Seburo J9 Submachine Gun Study (Patreon)

This is a set of study drawings for an upcoming patron reward. The piece will have a character dressed in an Orc power armor suit from manga series Appleseed. Also in the picture will be a Seburo J9 Submachine Gun, or least the variant of it as found on Pg.11 of the Appleseed Databook. 

       It is interesting from a historical/technology standpoint to look back at various famous pop culture sci-fi properties and see how well they predict the course of technological advancements. In most cases it'll end up be a combination accurate predictions and whiffs. Appleseed is no different. 

     Masume Shirow 's 1980s industrial design in many ways still look futuristic and viable. However like many at his time he did not predict just how much the march of computer and electronic miniaturization, the increase of battery technology along with shrinking and increase rugged nature of optics would change society. Especially in the area of firearms. 

     When Shirow wrote Appleseed in the 1980s, optics on military and law enforcement firearms were primarily reserved to sharpshooters. Tactical weapon lights and lasers often weighed more than the firearm they were mounted on. However for this upcoming piece the patron has allowed me to update J9 with some modern tactical kit for it. 

     Also at this time many people thought that the helical magazine was going to be the future of firearm magazine technology. As shown by the presence of the American Calico Link, Hungarian Danuvia VD-01 Link,  and the Russian PP-19 Bizon Link.  Yeah that didn't work out so well.