The Art of Makoto Kobayashi
HYPER WEAPON 2
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Here are some fantastic images from the ´Hyper Weapon2` book. Many thanks to Mr. Richard Spinks who kindly contributed with scans from this rare book.

iz001.jpg

Here is a description of the book´s contents, courtesy of Mr. Richard Spinks:
 

Hyper Weapon 2

1999 InFightZone Earth

 

This book is intended to be a military transcript of the events surrounding an Alien invasion of the planet Earth in the year 1999. Photos of Makoto´s models are used to illustrate the transcript of the invasion.

Showcased are fantastic models of Earth and Alien spacecraft, vehicles, powered armor suits, and figures both human and alien. The Alien species in this invasion is a bio-mechanical race that has the ability to genetically alter lifeforms that they come in contact with, causing them to slowly deform into shapeless and bloody globs of goo. Makoto does not reveal the outcome of this invasion other than to say that Earth is now a battlefield.

 

After the transcript narrative of the invasion, there is a section defining the fictional history and technical specifications of the spacecraft, vehicles, and armoured suits depicted by Makoto´s  models. This section helps flesh out some aspects of Makoto´s vision of Earth before the invasion.

 

The next section of the book is a series of clear color photos of the models pictured in the book. This is very helpful since the photos that accompany the narrative are meant to be rough and grainy battlefield photos; so the models are photographed in dark or smoky scenes which make it very difficult to make out the details.

 

The final section of this book is a ´´making of`` that shows Makoto assembling and painting the models, backgrounds, and scenery used in the narrative, as well as some of his original design study sketches. This section clearly shows the amount of work required to present his vision.

 

Overall, best parts of this book are the models. Makoto is a master designer, illustrator, and modeller. The book has some helpful English text (suffering questionable translation), but is mostly written in Japanese.