Special Review: T&C Designs, LoveCats Designs, Indyra Originals

Today we at The Redneck Fashionista have decided to forgo our usual posts to bring you something a little extra special instead.  Today we have decided that we are going to split from our usual fashion feed and instead feature an item from an old-school SL designer who has been on the grid for almost five years.  We have the privilege of presenting to you all a very special item by the designer Iga Clawtooth of T&C Designs.  In addition to that, we have three minute-reviews of outfits by LoveCat Thei of LoveCats Designs and one by Indyra Seigo of Indyra Originals that we will be featuring more in-depth tomorrow.

Mr. Clawtooth is a well-known builder and creator within the SL Community and has been here many years.  He has been a part of the SL community for almost five years and in the past has had many of his building creations featured by the Lindens themselves, including one in a CSI-SL feature a few years ago.  When he was still taking commissions, he was considered by many the go-to builder.  He is part of a real-life company represented in SL that features a team of scripters, designers, and graphic artists, bringing you a wide array of products.  He is the creator of the Auction Master Pro with his colleagues TranquilMoonDancer Timeless and Jer Straaf, which set the industry standard for SL auctions at the height of the breedables era.  In addition, T&C Designs is known across the grid for its high level of personal customer support and content creation in general.  Mr. Clawtooth is above the curve here, and represents the highest degree of professionalism we have seen in SL. 

What is not really known to many is that Mr. Clawtooth has a bit of an affiity for motorcycles, and he has created one a few months back that should be considered the industry standard.  My parents both are a bit of gearheads, enjoying cars and bikes with the best of them and try to collect them when they can in SL.  They were introduced to this bike by a very proud Mr. Clawtooth himself shortly before its release. 

The bike itself is the Bullet Lowrider Bike, which is currently only available in-world at the store for L$500.  While most bikes come with a men's and women's sizes, the Bullet Lowrider fits one size.  It is however copyable and able to be locked and unlocked so that you and your friends can ride together. 

The bike is perfection at its finest and is by far its price, the best buy you will find for any motorcycle within SL.  In my opinion, this is the best bike on the grid for looks, style, ride, function, and class A personal customer support.  You will not find better. 

Mr. Clawtooth's bikes all come with the same standard features - what sets this one above the rest is its design, which is based on prototypes from the RL European market.  Advertised features are as follows: 

"Mouse Wheel Controlled Camera View
(zoom in/out with angle control).
Drive / Fly Mode.
Burnout and Rev function.
Skids when turning or breaking at high speed.
Manual / Automatic 5 Gears with adjustable speed (Menu Driven).
Adjustable poses for driver (3) and 1 for passenger (Menu Driven).
Authentic Horn Sound.
Working Speedometer on the HUD. 

"Menu controlled Color changer.
Menu controlled Texture changer.
Parking Mode for the bike with auto switch of the driver pose.
Lights on / off.
Built in Break light.
Exhaust on / off (particle smoke).
Locked / Unlocked mode making it possible for friends or the public to ride your bike.
Group Access mode for members of your group wearing the tag.
Easy to use HUD for quick controls.
Very easy to drive and control."

While the bike is listed as no-mod, we did notice that the items that needed to be modded were all adjustable via a menu, easily accessible from clicking on the bike. You really don't need the HUD to operate it at all, but you can always get a copy of it from the menu if needed  The bike drives with the same key commands as walking, so you do not need to learn a lot to operate it successfully.  Even though the default paint job is silver, there are 20 custom hand-painted paint options created by Mr. Clawtooth himself, two of which are shown in this article.  Two people are also able to ride on the bike at the same time.  The driver can click on the seat to "Ride out," and your passenger on the back fender.  

While the scripts are from KCP, the current leader in motorcycle scripts in SL, these somehow are the smoothest running scripts of any KCP Scripts.  We tested side by side this bike to some of Mr. Clawtooth's older models and bikes form other stores that listed the same scripts and found the Bullet Lowrider to run more smoothly and efficiently than other bikes, even those made by Mr. Clawtooth as well.  Mr. Clawtooth works with a few scripters with his real life company, NCraft Republic, so things may have been optimized a bit there.  This bike also has some great smooth engine sounds that other bikes in SL are lacking.

The design of every aspect of this bike is perfection.  It features an elegant yet powerful stretched out body, wheels seen in prototypes of European and racing motorcycles only, intricate detail of side exhaust, front brake caliper, and down to the details in the various paint jobs included in the bike.  Detail has been shown to every part of this bike, down to the licesne plate, speedometer, and even the tank is authentic.  The bike is not lacking in detail either, nor is any other bike offered by Mr. Clawtooth.  It has very finely detailed timing, scripting, workmanship, and sounds and just looks and works great.  It also features working lights, horn, and a flight mode.  We have talked to many in SL who have purchased his bikes, and everyone agrees that his are by far the best. 


T&C Designs is also the only company in SL that we have found that will build child-sized avatar bikes that the child can sit on and it looks correct.  While other companies do have some bikes for child-sized avatars, the poses in Mr. Clawtooth's child-sized bikes are anatomically correct. Most of his bikes have child versions available for L$300, however, as this is his newest, it is not available at this time. Speaking of animations, all of the adult animations are spot on and have been created by Mr. Clawtooth himself. 

One other detail that Mr. Clawtooth has paid attention to, and this is where his dedication to the craft becomes apparent, is that, unlike many of his SL design counterparts, Mr. Clawtooth seeks real life licensing of the textures, sculpts, and other aspects of his designs that he creates in SL.  While we've seen a lot of motorcycle designers pick and choose pieces, often crossing styles, Mr. Clawtooth will seek permission from the real world companies to recreate the product in SL.  Mr. Clawtooth is the head of a group in SL called "PBACAT" which specializes in the prevention of copyright and intellectual property theft. 

Iga Clawtooth is a sheer genius when it comes to what he builds in general and has set the industry standard in motorcycles in SL with this bike.  The only person, in my opinion that could do better, is Mr. Clawtooth himself.   Mr. Clawtooth has as well set the industry standard in anything he has made for SL at that time. 



Overall:  10/10, we'd give higher if we could

Pros:  Perfection

Cons:  None




Styling Guides:

Med:  LoveCats Designs, Gunshy for Men

This is an excellent outfit for men.  While it is
hard to find good clothes for men, everything from LoveCats is great.  We love the tattoos, shirt, jeans, and boots.  All around a great outfit and perfect for any men's wardrobe.  (note:  sunglasses separate)

Overall:  10/10
Pros:  Great outfit
Cons:  None

Arizona:  LoveCats Designs, Snakebite for Women

This by far another great outfit with a versatile jacket that comes in two sizes that are easy to fit.
We had to adjust her avatar size a little, but the avatar looked even better after she did.  While the boots are styled for a neko, we prefer the boots from gunshy with the outfit.  This outfit can also work well for the neko readers out there.  This outfit also pairs well with components of other outfits.  (note:  sunglasses separate)


Overall:  9/10
Pros:  Versatile, jacket looks great, fits easily
Cons:  Boots are neko


Sonja:   LoveCats Designs, Wanted for Women

Thhis outfit gives you the rocker chic look.  Available for men and women it features a denim shirt, jeans, boots, gloves, and a belt complete with accessories such as drum sticks and a keychain.  Looks good, feels good, and is versatile.  An all around favorite.

Overall:  10/10
Pros:  Great outfit, versatile, great details
Cons:  None

Syr (left):  Indyra Originals, Vida in Cantelope - special to come tomorrow








Credits:
Special Thanks to: Iga Clawtooth and TranquilMoonDancer Timeless of T&C Design
Special Thanks to: LoveCat Thei of LoveCats Design
Written by: Sonja Mistwallow and Arizona Navarathna
Edited by:  Arizona Navarathna
Photography by:  Philip Belgold
Models:  Sonja Mistwallow, Arizona Navarathna, Syrelis, Medavac Renfold