ITM-01 Claymore

Once it was king of the battlefield; now its name is synonymous with obsolete. The Claymore is the oldest mecha design still in common use on Earth. This longevity comes from its rugged durability and ease of manufacture.

The standard ITM-01 configuration comes with a heavy autocannon, a shield, twin light autocannons in the torso, and twin five-slot missile launchers in the legs. The launchers are typically stocked with crude but effective high explosive rockets. This can sometimes cause a problem as an ammo explosion in the leg can leave the mecha immobilized.

After the night of fire destroyed most factories on Earth, the Claymore was one of the first designs to resume production. It can be built from plans without need for special materials, tools, or techniques. Because of this it was a mainstay of most defense forces during the exodus era, and remains a common sight throughout the dead zone to the present day.

Unlike the Buru-Buru, which has a large community of enthusiasts, there is little romanticization of the Claymore. On Earth, there have been few attempts to update the Claymore with modern technology. Certainly, most of the workshops that produce Claymores lack the skills to change the design, and so just keep following the ITM-01 specifications.

On Mars it’s a different story. Here, the Claymore has been incrementally modified and developed into a wide variety of new mecha. The Longsword battroid used by the Martian Commonwealth Loyalists is a fifth generation descendant of the Claymore.

The picture was made using Jo Sonja acrylics on Canson acrylic & oil paper. One good thing about painting a mecha, as opposed to simply drawing it, is that you have to really consider it as a three dimensional thing rather than just worrying about lines on paper. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.