13.00
SF10002 – Pendekar Battlesuit Fireteam 2x metal miniatures, random variants. GBP25.00
SF10003 – Pendekar Battlesuit Squad 3x metal miniatures, random variants. GBP35.00

Link to blog (same post essentially): link

Link to shop: link

All comments welcomed!

They look great, fireteam ordered!

Pretty darn cool. Those may even work as small 15mm mecha.

Chris K.

quite nice

At 56mm tall, those would be roughly Patlabor-sized mecha in 15mm.

And I think I just found my Raicho proxy for Infinity. Z4, have you posted this announcement over on the Infinity boards yet?

Lion I was thinking the same thing.

The suit looks great.

Please find a 15mm miniature to show a comparative size shot…it looks like a perfect Mecha miniature :)

@Lion

Yep, it's up there already.

@28mmMan

I don't have any 15mm humans unfortunately. Best I can do is some Old Crow Hammer's Slammers, which would come to about these guys' waists.

Very cool!

It is easy enough to guess based upon the other miniatures.

:)

When I first saw it, I started thinking of the song 'Roland the Headless Ion Gunner' because I misread it and thought it was a 'Mech. It looks great!

very nice

I must confess that I did find the lack of a head disconcerting, maybe when I see a painted version it will look better to me.

It seems quite … err … manly.

andy

Very nice!

Found a use for 'em. Order placed.

Love it!

-Will

Is there's supposed to be a person in that? Where does their head go?

There isn't room for their head.

Alex, it's Landmate-sized. The person's legs end just above the knees, and their head is roughly in the center of the chest. Haven't you seen the (recent) Appleseed movies?

I love that there's no head! Seems perfect to me!

No head= good. Why put a head? So it can get shot off?
I like this one better than the 'Bouncer', reminds me of my vision of Star-Ship-Troopers power armor (no 'mecha' siliness, but bigger than 'something you wear'…)
Very nice work, and good to see comparison pictures.

I might alter the 'tennis shoes' however.
But you know what, everybody is a critic… This really is one of the nicest sci-fi pieces in a long time.

Very nice – the Tau weapon compatibility is clever idea, really widens the number of build options enormously. They're certainly easy bits to get on the secondary market.

@Space Aardvark

He doesn't have a head, but he's got a face. I'm gonna paint a skull on mine, like the one you see on this Ma.K model:

@Alex Reed

I present to you Exhibit A:

"It seems quite…err…manly"

Yeah I noticed that yesterday and started to mention it…but since no one said anything I let it go, figuring it was just me seeing shapes in the clouds.

I am thinking that a theme paint job to celebrate the details might do well to follow a Black Adder profile.

Lousy 28mm "battlesuit", Fantastic 15mm Mecha.

Why lousy? see Exhibit A, for a person to wear it they need detachable hips….

@Infojunky

I assure you the legs will fit without detachable hips. I unfortunately lack the requisite number of hands to hold 2 different models and a camera in position to snap the shot. I don't deny it's going to be thoroughly… uncomfortable for the pilot though.

See Exhibit A.

I was looking at the positioning of the Arm (and not necessarily the legs, which could occupy only the upper (thighs) part of the mecha chassis.

If the human's arms indeed went into the arm portions, then the head would have no place to go.

And…

It doesn't look like there is enough room to cram the upper torso into the chassis with the legs down in the leg-chassis portion of the mecha.

So, you were right to point this out as well.

It indeed looks as if it would make a great 15mm mecha, but a lousy 28mm model unless the pilot could somehow get their entire body into the torso of the mecha.

@Alex

Arms don't go into the arm sections. Arms are kept in the torso. And as I've said, there is certainly enough room. Maybe not for a 32mm figure, but a true-28mm will fit in there with no problem.

And I want to ask how is it a lousy 28mm model? I mean, it maybe make a lousy 28mm battlesuit if your concerns were relevant, but that somehow invalidates it's use as a 28mm robot, 28mm cyborg, 28mm whatever?

I tell you what. Send me your address and I'll post you one of these suits FOC so you can see for yourself, no questions asked.

Can I insult the design just to get a free one as well?

Robert

@Toaster

Only one of those awards per forum. The "Awesome Painter" offer of a free mini in exchange for painted photos though, is still open.

@Alex Reed

Exhibit B for your pleasure:

Alex, I'm sure you'll have more fun on Dakka Dakka explaining to everybody why Space Marines can't fit into their armour without radical pelvic surgery… :) and maybe convince them that swords in space are silly. ZandrisIV's obviously put a lot of though into this.

Well the answer seems simple to me…children.

It is all video games to them anyway…shove a kid in there and let them do their thing.

Or remote control/access?

An ROM…remotely operated mecha?

Use it for 15mm.

Use it as a robot.

Use it with quad amputees.

Use it with kids.

IMO the model is too nice not to use…just accept it as Space Marine science and move on :)

It would be a tight fit, but it is a fun miniature.

I think they are cool, and a good price!
FFF

Cool 15mm mecha.

Cool 28mm robot.

Very cool 20mm/1/72 scale as a BIIIG robot.

'nuff said.

Leland R. Erickson

Ok, Z, I'll bite on the painting challenge. Do you have a preference, or do you want it painted to show all the details and curves?

Oddly enough, the Pendekar suit reminds me of a Jovian Chronicles Minotaur exo-suit.

Considering JC was/is heavily influenced by Shirow's Appleseed, I'm not surprised.

Also, love the mini. It r0xx0rs my s0xx0rs.

ZandrisIV: stifle Reed, he's a professional troll/idiot. I am sad panda he got free stuffz out of you.

@Lion

Have you bought one yet? Basically I've got so much else to paint that I lack the inspiration to paint the suits. If you can paint to a decent standard (my level at least) and are happy to let me use your photos on my site then I'll send you one to paint. If you already have one or two, then I'll send you a free extra one.

Get in touch with me via e-mail and we can hash out the details.

@evilmike

The suit is a mishmash of a little bit from here, a little bit from there. Another big inspiration is one of the robots drawn by Keith Thompson, the one had a brain sitting in its crotch.

And yes it does look like the minotaur, though I feel the minotaur is probably even more head/body heavy with even spindlier arms and legs.

I would love to take you up on the "Awesome Painter" offer.

My pics tend to get good rankings in Google Image Searches.

link

If I fit your criteria you can reach me at jayadan@gmail.com

Thanks for the offer, but I wouldn't be able to make use of it, and I already have too many miniatures that I need to do something with.

My complaint was that it makes a horrible Mecha (which usually has a human inside). As a robot, there is nothing wrong with it.

It's a striking looking and beautiful miniature that is excellently sculpted. In fact, as a robot, it bears a striking resemblance to Boston Dynamics' Atlas platform (which is also a headless humanoid – they decided to put all of the sensory equipment in the torso, with extensible units to look over or around things). Although the Atlas will not be fully operational until around 2015 (they need to find a way to make the power source self contained, so that it won't have an umbilical).

Now, if you made them in 6mm, I might be more interested in them (I don't really like skirmish gaming.

The Boston Dynamics Atlas

*****

I really like the Battlesuit/Robot/Mecha/etc.

Best part is that it can easily slide between scales and fill many needs/wants.

Good stuff!

@Alex

Many different ways to fit a person into a mecha. You're obviously thinking of the type where the pilot "wears" the entire suit with arms to arms and legs in legs. I'm going for a hybrid approach here, with legs in thighs, and arms in the torso.

A more radical approach could be like that used in Revelation Space, where pilots had their brains + spinal columns removed a-la Robocop and implanted into their ships for the duration of their tour of duty.

Very cool walking armored nightmare, both in 15mm and 28mm.

And ZandrisIV, email me if you want a few 15mm scale figs.

johnbearross @t gmail d0t c0m

Best,
JBR

While I could argue that Shirow had obvious allowances for the leg in the thighs, I won't. Because it ia fantastic looking figure, and I am gonna acquire one or three once the funds are available for my growing 15mm Mecha collection.

@infojunky

The thighs do have enough room to fit legs, if you try looking at exhibit B. I agree that some things were sacrificed for poseability and convenience, but that wasn't one of them. But you can see that for yourself when(if) you buy them.