Imagine the chagrin, therefore, when they featured one of the Battletech Universe's icon 'mech, the MadCat (Timberwolf), as an undersized, badly proportioned medium 'mech. Although they called it the MadCat MkIII (and thus, it's supposed to be a different 'mech), most saw through the name, and flinched. My gaming buddies goaded me into scratchbuilding our own version of the 'mech.
The result was a 'mech that is as tall as the WizKids version, but stockier, and featured the changes that we believed should have been present. This sculpt was made around the year 2000-2001.
This version has a much larger front torso. The cockpit is roomier, and actually has a pilot inside (well, half a pilot, actually; I cut up an MW infantry and used the upper torso & head for the pilot figure). I used a thin molded plastic as canopy, then scratchbuilt the cockpit railing. The picture below shows the cockpit better.
The arms are resin rods reinforced with paperclips; they swivel at the shoulder joint. By placing other metal pins, I was able to make the torso twist, and the hips swivel. However, when the time came for me to glue the 'mech onto the base, I glued the hip joints.
The rear torso shows two huge armored hatches where LRM rounds are loaded. In retrospect, I should have also added rocket exhaust tubes at the rear of the LRM launchers.
The painting also lacks weathering, and an overall coat of dull clear lacquer.
Oh well.
