#io frame

STH-16 Shiden

Finally got back to making some progress with my Shiden model. I've blocked out the feet and the knees, the start of the waist skirting, and the upper-front chest armour. Of course, building out the latter has shown me I need to redo the rib armour, but that's only to be expected.

That chest armour is a total nightmare to model from the kit, but I'm making progress. I've also decided it's a better idea to model a lot of the armour before attempting to build the frame properly, so that I have the size constraints better defined.

The biggest issue I am seeing is the Ahab reactor shell. The version on the Shiden kit is comically undersized. Sizing it based on the Rouei or the Hyakuri kits produces a slightly better template, although I still think those are slightly oversized in some key respects. Or those mobile suits have an extra cover over the reactor, which might track with how much armour they layer on the frame.

Anyway, I'll have to work out a compromise, a slightly smaller version that fits better on the frame and can be safely contained in the Shiden's backpack. It will definitely help that the hinge on the chest frame needs to sit lower than it is on the kit version, so that should give me the space to get the geometry closer to the line-art.

Further refreshing my memory about all the Teiwaz mobile suits, I've got the following relevant details straight in my head:

The Hyakuren, Rouei, Triaina, Hyakuri and Hakugo use a straight Teiwaz frame.

The Shiden uses the a mass-production version, the Io frame, that is functionally identical in appearance. However, liberties have clearly been taken in the mechanical design of the Shiden, to better bulk-out the result. I'd be annoyed about that from a modelling point of view, but it's Ippei Gyoubu and I can't get mad at him.

The Hekija uses a modified version of the Teiwaz frame that doesn't have a separate designation. Based on the design of the Hekija, this has different hip and shoulder joints (something closer to a Gundam, which suggests interesting things about how Tekkadan play into its development) and a different piston set-up at the waist (they're moved to connect to the hips further back, again, rather like a Gundam).

All of which is to say, I think the Shiden should be a good basis for building the Hekija, but the earlier 'suits might be a bit harder.

Progress! That's the HG kit frame sketched.

This kind of highlights the way the Shiden plays with the Teiwaz frame proportions, with Ippei Gyoubu seeming to make the ankle armatures much bigger than they are on the naked frames circa Season 1. So I'll have to decided how to navigate that when I start building the proper version. I might just go with it being an extra strut on top, just for simplicity. But we'll see.

Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans High Grade 1/144 Plastic Model : Io Frame Shiden Kai [Ryusei-Go] (PRE-ORDER)

https://www.hype.tokyo/products/mobile-suit-gundam-iron-blooded-orphans-high-grade-1-144-plastic-model-io-frame-shiden-kai-ryusei-go

Release Date : Late December 2016

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