ZOIDS BLUEPRINTS

[aristar]

Hi,

I did a search on "blueprints" before creating this thread.  Unfortunately, there aren't much places to get high resolution orthographic images of zoids.  I've managed to grab a few from the web and scans of books/magazines and HMM manual kits.  (There are some good ones, though, like dalong.net, theironbible and shopro.)  

But aside from these mentioned, does anyone know where to get ZOID blueprints?

[Hanyoutai]

Blueprints? Do you mean instruction manuals, or? You can find many of the Motorized Zoids on the Hasbro site. Almost all of the HMM on dalong.

[aristar]

i'm looking for technical orthographic illustrations which essential show the Top, Side, and Front views of a zoid... similar to those featured in the Zoids Concept art books (i,ii,iii,inv of dark army) and Dengeki Magazines.

[Hanyoutai]

The Shopro Website has a ton of these for the Anime Zoids~

[aristar]

thanks Hanyoutai. 
I've actually grabbed some screen captures from said site - however, due to the lack of resolution (620x490 pixels) on all of those images, I end up not using them anyway. I need hi-res scans.

[Hanyoutai]

For what it's worth, these images probably don't exist except for a select few mainstream Zoids. The small resolution was the norm when most of these sites (and images) were made, so larger versions were likely never published for most Zoids. The ones I recall from various books like the Silver Zero instruction books (Zero CAS images) were also not direct side-on shots.

For this reason, if it's even remotely possible to work with lower resolution images, I would recommend trying. It may also help to know if you want any Zoids in particular? That might make it easier to find source materials to scan from.

For the ShoPro website, I might recommend Waifu2x. If you can get over the cringeworthy name it is an excellent tool for upscaling and smoothing details of smaller images. Some details you'd have to work out for yourself, like lines or vent areas, but for the most part it works well.

[aristar]

You're right about the lack of reference materials for zoids. I've been searching for blueprints for quite a while now. There were some decent orthographic images that I've managed to find. But due to the fact that all of them are raster images, I always ran up against a brick wall whenever I upscaled.
As for Waifu2x, it turned out to be the invaluable tool I've wished for. Thanks again, Hanyoutai. I appreciate the recommendation.
I've been test converting small res images for the past hour and so far - so good. Waifu2x has managed to remove pesky artifacts whenever I upscale an image. In fact, I find that it has proven more of a reliable noise reduction tool than Photoshop.
There are scans of the HMM Command Wolf and the ones from Shopro that I'd like to work on as soon as I convert them all.
cheers 

[Falcarius]

I checked some of my books, and the Anime Encyclopedia only has a handful of tiny orthographic pics, so the ShoPro site is probably your best bet for the anime Zoids. The Official Fan Book EX series did include front/top/side photos of the models on the fact-file pages (e.g. Energy Liger), but it's a fairly limited selection of Zoids, and resolution will again be an issue. You mentioned the Concept Art series and dalong.net earlier, so I'm assuming you already have all the pictures from those. Let's see, what else... The Monthly Graphics and Evo Drive booklets have side, front, back and sometimes top photos, but again, it's a pretty limited selection. There's also side-on photos of pretty much every NJR Zoid in the Official Fan Books, but no front or top shots. The only other place I can think of is Hanegaru's site, but the photos there are absolutely miniscule

[aristar]

thanks Falcarius. I'll check them out too.
do you know of any site that features the Official Fan Book Ex scans?

[Falcarius]

There's some low-resolution pics here, but I got gigantic scans of most volumes from greengai (not sure if she's okay with me sharing the link or not).

[aristar]

I appreciate the link Falcarius. I've given a heads-up on greengai aswell. I think he's ok with it.
Since you mentioned that you've got gigantic scans of the link. I'd like to particularly ask for a larger scan of  page 160 in a 2011 issue of the Dengeki Hobby Magazine. (Sorry but I don't know exactly which month) but, you can refer to the link / image of Murasame Liger.... Thanks in advance. 

[greengai]

drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3dm6ysb5kXhfjhFaDFURjdkYVVBdUp4d1NxX0FNOFo2c2t5dlFVMkRwUjhSNmZXM1UtTmM&usp=sharing

[Falcarius]

May 13, 2016 6:22:47 GMT -5 aristar said:

Since you mentioned that you've got gigantic scans of the link. I'd like to particularly ask for a larger scan of  page 160 in a 2011 issue of the Dengeki Hobby Magazine. (Sorry but I don't know exactly which month) but, you can refer to the link / image of Murasame Liger.... Thanks in advance.

It's actually the January 2006 issue... and as luck would have it, my Dengeki Hobby collection only goes up to December 2005
The CG images are just going to be grainy, black and white versions of these, though. Unless you particularly want the model photos?

[aristar]

That's quite alright. As long as the images are large enough so they won't get pixelated when upscaled. And thanks for the zoidsathenium link too. I'm perusing the site now.