Work as part of a team, and have it understood ahead of time what kind of game that team is going to be taking part in, yeah. I'm presuming that you'll want to be setting things up so that all of the PCs are mecha pilots, correct? Will we be assuming that all PCs are working for the same nation or at least on the same side to start with, or will there be a "I respect you, my enemy" period before teamup, or will Plot start after whatever international conference brings the warring nations together against the invasion?
A couple of design ideas.
The Hawker Typhoon - and maybe most other inline single-engine fighters - you can do by setting it up so that the shoulder blocks are integrated into the fuselage just behind the engine firewall, and the upper arms are pretty much entirely the landing gear bays. The forearms are formed by folding the cannon mount areas double over each other, while the wingtips become small shields. The inner trailing edge of the wings either form decorative trailing winglets or fold and layer over the shoulders, adding bulk. The head, if any, is just a camera module, sandwiched above the shoulder blocks in fighter mode and swinging up and forwards during transformation. The cockpit is surrounded by a reinforced cage, and rotates down and forward, so that its 'roll cage' is the structural support of the battloid's waist. The legs, obviously, form the tail area, possibly with the stabilizers forming up into a bundle that lies flat against the mech-mode's back.
The alternate engine placement in the Bell P-39 Airacobra could let you do something really interesting and different, I imagine - arms in the nose, with the prop being around one wrist and the other being a GUN HAND, maybe? Offcenter cockpit so that it and the engine are side-by-side? But the full visualization isn't coming to me.
The Bell P-59 Airacomet could have the rear sections of the nose come apart to fold around the cockpit as additional armor, while a block underneath the cockpit folded forwards to become the hips. The engine nacelles are the thigh sections, with the wings accordioning up into a skirt design and the calves and legs form the lower parts of the tail, including the ones aft of the hip-block but still between the engines. The shoulders and arms, of course, are extended straight back behind the cockpit as the upper parts of the tail, and then the final enpennage folds into armor plating along the outsides of the arms? Or if the wings attach to the cockpit block rather than the engine nacelles, they could end up as bundles on the back and able to deploy a la hang glider.
Finally, I know how to arrange a mech around a radial engine without making it a hunchback - although I admit that I'm not sure how the idea would adapt to a low-wing plane when I'm picturing a Grumman TBF Avenger. To transform, the pilot rotates to face 'backwards', then again so that he's lying on his back - with his head towards the original direction of flight. The rear half of the crew cabin slides forward, compressing so that the pilot's feet are just short of the ball turret (has to be an actual ball turret, notably), and the tail surfaces split in half and slide up to overlap the cabin, with the actual control surfaces laying over the exposed glass as armor. The wings are anchored to the hip block, below the pilot, which slides back until it slots in place behind the ball turret - the legs and feet are pretty much the entire middle level of the hull, and accordingly go with the hip block and split and reveal themselves. The arms were locked in place 'underneath' the legs, on the upper sides of the payload bay, and now they pop outwards anchored to the engine block and rotate upwards, with the payload bay attached to whichever arm corresponds to the pilot's dominant side. Once all that's happened, the nose and engine block can rotate down and back ninety degrees to slot into place where the hips and thighs used to be, binding the battloid's back together, and the head-turret with the nose MGs pops up and rotates in place to face them 'up', and now you have the mech lying on its back in flight while the prop's blades rotate to reverse directions.
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"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
A couple of design ideas.
The Hawker Typhoon - and maybe most other inline single-engine fighters - you can do by setting it up so that the shoulder blocks are integrated into the fuselage just behind the engine firewall, and the upper arms are pretty much entirely the landing gear bays. The forearms are formed by folding the cannon mount areas double over each other, while the wingtips become small shields. The inner trailing edge of the wings either form decorative trailing winglets or fold and layer over the shoulders, adding bulk. The head, if any, is just a camera module, sandwiched above the shoulder blocks in fighter mode and swinging up and forwards during transformation. The cockpit is surrounded by a reinforced cage, and rotates down and forward, so that its 'roll cage' is the structural support of the battloid's waist. The legs, obviously, form the tail area, possibly with the stabilizers forming up into a bundle that lies flat against the mech-mode's back.
The alternate engine placement in the Bell P-39 Airacobra could let you do something really interesting and different, I imagine - arms in the nose, with the prop being around one wrist and the other being a GUN HAND, maybe? Offcenter cockpit so that it and the engine are side-by-side? But the full visualization isn't coming to me.
The Bell P-59 Airacomet could have the rear sections of the nose come apart to fold around the cockpit as additional armor, while a block underneath the cockpit folded forwards to become the hips. The engine nacelles are the thigh sections, with the wings accordioning up into a skirt design and the calves and legs form the lower parts of the tail, including the ones aft of the hip-block but still between the engines. The shoulders and arms, of course, are extended straight back behind the cockpit as the upper parts of the tail, and then the final enpennage folds into armor plating along the outsides of the arms? Or if the wings attach to the cockpit block rather than the engine nacelles, they could end up as bundles on the back and able to deploy a la hang glider.
Finally, I know how to arrange a mech around a radial engine without making it a hunchback - although I admit that I'm not sure how the idea would adapt to a low-wing plane when I'm picturing a Grumman TBF Avenger. To transform, the pilot rotates to face 'backwards', then again so that he's lying on his back - with his head towards the original direction of flight. The rear half of the crew cabin slides forward, compressing so that the pilot's feet are just short of the ball turret (has to be an actual ball turret, notably), and the tail surfaces split in half and slide up to overlap the cabin, with the actual control surfaces laying over the exposed glass as armor. The wings are anchored to the hip block, below the pilot, which slides back until it slots in place behind the ball turret - the legs and feet are pretty much the entire middle level of the hull, and accordingly go with the hip block and split and reveal themselves. The arms were locked in place 'underneath' the legs, on the upper sides of the payload bay, and now they pop outwards anchored to the engine block and rotate upwards, with the payload bay attached to whichever arm corresponds to the pilot's dominant side. Once all that's happened, the nose and engine block can rotate down and back ninety degrees to slot into place where the hips and thighs used to be, binding the battloid's back together, and the head-turret with the nose MGs pops up and rotates in place to face them 'up', and now you have the mech lying on its back in flight while the prop's blades rotate to reverse directions.
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===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."