2nd Commission Custom: DBOZ-017-X Gil Kaiserin

[Maethius]

My project from the majority of 2015 required more than 200 hours, scrimped and scraped where they could be found. It is arguable my largest, highest risk, and most costly build to date, seconded by Fusillade in scope and by Eradicator in sculpt. My client provided me with a Gil Dragon as a base and summarized the build request as, "make it epic."

It is my hope that your opinions will be that I succeeded.



For your consideration:




Unit Data
Classification: Ultimate Gil Vader
Type: Dragon (Great Wyrm)
Primary Mission: Theater Command Center
Secondary Mission: Assault Platform
Tertiary Mission: Opposition Annihilation (“Typhon” weapon system)
Power Plant: Primary: DBOZ-TC6 (Dynasty Battalion Order Zoid – Twin-Core; Type 6)
Secondary Power: DPC-TCX (Dynasty Power Core, Twin Class Special System)
Chassis: 017-X
Crew: 1 ( pilot / minimal rank requirement: General/Empress)

Statistics
Length: 58.5 meters
Width: 57.6 meters
Height: 18.9 meters
Mass: 364 tons

Performance
Land: 230 KPH
Air: MACH 4.6
Sea: 18 Knots







Please feel free to visit Gil Kaiserin's page and leave comments below.

Thank you for your critiques!

[Vig]

You've done it again!! how the hell!

That has to be the most gorgeous doom dragon if I ever did see one. Sorry if I find death machines that could rip ones throat out gorgeous.Like seriously though that thing is just perfect though. That blue though wow beautiful actually thought they were lights at first and I was thinking how the heck did he wire it lol. Some angled shots Kinda make it look Kaiju-ish and before I read the description thought maybe the 'kai' in Kaiseren was from that which it was not of course. I love the shot of Gojulas under it's wing a nice reminder of how freaking big Gilvy is.

Anyway I bet it must have been hard to say good bye to!

[Snowflake]

You managed to improve so much on a kit that was already amazing. I can't even.. I absolutely can't even

[Enbahan]

Now this is an awesome custom! Nice to see a Gilvader less blocky. The head sculpting is very fierce.

Also on the page the text for the head sculpt and tail re-imagining is the same.

[Hanyoutai]

Oh man, this is so nice. I really admire everything that went into adding those details, especially the blue parts. The Typhon weapon image is also just fantastic! You did an amazing job on this commission, and indeed, it is truly unique from what we've seen of Gilvaders in the past. A stunning custom!

[Maethius]

Vig-
Thank you find the kind words! Yes, the Pacific Rim Kaiju look wasn't lost on me either once it was all done with. It was VERY hard to see this one go! I could snap pictures of it and re-pose it forever!

Snowflake-
Thank you, Snow! I thought I couldn't even, either!

Enbahan-
The head was a scary part to build; half kit-bash, and half scratch, and it was essential that it looked the part!
Thanks for the note on the text! I corrected it.

Hanyoutai-
I'm so glad you like it! The process of building the webpage alone took more than a month! I'm hoping I can do as good a job on the NEXT one!

[pinkoctillery]

*Watch your language!*, this is amazing. typically, I don't like most custom Zoids because most of the time they look pretty random with chunky parts glued about, but I have to say that you are always really good with your customs. this one doesn't disappoint either, it looks like a solid and well accented custom that doesn't just look like a bunch of junk glued to a Zoid lol looks awesome! and I love all the features and bits. <3

[vishus]

I am speechless...seriously, no words! You have truly outdone yourself...whoever gets to take this badass beast home is the luckiest sucker ever

[lordofdragons]

Sorry to say this... but... while I like your "personal" designs a lot (especially the Eradicator) I don't really like the two ones made to customer wish. They lack personality and just feel blown out of reasonable/logical design. That has nothing to do with the technical part but really with what they customer wanted (like in software development projects: you don't know what the customer wants but he doesn't know it himself either => lack-luster result).

[Lidier]

While I respect your viewpoint, lordofdragons, I would have to disagree with one point. The customer knew what he wanted, and he received a product that was essentially EXACTLY what he wanted. He wanted an upgraded, re-imagined, articulated Gil Vader. The original concept is, inherently, not as original as one of Maethus' customs where he makes a Zoid from scratch (Eradicator, Gallant Mariner, Fusillade, etc), it is most comparable to the Siobhan: take an underlying Zoid and beef it up and improve upon it. I could argue the original stock Gil Vader was blown out of reasonable design by mounting 4 gravity cannons to begin with.

Is it a Mary Sue unit? Heck yes, I agree with you there. But this supposed to be a unit that has a function in a story, and it is by no means impervious. Most of the comparisons with the big hitters in the "Age of War" show that who walks away from a fight will come down to who sees whom first.

And, I would like to submit that those who have read the battle story have seen they do some random head-scratching level stuff back in "Zoids canon", such as the King Gojulas being able to basically able to destroy entire armies by himself unscathed. Or Deadborders mounting Deathsaurers heads' on pikes.

I am sorry that the design lacks personality in your opinion, however, but I think you have a valid point, which would likely be difficult to achieve with a pre-existing unit.

[Maethius]

Pinkoctillery-
Thank you! As my career in Zoid customs slowly crawls forward, I find myself wanting to do more serious rebuilds and add more details and features than just souping up the weapons of an existing model. I have the utmost respect for those modelers out there like those who participate in Zoids Contest Arena (anyone know if that contest is still held?!) To me, if you have to really look carefully to determine what parts are original and what parts are added, you are heading in the right direction! Of course, that depends on the goal of each custom; if I wanted to make a character's unique Command Wolf, it would certainly be a CW with parts added... the catch is, just HOW are they added?

Vishus-
Thanks, Vishus. ^_^ Her owner is very proud, and I miss her every day I am in my shop! One day, perhaps I'll build a Gil Kaiserin 2.0, and she can fly proudly at my house!

Lordofdragons-
I certainly understand your viewpoint... it is also HARDER to make a custom to order. Gil Kaiserin was a bit of a struggle for me because I had a time/financial constraint to contend with, however, building a new version of Gil Vader has always been a dream of mine, as well as the client. While he had the ultimate say of what goes and what stays, all of the ideas I presented were my own, and 95% of them I would have incorporated on a build done for myself. The truest example of what you are describing is actually my Wolvereaver custom, which was entirely the client's design. That one I did enjoy building for a different reason; it forced me to think and work in new ways to meet that design. Still, I very much value your input because it is honest, and I will ultimately bear it in mind as I select future projects.

All of that aside, what is your take on the build itself, given the circumstances? Anything that stands out to you a, "yeah, that ROCKS!" or, "oh, you clearly compromised there," or even, "that just doesn't work... it feels forced"?

(by the way, I have been itching, lately to upgrade Fusillade to 2.0 status using all that I've learned and the parts I've acquired over the years! Imagine him with 2 more segments and 57 ball and socket joints!)

Lidier-
Some good points there. The, "who sees who first," scenario is actually derivative of most modern one-on-one scenarios; the fighter or tank that identifies the target wins, as most of our weapons these days are one-hit one-kill. In anime we like to see two super units duke it out with impossible finesse and survivability (ever see a Liger Zero dodge incoming fire? do you have any idea how unlikely that is?!), dancing through the plebes like so many stalks of wheat as they practically ignore the war about them. Unlike most of my builds, Gil Kaiserin was also designed as a story arc changing event; when I crafted what I felt she could do, I wanted her to decide that enough was enough. She isn't a 1-dimensional killing machine, she takes the high road to liberate "her people" and does so non-violently (although not without the threat of great violence).

So, what do you think of my evolution of the original design? Do you feel it hit or missed the mark in story or quality?

[ericmd]

I love it! The redesign and color is amazing. I always look forward to your work, especially on the build section of the page. Thanks for sharing!

[Gojulas Omega]

OH wow! your Gil looks very huge and nice now. I really like your customized wings and head.

This is the true rival for King Gojulas, and Guylos should use it in the last battle. Not some kind of a winged Death Saurer(Gil Saurer).

[Falcarius]

It's so pretty... If only there were more than one...

[Wolftiger]

That . . . is . . .AWESOME!  I always have soft spot for dragons with forward-facing horns like ram's horn. 

Maethius, this is now my favorite zoids custom. I know you always compare yourself to other custom zoids artists, (especially ones from Japan) saying that your skills are not up to same skill level as theirs. You are right, I think you surpassed them in a lot ways. Most zoids customs I see are robotic zoids, when I see your zoids customs they have life to them. They look like they could move organically, despite they are machine thus they are (in my eyes what zoids really are) living machine.

Posted by Falcarius
It's so pretty... If only there were more than one...

I second that! Maybe I could something with a Redler . . .