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Comparison images from the game.
Aren't you glad I provided these, for once?
"The Shagohod goes far beyond the
level of 'threat.' It will render the concept of nuclear deterrance
utterly meaningless." - Sokolov
The Shagohod is the nuclear-equipped battle tank from Metal
Gear Solid 3. It's basically the predecessor to all Metal Gears, although Granin was actually the one who invented the first mecha-type Metal Gear.
Now you know what Gurlukovich meant when he said in MGS2: "Even the
technology that gave birth to these weapons is Russian, developed by us!"
When I first saw pictures of the
Shagohod, I thought "That looks really stupid." Over time, however, I have
grown to really like the vehicle. If you're thinking "Scorp, you just
FORCED yourself to like it because you want to like MGS stuff" then you're
wrong. Proof? I never convinced myself to like Raiden. I still hate his
guts.
Though the Shagohod has a pretty
simplistic look to it, that's actually because it's probably the most
realistic of the Metal Gears (the least realistic being RAY, since I just
can't see anyone ever designing a mech with NO FEET). The Shagohod is not
a walker: it moves using a pair of "drills" on the front and a hovercraft
(floats on a cushion of air) on the back.
The advantage of the Shagohod is
that it is able to launch a nuclear missile from any type of terrain, and
move relatively undetected. The nuke is launched from the big tube on its
"shoulder." It can even reach ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic
Missile) ranges if it has a runway. This is
because it uses the jet engines on its sides to act like the first stage
of a rocket, propelling the nuke to even greater speeds. Although I for
one think that the need to have a runway kind of gets rid of the whole
"fire from any terrain" advantage, don't you?
The name Shagohod is Russian for
"step-walk" according to numerous websites. However, Sokolov says that it
means "treading behemoth." Whatever. Anyway, it's big. Really big. At
first I thought it looked dumb with its drills and huge vacuum-cleaner
butt... but the game managed to make it cool in the motorcycle chase
scene. That was awesome.
This LEGO design took me a couple
of weeks to build and perfect. I was originally going to make it solid
tan, without the camouflage design. But I knew people would fuss about
that, so I considered using dark green decals. But I knew people would
also
fuss if I used too many decals, so finally I thought about using regular green pieces. I
knew people would STILL fuss about regular green being too bright, so I decided
to use dark green. This was a somewhat expensive decision, because I had to
order like $20 worth of dark green pieces on Bricklink. And some people
still weren't satisfied. Oh well. I tried my best.
This is probably my biggest
creation ever now, and definitely bigger than both other Metal Gears (this
one is far closer to the proper scale than REX and RAY were). There are
some that might be taller, or wider, but none are as big overall.
This side isn't as attractive as
the others, but take note of the decal (it's on both sides). Yes, that's
the only decal I put on this model. Thanks to Mandalore for helping me
find pics of it. Also thanks to Ralf Schooneveld (Ralf_snake) for helping
me find a lot more reference pics. And thanks to all the Elites on my
forums for pointing out some details I overlooked.
Yeah, not the "sexiest" rear end
in the world, is it? Some people also fussed about my back not being
smooth enough. Give me a break people! Look at all those SLOPES! I used
one whole box of tan pieces on this thing, not to mention that new "Wild
Hunters" big lion set I bought just for this purpose.
At first you might think this
thing isn't very detailed, but look closely and compare it to the
reference pic. I put as much detail as I could FIND on the thing.
Here it is from above. I tried to
cover up as many studs as I could. Actually my only complaint about the final version of the vehicle is that
the radar ball isn't really big enough. I couldn't figure out a suitable
way to make a slightly bigger one though.
The interior of the cockpit. Note:
despite the appearance of their emblem on many parts of the vehicle, the
Rebel Alliance (you know, those terrorists you root for in Star Wars)
denies any involvement with the development of this superweapon. When our
agents contacted him, Admiral Ackbar would only say: "It's a trap!"
I can't think of what it was
Volgin said in the cockpit of the Shagohod at the moment, so I'll just use
a substitute quote:
"YOU HAVE NO CHANCE TO SURVIVE MAKE YOUR TIME!"
The desktop image for all you fans
out there. I wonder if anyone ever actually uses my backgrounds... Well, I
do anyway. *shrug*
I wish I had made some Russian
choppers for this monster to smash through while chasing the motorbike. I
loved that part.
After Snake and Eva blow the
bridge out from under the Shagohod, it is forced to separate from the back
section. This is the result. You may think that the arms are too far out
from the head, which is why I did this...
Just twist these joints around
like so, and...
It looks much more even now, don't
you agree? After its butt is gone, the Shagohod is even more dangerous...
at least to Snake and Eva.
NOTE: It has since been brought to my attention by a few people that the
Shagohod actually has the drills pointing BACKWARDS when it is in this
mode. If this is true, then I apologize for my inaccuracy. I can't retake
photos though, because I've already begun taking my precious dark green
and dark red pieces back off of this creation.
According to its Wikipedia entry
(at least, it had its own entry a week ago... now it's grouped with the
other Metal Gears. Heh), the "drills" on the Shagohod's "arms" are
actually "Archimedes screws", which in this case displace terrain for
locomotion, but were historically used to move water up a pipe.
Also from the Wikipedia article:
Besides its single SS-20 "Saber" IRBM (which has to be reloaded after
firing), the Shagohod has defensive weaponry, including three DShKM macine
guns (two mounted to defend against infantry, one mounted in a turret to
defend against airborne threats), six 9K112 Kobra surface-to-air guided
Missiles to protect against aircraft, and a 100 barrel volley gun to
defend against armor.
For the life of me, I couldn't find where the heck the 100-barrel volley
gun was supposed to be located!
It's actually rather ironic that
the Metal Gears actually seem to get easier to destroy as they get more
highly developed. Metal Gear RAY was so easy to take down that Raiden
destroyed whole groups of them and Solidus Snake finished them off with a
simple P90 sub-machine gun. REX was tougher, but even it didn't take
as much of a beating as the Shagohod. Just more proof that they don't make
things like they used to.
Here's my motorcycle sidecar. Note
the new camo outfit for Snake. I actually made a whole bunch of them but I
decided to use this one for this scene. I also gave him his eyepatch, so I
wouldn't get fussed at for inaccuracy. Oh wait, I think I got fussed at
anyway. 'Tis such a task to be accurate.
Even after Snake and Eva think
they've destroyed the behemoth, it still gets back up for more. In a very
weird scene, it appears that Volgin actually reaches into the hull of the
vehicle and rips out the wiring, then using the wires as REINS to drive
the vehicle! Very very strange. But then, Metal Gear games always are.
Aim for the back to take the
Shagohod down for good. Once Volgin is dead, be happy. Volgin was a sick,
perverted freak. I mean, think about it: he was hideously scarred,
twisted, sadistic, bisexual, treacherous, communist, and a cowardly
murderer. With someone like that dead, the world is a better place.
In case you're interested, here is
the hollow underside of the Shagohod's giant butt. Not very pretty, but I
left the giant hole in the bottom so that I could reach up inside and push
the pieces together more firmly. Probably not the best picture to end my
gallery with, but, well... maybe it'll make you appreciate the work I put
into this thing. Or maybe not, I don't know.
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