How to do the design?How to coat? as in create a metallic finish, and give volumePointlessly large!How to do the luminescence?Model 1Model 2OriginalIf you want to draw a creature-like mecha, it's great to reference deep sea fish and insects. Also, to make the joints look detailed, adding meaningless spines here and there gives off an aggressive look in my opinion. If it's a military-type mecha, I think it's best to reference existing weapons. It might also be interesting to combine these 2 mecha typesApply a light-colored highlight to the centerIt seems many people worry about the design. What I often do is, reference things like anime that have ideal mecha designs in them. Also arranging mechas based on things like existing animals, insects, and weapons- particularly the latter 2 can broaden the possibilities for your design. Furthermore, instead of focusing on referencing 1 model, if you design a chimera of multiple models, the possibilities are endless. I think it's easy to start, so please practice to get the hang of itCylinderJellyfish+Penguin+AlienRather than making your mecha completely faithful to your model, only use a part of it, like the silhouette. To make it seem more mecha-like, it's OK to add suitable machine-'like' parts. Even if they're meaningless protrusions or non-functional parts, it'll be rare for sticklers to point it out, so do as you like
