Gundam F90/Silhouette Formula 91 Gundams

[Kyranik]

Talking out-of-universe here, why do these designs look so "busy" when viewing the profiles or the gunpla made for them?

Was this just Okawara liking to pile the details onto mecha that were only going to be in manga and gunpla, or was their some sort of thing in the early 90s for very detailed mecha?

[Genese Gundam]

I think the fact it was only gonna be in manga and gunpla form was part of it, but i think that since Char's Counterattack in 1988 (?) when they started to try and give Mobile Suits a more detailted look, with shots of the inner workings of the Nu Gundam as well as other MS, they started to have a more 'MS as War machine ethic in mind' than ever before, with 0080, F91, 0083 and 08th MS team following throughout the 90s. So presumebly this was reflected in the mangas of the era. (And there was a suspicious amount of panel lines on 90s gunpla so...

But i think it's interesting to note that it was only Films, Mangas and OVAs that payed this much attention to detail, with TV series not really focusing on it until Seed when busy designs have started to creep in slightly... (And 00 to an extent)

[Recon 5]

I like busy designs. They give a more mechanical feel to what are essentially large machines. So what if an MS becomes a walking pile of panel lines and decals? I think it looks cool that way.

[CYNICISM AT IT'S BEST]

yeah that's how they should look, makes look like they could actually be real instead just some imaginary toy

[Kuro No Sakura]

lol i personally dont like much busy design
and i dont think pannel line make it more realistic

take modern fighter like F22 and tank like M1A2 they dont have tones of pannel line

but anyhow it's just all personal prefence

[J-Lead]

take modern fighter like F22 and tank like M1A2 they dont have tones of pannel line

Well, the F22 can't be busy; it's built for stealth. "Business" on the body (as in lots of devices hanging out or visible) would negate that.

[Recon 5]

One major reason for the 'busyness' is that the F90 series were designed to be customized with external equipment. This means that all the F90s are going to have lots of hardpoints on their armor, which in turn means that quite a bit of extra detail has to be included in artwork and Gunpla of the series. The fully equipped versions would logically be even more detailed or 'busy' because of all the extra stuff on the outside.

On another note, do you consider the F91 itself to be a 'busy' design? I personally believe that the F91 is quite clean relative to the rest of its contemporaries.

[auriga]

and i dont think pannel line make it more realistic

take modern fighter like F22 and tank like M1A2 they dont have tones of pannel line

I'd like to point out that a "busy" design does not necessarily mean it has tons of panel lines or rather for the sake of mechanical discussion, armor seams. I'd say "busy" relates more to a design that has a lot of elements jutting out. Like what J-Lead said:

as in lots of devices hanging out or visible

On another note, do you consider the F91 itself to be a 'busy' design? I personally believe that the F91 is quite clean relative to the rest of its contemporaries.

I don't think it's "busy." Although some may point out the VSBRs, I think the way they are integrated makes for a very smooth design. And I also think that the abundance of curves over sharp angles helps.

[Kuro No Sakura]

and i dont think pannel line make it more realistic

take modern fighter like F22 and tank like M1A2 they dont have tones of pannel line

I'd like to point out that a "busy" design does not necessarily mean it has tons of panel lines or rather for the sake of mechanical discussion, armor seams. I'd say "busy" relates more to a design that has a lot of elements jutting out. Like what J-Lead said:

My point there is not saying tons of panel line make it more a "busy" design (although i kind of think so in some ways)
I am saying tons of panel line or a busy design doesn't make a mech look/feel more realistic

I agree with Recon 5 that F90 need a "busy" design because of all those add on
and I consider F91 (butting the heat sink aside) is a clear design since it suppose to be a "back to origin" design

[auriga]

I am saying tons of panel line or a busy design doesn't make a mech look/feel more realistic

Why does it not make it any more realistic? This sounds to me like more of an opinion. I don't follow with the busy design part, but I do disagree on the panel lines.

Like I said, "panel lines" represent seams on the structure, particularly where metal plates are joined. Are you saying that mechs should be made out of giant pieces of armor that require similarly giant machines to fabricate and install them?

take modern fighter like F22 and tank like M1A2 they dont have tones of pannel line

Because they're smaller, and thus require less sheets to be put together. I guarantee you that if they were bigger, they'd have more seams.

[DeltasTaii]

If you were to actually draw an F-22 in black and white, including every visible line, it'd look pretty busy too actually. The real world's lack of black lines, soft lighting, and greyness of the planes rather hides all the small details and (relatively small) gap lines.

DIfferent versions of F90-Victory era lineart has different levels of gaudiness anyways. The old V lineart on MAHQ had ridiculous amounts of logos and crap piled on MS, and where multiple versions of Formula era lineart exists, there's often noticable differences in detailing. Part of it seems to come from a model-side insistence on way too many stickers and decorations, if you've ever seen how the F91 model line boxart and manual builds compare to the actual movie.