A long wall of text focused on each Mastercraft in the game, with a few extra ideas at the very end. Without getting into too much debate over how it has been handed to us, I’d like to share with you what I’ve discovered from every MC so far.
MX9 “Soldier of Fortune” – A pre-order bonus for those who’ve bought any of the deluxe editions, the “Soldier of Fortune” is a Blackout themed MC for the MX9. The “First To Glory” badge that has been weaved around the gun is an unused Victory badge from Blackout put into 3D perspective (for other Victory badges, see here). But there’s something about those dogtags wrapped around the rear sight. Going into Zombies and buying the MX9 off a wall, as well as using a Dual Zoom optic, the dogtag reads:
M. Porter 358991-002
Blood type AB Neo
D. O. B 7/28/25
It wasn’t Tony Ochs or David Mason, but rather Max Porter, lead weapon designer, being tagged on this weapon! Very clever indeed! Although I’m not sure why it’s 1925/2025 on the Date of Birth, perhaps it is a reference to H. Porter of the Zombies portion of the game? Hmm…
Strife “Divine Justice” – Another pre-order bonus, this time from Gamestop. Marble and gold is a beautiful combination, and its gold with details on it as well! Winged angels on either side of the barrel, faces on the slide and gold plated grip. Could it be Cupid? Looking closer, a small “Made in Italy” label can be found below the slide. So, in Italian Mythos, it’s closest match would be Anteros, angels that counter love, and avenge unrequited love. Maybe that’s where the Divine Justice comes from.
The Concept Art by Albert NG holds more secrets in the form of Latin Phrases. “Veritas Aequitas” meaning “Truth Equity”, “Pax Tecum Sit” meaning “Peace be with you”, and the smallest one “Paenitentium Reverti” meaning “Repentance returns”. It doesn’t seem that these phrases made it to the final cut though.
Titan “Black Knight” – This Mastercraft has high quality renders on Artstation, and was primarily made by employee Celeb Turner. It is fortunate that we get to see this incredible detail work in high definition, easily noticing the smaller details like the BO4 symbol on the rear sight, the “Knight Knight” quote on the frame, and the chivalry symbols (Pigeon, Shield, and Lion) behind the magazine. Unfortunately, not every Mastercraft has the same luxury, so I’m grateful for seeing whichever one comes across my search!
GKS “Tactical Unicorn” – A controversial camo on its arrival, but it is something never seen before in the history of Call of Duty. Rainbow frills above the handguard, stickers on the base and magazine of the SMG, it looks like a toy for sure. Long barrel makes the barrel loop, which was a good laugh for a few who got to see it. The real life firearm, the SIG SAUER CZ Scorpion, has their edition of the Tactical Unicorn and it’s one to one to the MC in the game. Whichever one inspired the other, I’m not sure, but it is a creative idea nonetheless.
ICR-7 “Summon” – A camo equivalent to those seen in CS:GO and Crossfire, the Summon is a demonic camo, pentagrams forming all over, demon faces screeching, and the words “The Condemned” and “Feed The Chaos” can be found as well. The rear iron bends with red tips, rather than the angular sight seen on the regular ICR-7, and having a different iron sight can be advantageous! But something else is on the variant, something tougher to figure out.
The three-symbol combination next to “The Condemned” terms, it should mean something, right? The ones within circles and triangles, lined up to make it seem like a term in itself. I’ve looked into Apothicon symbols, Alchemical symbols, and even demonic sigils but I can’t find what matches with them. I’ll have to look into even more stranger symbol combinations in order to figure It out, unless it was the artist having creative liberties and making creepy gibberish, but that’s the easy route out of questioning this mystery.
SG-12 “Boombox” – A very stylish variant that can be seen in Artstation as well. Based on the comments in that site, it seems to be a collab between Albert NG and RYZIN ART, but we’ll get back to that in a moment. With an incredible 70’s urban feel (like Shaolin Shuffle), this MC has features like a mixtape in the barrel, boombox for a magazine, gold microphone dangling by a thread up front, and markers for shells on the side. But what’s most interesting is the grafitti! Besides the “REMIX” and “NYC” marks, names of the designers can be found on the gun as well! “Hiley”, as in Ethan Hiley, “Turner” as in Celeb Turner, and a few others like “Jeff” and “WH” who are also probably ones who are in weapon designing, too! I’d like to think they all had a part in making this, which is why it came out so great!
Maddox “$treet” – Rebellious by all means, we all thought it was a freebie in a world of MTX, but it was never meant to be. A chimpanzee looking hip, with a grafitti-sketch design behind it, it was indeed sleek. Getting kills made the skin pop with vibrant green, yellow, and purple strobes of light. What I find interesting is the signature under the design, by the grip. Nowadays, people don’t write in cursive, so it’s hard to figure out who’s handwriting it is. Whoever he was, he did a good job at making this MC!
Paladin “Valkyrie” – A masterpiece in design, with many minor details you can miss if you keep zooming in your sniper scope. It used to have a unique reticle, but complaining often leads to things getting removed, so those sights are no longer available. Wolf pelt around the stock with arrows protruding out of it depicting the hunt, shields on the side with wood furnishing showing off Viking development, and the barrel of a vertical arrowhead looking like an actual arrow is a nice touch! Attachments are different with this skin as well! Rapidfire makes a Viking boat head for a bolt, Stabilizer II puts wings under the gun, and HC II veils the barrel, with each veil holding symbols. Veils 1 and 3 are identical, while veil 2 has different symbols. I wonder if they really want someone to look into it…
ABR “Fighter Ace” – WW2 era, American pilot vest. That’s the theme of this skin, but with protruding wings with spinning rotors, it was too unique to pass on getting during OP Absolute Zero. Lovely Lola as a pin-up just above the magazine, medal of honor just under the rail, and a unique sight that managed to stick around for as long as it did, thankfully. It’s not often that you can use a pocket plane for a primary, so I’m grateful that we can do so in this game!
Saug 9mm “Great Lion” – Tribal by all means, the Great Lion bears many teeth, some next to the barrel, one as a grip, and the rest by the rear sight as decoration. Those decorations by the rear sight, the beads hold symbols as well! But I’ve spent too much time looking up symbols to be asked to look for even more symbols, so I’ll imagine that it’s decoration and move on. The rear sight becomes a closed circle with this variant, which some do not agree with, so put on an ELO if you use this MC. Albert NG was also in charge of making this, so you can see the concept art here!
Mozu “Replicant” – Neo-Tokyo? Donner from Arifureta? Whatever vibes it gives, the secret Mastercraft, Replicant, was a must-have when it was discovered. Advertisements on the cylinder and sides of the sights as you earn headshots, you’ll get messages like “GOOD TASTE!” and “SO FULL OF TACO!” as you mess around with it. In each side of the Mozu’s hammer, Japanese katakana say the name of the gun, “モズ”= “Mozu”. High Caliber will cover up the cylinder TV screen and instead display credentials like “Packets Sent: 4” and “Connection Active”. If only it could help send packets, since I’ve been losing a little lately in Blackout…
VAPR “Vampire Hunter” – A castlevania style of a camo, with stained glass on the magazine and the logo of A7X as the rear sight! That was probably coincidence though, right? Always use the bayonet, as it makes it a wooden stake for a bayonet to fit the theme even more, fitting for the vampires in Dead of The Night! Artist Peter Schwaegerle posted it on his Artstation, but it appears to be a group project with him alongside Albert NG, Beenox, Rick Zang, and Ethan Hiley. Props to them for making the VAPR easier to use!
KN57 “Kuromaku” – When an AK opens up to show its inner works, it is always a welcome treat. Doing it with Japanese traditional art and mythos? It itself becomes a work of art! The gun is open under the rear sight, showing the gas tube and recoil spring at play. As for the camo, the traditional “Great Wave” is shown with cherry blossoms appearing as you get more kills. Outside of the camo, the Oni plates itself behind the rear sight and to the side as a square coin. There are beads threaded on the stock, and on them, Kanji of various kinds. Unlike katakana, however, I do not have a translation for these beads. It isn’t Amaterasu or Kuromaku, so I’ll leave it be for the pros to figure out. This MC was made by designer Pawin Changkiendee, you can see it in his Artstation here.
MOG-12 “Enforcer” – Woop, woop, the moment I saw the lights I knew it was an item to bag up. A police shotgun with zip-ties, razor wire, and siren lights was perfect for OP Grand Heist. I don’t exactly agree on putting a zip-tie on the pump grip and handle of the shotgun, but that’s the joke creative liberties bring every now and again. What I didn’t notice at first was the secret within the badge, the focal feature of the skin, and how it belongs to Morg City’s Jackie MF Vincent, one of the characters from Shadows of Evil on BO3. That makes this variant zombies themed, +10 points for me!
Cordite “Zero G” – It gets even better at this point, having flames on your gun, having the Sputnik satellite float around it at the peak of combat, this is an amazing Mastercraft. Attachments are also themed off it, such as the “Fuel Tank” when FMJ2 is equipped, “Oxygen Tank” with the op mod, the Ammo Belt, is equipped, and so on. Primary credits go to designer Ethan Hiley for making such a fantastic skin, you can find it in HD on his art station here!
Auger “ZX-7000” – Finally, some steampunk in our game, with a few features I think was inspired by Destiny, such as the unique scope, pounding pistons on the barrel, and rust all over making it feel post-apocalyptic. Kills light up he gun to a purple electric hue, with kills after the final stage making it red for a few moments. I’m a little confused by the bunny by the magazine, though. Is it a designer’s signature, some sort of skin backstory, or just a little extra with no real meaning? Great skin though, happy to have it!
Hades “Venom Cocktail” – Perhaps the skin that had me question all the others, the Venom Cocktail was the first MC to put a live creature on a gun. The pearlescent snake skin camo is flashy by itself, but putting an albino snake the courses with luminescence after a certain amount of kills, well now that’s cooking with science. That snake isn’t untouched, though. It seems as though it has barcodes trailing all the way to the head, with arrows and warnings as well. Looks like GS1 databars, but I don’t work at retail so I wouldn’t have a scanner to confirm it. I'd need a decent barcode to text translator to figure it out.
Outlaw “High Roller” – Yeehaw enthusiasts get a pseudo-lever action out of this, with a thin brass scope and cowboy camo, a fake lever under the trigger, cowboy boot spokes under the grip, and ducks that come out of the sides when kills are getting racked up! It’s fitting to find a gun like this in Ghost Town, fitting the theme of the camo. In all seriousness, this skin was designed by the employee Bruce Bailey, and you can find his HD renders here!
SDM “Lost Patrol” – Perfect iron sights, the old ones had an annoying luminescence to them, making it harder to use. Intense fire effects as you rack up kills, a hidden swampwater hue appearing at each kill for a brief moment. An eyeball looking back at you, missing a nail to make it Neversoft. The fly at the end of its camo changes, the selling point for me who enjoys insects, spiders, and other living things on my guns. I will note that the Ace of Spades card wrapped on it, the “PEACE!” graffiti, the intense preview trailer, and the name of the MC itself leads me to think that it’s Vietnam inspired. The story of the “Lost Patrol” is likely referring the events at Da Neng during the Vietnam war, but not directly connected so to say. I think it hasn’t shown up since it’s appearance in May, so I’m happy that I got it before it was closed off for good.
Spitfire “Deep Voyage” – Subnautican was the theme of the preview, but could Atlantis be seen here? A triton symbol on the side, with vents lighting up as you get kills, a slightly altered pair of iron sights, and the big fat squid suckered onto the side of the Spitfire. The water-sunlight hue that the gun gets at its peak is a little distracting in my opinion, but it’s a great water themed Mastercraft that I hope appears by itself in the near future.
Swordfish “Ahab’s Revenge” – If you’ve read your novels, “Ahab” should ring a few bells. Referring to the tale of “Moby Dick”, this skin has pages plastered all over it. What isn’t covered in paper is pieces of the ship itself! Mermaids on the front and barnacles everywhere else, the suppressor even giving the gun a whale for a barrel! Seems like it looks a little different in-game compared to Alex Sparrow’s concept art, but the one in-game fits the theme much more! Overall, I really appreciate the novel-ty of the skin, and I hope it appears by itself in Blackjack’s Deal of the Day in the future alongside the Deep Voyage!
RK7 Garrison “Odin’s Song” – Right after the RK7 got buffed, it gets an awesome skin as well. A theme combination between the first Mastercrafts like Summon, Divine Justice, and Soldier of Fortune. IX labeled on the magazine, as well as the terms “Completi Mortem” meaning “Complete Annihilation” and “Absoli” meaning “Absolute”, in combination to the somber grey and purple misty hues as you get kills, makes it seem like the song Odin plays is not beautiful, but rather destructive. Still, happy to have bagged this, especially when the RK7 is a force of nature now!
Daemon “Imaginator” – Some sort of McGyver shit going on here. Cardboard, PVC, and various materials you wouldn’t find in a firearm. Match that with the doodles made by Activision’s target audience and there you have it, the Imaginator is a thing. The fakefire hues you get as you earn kills is great, though, and I give props for the details on the attachments, such as the laser pointer taped on the side for a laser sight, cardboard textured red dot sights, drawn magazines showing misaligned bullets, it’s a work of art! That infamous S is there, too, the Universal S, what a nice addition that was!
ICR-7 “Gearhead” – The ICR fan club better be grateful to get a second Mastercraft, this one even more crazier than the last! I mean, you get a creepy dollface when you equip Grip II, and you have a flame plate and tesla coils that go crazy as you get kills! Not to mention the spare parts iron sights that stand out even more than the other two kinds! And why the heck is “Safe” of the fire selector switch called “Sabbath”? I bet this gun was meant for crazy people, besides the other Mastercraft made for… Crazy people. Can we get a Heaven variant now for this gun?!
SWAT “Temple of Boon” – You already had me sold with Spiders, but a crazy Indiana Jones themed skin for the SWAT is nothing to pass about. When the lasers come up after five kills, and the two pores start revolving, it gets you motivated for sure! The hue at ten kills is green with many symbols, so I’m just going to look at the spiders and not bother deciphering the 50 symbols running all over the gun. Put on a suppressor, you get a tiki head, and the sight is an embezzled version of the MX9 sights, which is a huge change from the previous sights. Is it better or worse? I can use it, it ain’t that bad, but some will likely prefer the old housing better. What a wonderful surprise this skin was!
Rampart “After Burner” – Based on jetcraft of the modern age, the After Burner throws out the rear sight and replaces it with the aperture a jet would use. Thrusters ignite on each side as you get more and more kills. Attachments are themed, too, my favorite being the Grip giving the bottom of the skin a Multi-Spectrum Targeting System camera, just like real life jets. With “REAPER” on the side, it reminded me of CODOL’s M4A1 Tech skin, which also says “REAPER”. There is also the relatively new MQ-9 Reaper UCAV, but that uses a propeller rather than jet turbines. Overall, very stylish, and another on the stand-alone wishlist.
For future Mastercrafts, perhaps a Locus “Blossom” or VKM 750 “Touchdown” would be a nice, unique take in each gun. The Locus can be covered in roots, with buds appearing at five kills and flowers blooming at 10 where the buds were. The VKM can have a rear sight like football goal posts, and covered in fake green grass with yard lines on it, maybe even a water tank for a magazine, football for a fat barrel. A biker themed KAP 45 with a huge exhaust on the side, biker seat style stock, could be called KAP 45 “Oxide”. Of course, that fishy looking Stingray Mastercraft is in the works, it looks great in white, wondering how it’ll look after being textured...
Alright, I’m done, hope you manage to get some of these yourself, they are all a treat!
Submitted August 28, 2019 at 04:13PM by Sora101Ven https://ift.tt/2KZrggT
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