Lego Build 63 — Stalking Spider

After such a long while, we’re back to BattleTech battlemechs. When last time I left this series, I wasn’t expecting the return to be yet another quad ‘Mech. But what can I say, quads are great.

This model was made shortly before the Scorpion and I must say that I’m really happy with it. I managed to make some interesting shapes, with some changes to the original art due to the construction materials and also to make it look a bit better. Mechs like this are designed as walking tanks, essentially, so the central hull is quite sturdy, as it was for the Scorpion. The legs are also a simple but solid design. I’m really happy with the main gun installation, which took me a few attempts to get right.

This model ends up using 64 parts and is of medium difficulty to make, while also using a few rarer parts. It comes in Cloud Cobra colors, as that clan was the creator of the design.

In actual lore, the Stalking Spider was developed from captured Tarantula hulls in an attempt to create a mobile fire-support ‘Mech of the likes the Clan Homeworlds had never seen. It would remain a Homeworld exclusive unit.

However, in the distant times in which the Dark Age had just popped up and the Word of Blake Jihad was little more than a footnote, this ‘Mech would become a staple of an Alternate Universe idea I worked with alongside family and friends in an attempt to work a story set in that period. Taking inspiration from the plot of the original Starcraft strategy game, we came up with a story about rebellions in the Kurita space, WoB-instigated popular uprisings, and the struggle of a Clan to remain relevant in those trying times.

The said Clan was Clan Nova Cat, and during the war in their sector of the Draconis Combine they would end up losing Irece to the WoB and ally with their hated enemies, the Ghost Bears, to claim back their world. It is something we are still proud of and I will certainly give you more details in due time. Moreover, in this continuity, and because the Clanner forces were modeled after the Protoss faction, the Stalking Spider would be one of their base units.

Hope you enjoy the model and the idea of this AU. Let me know your thoughts. I am very excited to take you through this idea in future installments and maybe even make something interesting for you out of it.