The team at SideFX has dropped a freebie that’s neither small nor subtle: a fully rigged, animated, textured mech character model, designed with Unreal Engine 5 workflows in mind. It’s called the Mech Squad: VX Model, and it’s ready to walk, stomp, aim, and repeat—all while being FBX-friendly and production-agnostic. Think of it as a test dummy with attitude, though significantly more polygonal firepower.
Animations Included (Yes, Also Free)
The downloadable mech comes with a suite of built-in animations: walk, run, idle, turn, aim, and shoot. These pre-authored motions give users a solid starting point for character prototyping or for examining animation retargeting pipelines. It’s essentially SideFX offering an animated sandbox that’s more titanium than sand.
Rigging-wise, the mech comes with a pre-structured skeleton that’s already animated and baked—perfect for direct export. And since the format is FBX, artists are free to bring it into whatever DCC (Digital Content Creation) app they prefer, assuming that DCC speaks FBX—which, in 2025, is almost a prerequisite for existing. The rig was created using Houdini’s KineFX system, which specializes in procedural motion workflows. The model is not only rigged and animated but also textured and shaded. SideFX notes that the mesh is specifically set up for efficient use in Unreal Engine 5, which suggests polycounts and shader networks are tuned for performance as well as visual readability.
Also of note: this is a baked rig. That means no live constraints or procedural dependencies once exported—what you see is what you get, frame by frame. For those planning to pipeline this into a game engine or cinematic sequence, that’s a plus. Less surprise, more control.
Use It, Abuse It—Just Don’t Sell It
The model is free to use for both personal and commercial projects. Yes, that includes dropping it into your next demo reel, cinematic, or stylised robot western. However, redistribution is a no-go: you can use it, but you can’t repackage and sell it. So, no sneaky “Mech NFT” scams, please.
The download is available now from the official SideFX website, where you’ll also find documentation on the rig’s setup and export workflow. If you’re wondering how to bring your own characters through the same Houdini-to-Unreal process, the Mech Squad model serves as a functional case study.
Download the Mech Squad VX model here and happy animating.
