The Regolith is one of the first serious 3D models I ever made, modeled and rendered in Catia v5, I wanted to develop my skills with a new program and make something cool at the same time. The overall aesthetic of the machine is inspired by the works of Yoji Shinkawa, one of my absolute favorite mechanical designers.
When I make 3D creations, I like to design them with as much realism as possible. Every part has a place and purpose, everything fits together with the physical limitations of a real machine. To make the model more dynamic, I decided to add in some articulation that would allow the machine to shift between a mobile walker mode and a stationary "fortress" mode. As a kid, I played games like Mechwarrior and Armored Core which would feature big boss robots that changed between different modes as you battled them, so this is my sort of love-letter to those games.
Part of why I prefer 3D modeling over other forms of artwork is that you can go back and build upon your previous creations whenever you want! A few months after I made the original Regolith, I thought it would be fun to strip off a lot of the big armaments and slim it down into a lighter variant. Despite consisting of mostly the same parts, the design takes on a whole new character compared to its bulky predecessor. One day I plan on making these two designs into physical model kits, possibly using 3D printing - another wonderful advantage this genre of art provides!