waaaaghlord wrote:Let's see if I can help out a little on this one. A quick look through some of my books turned up these, I know that there's a decent breakdown of the Nemesis from issue 8 of MTMTE as well, but I don't have that to hand at the moment. Sorry for the quality of these pics, but without a scanner this is about the best that I can manage.
Arc specifications from the Ultimate Guide.
Various ships of the Marvel comic continuity from the 1990 UK Annual.
Now may be a really good or a really bad time for these though. Among the few things that we know about Animated so far we know that the Ark an Nemesis (in their Animated guises at least) are going to feature in the new series. Now this next bit is speculation only but so far we havn't seen anything from the new line bigger than a voyager. Take that along with hasbro saying at Botcon that they were looking at making larger toys for this line 'playsets' and it's not unlikely that a toy version of the Ark, the Nemesis or both is too far off. Of course we don't know what differences in design we're likely to see compared to the G1 versions and anything that Hasbro puts out will be more of a toy than a model but it could potentially mean either competition or legal complications down the line.
Well, I'm sure that an animated ship, and playset will be really good if they decide to do one that is.. The problem is that with a series like that and the Generation One fans reactions not being so warm over the design aesthetics, there may be a disinterest in the animated ships or playsets if ever released.. That said, the designs of the Original G-1 Ark in cartoon accuracy and a Comic Ark as shown above, circa Generation one and subsequent series would be a really good collector's piece for the Generation One and Beast Wars fans alike..
I don't agree that licensing will become an issue for the model's considering the productions of the Jizaitoys custom transformables, which are sold online and only to collectors, or the Justit toys additional MP attachments to Megatron, and any other subsequent additions like the MP trailer, or Knock Offs, and the Reprolabels.. so with those items already on the custom collector's market..I feel confident that these ships wouldn't be an issue..
it should be noted that with Waaaghlord's gracious pictures that the ark depicted in that book is the one most commonly referred to as the Marvel and UK comics version, which sports a rather boxy look as apposed to the sleek curved version as shown in the TV series.. both designs are quite exceptional, and as a custom model being done of both would be a very nice addition to my collection..
Thanks to Dead Metal for the cool Nemesis design.. I hope that also helps in their production.. I too thought that DW was against the Ark for some reason?? Honestly i always thought of the Ark as one of the coolest features in Transformers.. here you had a dormant and disabled Space ship that had been sitting on Earth for millions of years.. and it wasn't until a small active part of the volcano reawakened these bots to fight again..as a Base and as a legendary almost religious symbol as was held up in Beast Wars.. the Ark is a central piece of G-1.. and should look nicely amongst my Masterpiece transformers.. Or as a nice conversation piece on my Desk at the office I work in..
As far as a Hasbro's competition in the line of Space ships for the transformers.. I just don't see it as an issue yet, they clearly have not realized the potential of that side of heir property.. I mean, if Ravenstar only does 2 models of transformers ships, then at least those 2 Models are as accurate to G-1 as we are gonna get, and probably sought after kits, due to their accuracy and the fact that Generation One, models or even transformers Space ships have never really been done before.. and a line of ships would be a huge thing, and one of a kind production as for now...unique and awesome at the same time..
that was a good point to bring up.. thanks..
also a line of model ships would be very huge to other fans of the media, like the recent unicron trilogy... remember the Axalon from Armada..?? It was awesome!!!
The Axalon was the Autobot starship initially commanded by Hot Shot and later Optimus Prime during the Unicron Battles. She was constructed on Earth as a means of returning home to Cybertron before the Decepticons did.
During the war against Unicron, she served as both the Autobot and Allied Transformer flagship.
Animated continuity
Armada
The Autobot Axalon was completed shortly after Optimus Prime's death at the hands of the Hydra Cannon, and as Hot Shot was left in charge of the Autobots, he eventually assumed command. Launch did not go smoothly, however, as the Mini-Cons refused to allow the Autobots to launch the ship without bringing the kids along. After that was sorted out, the Axalon was launched from an underwater drydock that was flooded to allow the ship to fly out of the lake near their base. Depart
Shortly after the launch, a depressed Megatron ordered his starship to be turned around so he could destroy the Autobots within the asteroid belt. This led the Mini-Cons to man the Axalon's point defense laser turrets and call upon the remaining Mini-Cons within the solar system to enter the Matrix and resurrect Optimus Prime and create the new Transformer, Overload, who quickly defeated Megatron, sending the Decepticons into retreat. Megatron, however, was quite pleased that his old enemy had returned.
Energon
The Axalon served as transport for the human delegation sent from Earth to Cybertron. Among the passengers were the Autobots' old friends Rad White, Carlos Lopez and Alexis, as well as human energon researcher Dr. Brian Jones and his son, Chad "Kicker" Jones.
She was later replaced as Autobot flagship by the Miranda II, and was destroyed along with another transport ship by an energon tower during the Powerlinx Battles.
Known crew and specifications
The original crew of the Axalon included:
* Optimus Prime/Hot Shot - Captain/Commanding Officer
* Jetfire - First Officer
* Red Alert - Engineer and Second Officer
* Blurr - Helmsman
* Side Swipe - Navigation and Sensors
* Hoist - Whiner
The Axalon's propulsion system is significantly faster than the one onboard Megatron's flagship, as (according to Thrust) she was equipped with Mark-2600 Warp Engines. For defense, she is armed with dual-barrel laser cannon turrets that can be manually fired by Mini-Con crew members.
Two ventrally-mounted launch tubes fire shuttle pods that personnel can use for evacuation or reconnaissance missions.
Although she is not the largest ship in the Autobot fleet, her interiors are designed to provide comfortable and ample living spaces for Transformers, Mini-Cons and humans. Upon the stern is a large windowed observation deck.
