Our friend
Michael writes: Hello Concept Robots,
First of all, thank you for keeping me inspired for so many years through school and especially working as a professional!
Secondly, I have just been given permission to show some Transformers 4 work and I thought you guys might be interested. Unfortunately, I can't show the original vehicles yet but I can say that I did them through Polaris Industries, one of my main clients who I contract for. I do industrial design/transportation design for them primarily. They were going to try to get a few vehicles in the movie but I don't know what happened. I had a ton of fun though. I hope I can get into more entertainment stuff like this.
Overall I tried to show as much Polaris as I could: exposing shocks and linkages, using roll-cages and vehicle structure, aggressive/colorful forms floating over blacked-out mechanical parts. These bots would be small at 8-10ft max because the vehicles that they are based on are small.
Red:
This was based on a new version of Polaris RZR makes which reminds me of an angry little gorilla in that it is small but extremely tough with its performance/handling and styling. It was only fitting to make it into one. The transformation is fairly simple: the hood becomes the chest, the wheels become fists and shoulders, the fenders become muscle elements on the thigh and biceps areas, the trailing arms become femurs, the roll cage stays where it is. I figure this would be an Autobot.
White:
This was an alternative to the red angry gorilla design but based on the same vehicle. It is loosely inspired by Demolishor. Trying to keep the same feeling as the gorilla but not so organic (more deception-feeling) so I made it into more of a small tank, armed to the teeth, with an all terrain attitude. For this complex transformation the wheels merge into one "track", the hood and face move into the center with the eyes hanging out on the side to see around the track, the rear fenders become rocket pods and the suspension becomes the inner structure.
Green:
This one is a new road-based vehicle that Polaris will release shortly. I tried to make this one contrast the other two by being faster-looking, lighter and using blade weapons. I think it could pass for a Deception or Autobot. The transformation is simple, the front rims become the blades on the hands, the hood becomes the chest, a rear vent feature becomes a hood, the funky drivetrain becomes the spine and "leg".
Keywords: transformers 4 four concepr transforming vehicle robot art by professional industrial designer michael hritz polaris industries