Sunday, March 10, 2013

WIP Chaos Vindicator Conversion - Sculpting Finished



by Novus


Well, now that the BAO is behind me I was finally able to catch up on some of the stuff I put aside in preparing for it.  Specifically for this post, finishing the modifications to my Possessed Vindicator.  The time off helped.  Seeing all those amazing models at the event got me thinking, which generated some interesting ideas and realizations.



I wanted to post some more WIP photos as the greenstuffing was effectively complete and I am about to prime it.




The time off also reinforced the idea that taking your time, sculpting many small areas, and allowing the green stuff to cure between sculpts is a critical lesson to learn.  If I had to count, there are something like 27 discrete sculpts on this model.  Meaning 27+ small areas and/or layers that were each laid down individually and allowed to harden before the next section was added.



The mouth in the right door counts for probably a dozen of them.  There are three rows of grinding teeth-like structures in there (some are now covered), gums for the long projecting teeth and the central grinding teeth, some chaotic musculature, saliva, tentacles, and that odd bit of runny coral that looks like it's dripping out the left side of the door as if gravity were different there.

Addendum Begins


If you look at the photo above, you can see where I left off before I had to go full steam at my BAO projects.  You can see the grinding teeth, the gums in their early stages, and some of the simple musculature.

Addendum Ends

Not one of these sculpts took more than about 30 minutes, but the overall assembly and conversion has taken about 20 days, not including the time off for the BAO.


Another thing that some of the models at the BAO reinforced for me is that in conversion, you should do your utmost to make what you convert look natural.  Now it doesn't have to look real (after all, it's a game set in far future with psykers and aliens and such), but it has to look natural.  Things like how a tabard falls, or a hose curls, or the way realistic motion can be conveyed in the stance of a monstrous creature, make all the difference.  To me, that what all the greatest conversions I've seen have in common: they convey physics visually.  And after seeing all the excellent work at the BAO, I now have a better idea of what I'm shooting for in a conversion.



7 comments:

  1. It's perfect. The symbol on the back door is incredibly well done and the tentacles taking over one side, ingesting both the door and the marine is scary and very believably done. The door mouth is also very nice. I really like this conversion a lot and as you said - taking the time to let the discreet sculpts dry and set is the key to a large scale project like this.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, OST! It's not perfect, though. I'm really proud of it. But, like every piece of art, there are flaws that only the creator can see. The main one for me is that the front eye is a little goofy looking. I think painting will help that.

      That rear emblem isn't my idea but I did take a 2d jpeg I found online about 6 months ago and turn it into a 3d emblem. I wish I could claim it as all my own, but alas, I can't.

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    2. The front eye is cool and will look great painted bright. As far as the symbol goes, that is pretty cool. I have never scuplted straight from an image, but I know CVinton used to do that when he was building his Salamander Land Raider with Sculpted reliefs.

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    3. I was thinking of going with a breat cat-eyed thing for that front eye. Bright yellow-green-gold with a verticle pupil.

      Actually, it may have been CV that I got the idea of 2d to 3d from, waaay back when. Did he do a tutorial with a plate of glass over the 2d work and then you sculpt over it? That's what I did with this and it worked out really well to get the overal shape and size worked out. If it was him, say "Thanks!" for me, eh?

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  3. Awesome Work! I will have to give the tectacle maker a try!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Michael! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

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