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04-19-2020, 01:54 AM | #1 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 1,586
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MOBAT (Modular Ordnance Battle Automated Tank)
"G.I.Joe's newest heavy combat vehicle brings cutting edge technology to the battlefields of today, representing the pinnacle of tactical robotics and modularity. The MOBAT dispenses with a crew entirely, and is controlled remotely from a safe location by a team of between two and four. Not carrying an actual crew allows the MOBAT to be more compact than a regular tank, and frees up interior space for more ammunition and fuel. Even without crew, the vehicle benefits from a smooth ride, and has an advanced suspension system that allows it to fire on the move without sacrificing any notable accuracy. The result is a unmanned tank that provides most of the capabilities of a conventional main battle tank, without the inherent limits of weight and size, and most importantly, without placing a crew in harm's way. While it is common to improve the capabilities of armored vehicles by adding additional weapons and upgrades to them over time, the MOBAT has been designed with modularity in mind as a core part of its design. In its basic form, it weighs just over 30 tons, with optional add-on armor for the turret front, hull sides and even rear bringing its weight up to well over 40 tons. Armor is not the only part of the system that is interchangeable - there are two side-mounted stations for a variety of mission-specific attachments. These include armaments such as a 40mm grenade launcher, a 7.62mm minigun, 25mm autocannons, guided antitank missiles, and a reconnaissance mast. These modular attachments come in addition to the primary weaponry of a fixed 120mm cannon, a coaxial medium machine gun, and a heavy machine gun in the mini turret. Smoke grenade launchers are usually fitted, and the mini turret offers 360 visibility as well as a "hunter-killer" capability for the commander." MOBAT - Modular Ordnance Battle Automated Tank by Magnus-L, on Flickr Rear by Magnus-L, on Flickr MOBAT with modular armor and weapons by Magnus-L, on Flickr Recon mast and autocannon by Magnus-L, on Flickr Antitank missiles, autocannon, and bulldozer blade by Magnus-L, on Flickr The original G.I.Joe tank was a compact motorized tank ("MOtorized BAttle Tank"), with a spot for just a single figure in the Commander's cuppola, but its molded details suggested at least one hatch for additional crew in the hull. I didn't grow up with a MOBAT, and if I had it might loom more significantly in my mind. Instead, I look at the original toy and it seems frustratingly small and lacking - certainly a generation behind the much cooler looking Mauler. The original MOBAT has a mid-Cold War look to it, like a sort of awkward representation of an MBT70 mixed with a little M60. I wanted to make it look a lot less old fashioned, but similar enough to the original that it would be recognizable. So I kept some of the unusual aesthetic features of the original - like the tracks not quite running the full length of the hull, the cupola in the very middle of the turret, and the super wide base of the gun barrel. As another nod to the old-school roots of the MOBAT, I worked in some old dark gray, a sorely missed color, that Lego has phased out many years ago, that I don't get to use nearly as often as I'd like to. The idea to make it modular came about when I was trying to think of other words to replace the redundant "motorized" in the original vehicle's name. And of course once it occurred to me, imagining it as a modular combat system was a whole lot of fun. Of course, I considered designing my MOBAT as a realistic (and much larger) MBT with a full interior for three or even four crew. In the end, I embraced the original toy concept of a decidedly small tank, and I've brought it into the 21st Century and explained its small size by making it unmanned. I usually pride myself on fitting figs inside my vehicles, but building a tank without a crewed interior is much easier, and doing so allowed me to build my MOBAT to scale with some of my other early era Joe armor (it is smaller than the Mauler, but bigger than the Wolverine). I also was able to fit in a nifty roadwheel suspension system that I'm really pleased with that simply wouldn't have fit if I had insisted on fitting in a driver and a manned turret basket. An actual MBT with a full crew is something I've wanted to do for a while for my Joes, but they'll have to wait a while. More pix of this one here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/782249...57713949989582 Last edited by Stormgard; 11-19-2020 at 12:18 AM.. |
04-19-2020, 09:13 AM | #2 |
Joe Gramps aka Mr H
Join Date: May 2012
Location: NJ ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ
Posts: 16,571
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That is one sexy looking tank. Excellent job!
__________________
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04-19-2020, 09:40 AM | #3 |
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 10,010
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Great job man! The attachments make it even better!
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04-23-2020, 12:25 PM | #4 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 1,586
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Thank you so much!
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