DEATH IS INFINITE: Giant Squadt project finished!

I guess it's not so much a secret since I'm making a wip Thread, but I wanted to share the process on this one, since it's kind of a big under taking, and I know some folks dig seeing things develop, So I'll try to post progress as much as possible.

First sneak peaks of the concept, I won't explain much yet, but hopefully this gives you an idea of what's going down:



And a little disguise action for now (how funny is it that flickr has these stickers?):


and the beginning of the first head sculpt:



Much more where that came from. very soon.

fplus wrote:another little sneak peak update from a this weekend.

Decided to add a lower jaw to the second guy, really liking it.



Blocking out the armor shapes on "The Stag" character, first time working with the 2.0 arms, decided to try and preserve the articulation.



going to be making a lot of headway on this over the next couple nights. I"ll try to update again tonight or tomorrow am.

fplus wrote:Another little update,

Sculpt on "The Stag" is pretty much finished!









You can see I added some texture to the base of the antlers, I use a resin sand medium for this, when I paint over it, it will look much more like a natural antler.

The demon mage is a bit further along than this today, but here's another pic of him from yesterday, I'll be doing the finished piece with his mouth open like this:

UPDATE:
Making wings:

I took more pics than this of my process, but my phone crashed over the weekend, and for some reason, some of them got lost.

But the basic Idea is still here.

I start out with a simple wing shape made out of tinfoil:


I then do the first row of feathers, and allow it to cure and get the basic curvature before doing the rest of the feathers on that side, then that cures and I repeat the process on the back side. this process takes a couple days, but doing it in these small phases saves me lots of trouble from accidentally smooshing things or getting weird asymmetry from trying to get them all banged out in one go.



I wanted these wings to look a bit ragged and kind of crow-like, and I also wanted them to have a good span, so I decided to do a larger feather, which I think fits the character very well compared to the smaller feathers I have done in the past.

Also, I made some changes to the character as well, I thought it would be more fitting if he had sleeves to his robe as opposed to the chain mail arms in the sketch, making him a more proper looking mage. I wanted him to have a pose of kind of floating and casting a spell, the collector suggested haveing an arm stick out, which I loved the idea of, so I reworked that arm as well. Now he's really starting to take shape, at about 90% sculpted or so.











Here you can see the last phase of the wings where I added feathers over the post that goes into the back, giving the fairly heavy wing a bit more surface are to sit against the body and a better fit in general. The wings will be detached for shipping and need to be glued back on when the owner receives it:



I've also started the scenery base, cut I'll save that update for another day when it's a bit further along.

Okay, a smattering of pics to update on!

A few process pics got lost when my phone crashed, but I'll try to fill in the blanks.

Starting the base, I decided to break it into three parts, the right side, I'm calling it "The summoning stairs" The left side "the graveyard" and the backdrop "the cathedral. I decided to start the stair side first.

I built up a base using green floral foam, as it is easier to carve and holds it's shape better than most other foams.



The stairs and all other pieces are glued together to form the basic shape.

To reinforce the shape, I cut strips of plaster of paris cloth, that when wet, will form around the foam and dry pretty rigid, without adding a ton of weight, as this piece is going to be pretty large when all is said and done.





Once the strips were laid out and dried, I decided to use cellu clay, which is basically a super fine paper mache product, my main intention here, was I wanted to have a fairly easy to lay base, and if it didn't prove strong enough, I could go over the whole thing with fiberglass resin if need be.



after several thin layers of that dried, I laid some tile into the steps, and the mache proved to work very well as a mortar to glue everything into.

You'll notice the outskirts look kinda crappy,I'm not super concerned about this ares, as I'll be using some other materials to glue Actual crystals around the edge later on.



still not much to look at I know.

started the other side, looks like a crappy layer cake right now!


UPDATE 6/27:

Quick progress report on our hero, "The Stag". More deets soon!


primed (sorry about the bad lighting, must have inhaled some fumes!):


Green base:



candy coat:


metallics and first washes:





gloss varnish:


indoors:


outdoors:



UPDATE 7/8: More base work!




everything started from the same foam/plaster/celluclay base, I then added sandstone I got from a trip to the Oregon coast, and then blended the seems with clay and crackle paste.

I decided that even though it wasn't mounted in the final display, I wanted to experiment with painting this section to get a feel for where the colors where going to go, and how to balance the other elements of the stage.

some basic airbrush passes:



I really want the piece to have a dynamic glow to it, but leave the rest of the scene more muted to keep things from getting to busy. the glow at this point lets me know I'm on the right track.



Here's a close up of the effect the crackle paste gives. I do several black washes to help make the cracks properly dynamic and deep looking.



I then add some layers of foliage to give it a blighted look that also keeps the texture interesting and not too barren and boring looking.



Then more passes of the airbrush for blending all tones together.



Then some dry brushing to separate things back out, slowly pushing the contrast around.


Test fitting the summoned zombie arms:


and this pic got a little blurry, but you can see where I worked a bit more of an earthtone back into the ground:



Feeling good about the direction that side is going, I work my way back over to the demon mage side, and start sculpting his summoning circle in magicsculpt:



I use a textured sponge to add some roughness to the surface, then sculpt in the details:



Sorry I don't have a closer pic of what the finished circle looks like, you'll just have to wait till I paint it I guess!

now that I'm starting to lay everything out, I decide I want the summoning spell to tear through the stairs, all the way up to the demon Mage that is casting the spell. This is why I like to work loose, so I don't feel too slavish to the design and can make improvements as I feel them.





The next step is basically mounting the two pieces, I decided to do a base of foam for the whole scene to shim them up a couple inches, and stagger the stag slightly from front to back.
I think you'll agree, with the addition of the crack, the piece fits together much better, and guides the eye better through the story being told by the scene.


Fast forward even a little bit more, and things are really starting to take shape!





(7/20 UPDATE)

The base is coming along nicely, and with most elements completed or at least roughed out, things are really starting to take shape!

painting the quartz, because as cool as it looks, I wanted to make it the main element of glowing to help set up the right side of the piece, so I give it a nice initial spray of transparent flouro purple:



then, I go through and hand paint each one with a darker purple, a pink, and then finallly a very fine touch of pure white to help sell the highlights and make them feel a bit more dynamic, and properly crystal-y!



then, it was onto the stained glass, which was interesting, because while I was making it, I realized, I had never done stained glass before. lol

first attempt, was a bit too complicated and too distracting, and the first idea I had for paints turned out to be very blotchy, opaque and troublesome.



so after some testing on another piece of plexi, I decided to break it down and re-do it, with a slightly different design to cater to a better color palette. Here it is, just the "leading"painted in. It's basically a puff paint that has a matte finish, normally people just squirt it right from the bottle in a line, but given the size of the lines I wanted, I ended up hand brushing it on, which was kind of annoying as it sets up pretty quick.



For the second attempt, I decided to do masking, and spray transparent paints to get a more uniform effect while preserving translucency. Here, you can see the piece masked off in sections,each time cutting out all the areas that get that color, then carefully sticking it back on after drying, and cutting out the areas for the next color.

as you can see, the colors fit the scene much better I think.


I then distressed the glass, added some cobwebs, and broke out a couple panes and cracked some others to help the window fit the scene a bit better.


Lit from behind:


In other news, the Demon angel is coming along nicely, and is almost complete. still a little bit of finishing to do. The contrast in the glow is so strong, that it kind of screws with the camera and makes it look even more extreme than it really is.





And his weapon, the staff of the Ouroboros (fun thing to read about here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros)

initial sculpt:


painted up in gold liquid leaf:


UPDATE: weapon crafting.

until then, as promised, here's how I do weapons, this is probably not the easiest or least labor intensive way, but I find I get the best results this way.

I usually start with a wooden dowl for the handle, something thin enough that it can slide in and out of the hand with minimal paint scratching, but not so thin that it will just fall out. I then cut a template of the blade in plasticard something to reinforce the shape when I go to make the blade in resin.


I then lay over a fairly rough layer of magic sculpt on both sides, trying my best to avoid dips in the surface, as the goal is to make the side of the blade completely flat. the edges, I care a little less about, because I know I'm going to do a ton of sanding here.


using a sanding table, I rough out the shape as evenly as I can, and then dremel down the spots the table cant get to. this gives me a pretty solid and uniform blade-like edge, and also you can see the areas where the resin ended up a little thinner than the rest


Often times, this will be the point I smooth on some more magic sculpt into these lower areas, then re -sand, and go over the whole thing with 180, then 300 grit sand paper. you can see the lighter area of newly added resin on this guy:


I'm not the most anal person in the world, as I like my pieces to still have an organic and hand made feel to them, at this point, I feel good enough about the shape to spray it with some grey primer, and go over the primer with a finishing sponge:


You'll see I glued on some plasticard panels, and then worked some magic sculpt around the trim. I then spray the blade with a metallic spray paint. As a spray on chrome effect is near impossible (or very expensive) I tend to settle for a beaten metal look, as it fits the fantasy style well. Some times, I'll do metal leaf or liquid leaf for this effect as well.


Using a very fine monogram bit on my dremel, I engraved the norse letter for STAG into the axe head. I then go over the areas with a gold liquid leaf, which is terrible stuff with a terrible scent, definitely use a organic vapor respirator with it, or I'm pretty sure you'll kill some brain cells. and follw that with some of the green metallic I used on the Stag, mixed with some black ink, to give a nice pearly/marbled effect.


Kind of a crappy final pic, but here's the blade all painted up. I use thin coats of black and whit acrylic mixed with glazing liquid and silver mica flake (most silver acrylics should work) (to keep it pretty sparkly in person)to give it a bit more stylized effect , and a little faux lighting. I always go darker on the edge of the blade, to help show the bevel. Then the whole thing gets a couple thin coats of acrylic high gloss varnish:


Hope that helps some of you guys! feel free to ask me any questions!

Update: FINISHED PICS!


As he ventures deep into the harsh and inhospitable nether regions of the outlying area simply known as "The Wastes", he knows he can not go back now, not when he has come so far. The Ghouls and horrors he has seen along the way would have broken most men, but not the knight they have grown to affectionately call "The Stag" (from his name sake, Sir Taenius of the Alussion Gardens). As he struggles to gain purchase up the slippery cliffside, he realizes the toll the trip has taken on him. It would be so easy to let himself go and slide like a forgotten doll, back down the jagged slope into the unforgiving darkness. From the faint, yet savage sounds below, there is no doubt of monsters laying in wait in that impossibly black pit. All manner of creature poised with anxious ferocity, for his inevitable misstep. He pictures the face of his beloved. Her night sky hair, like gently spun onyx. Her eyes, deep as the great oceans, and as hypnotic as the waves on their shores. Her stunning beauty, quickly replaced by the twisted face of her certain terror. It burns our hero in his chest, like he just swallowed a fistful of white hot coal.

With freshly stoked determination, he pulled his heavily armored body over the summit, standing to find the lost Cemetery of the Ghonne. The graveyard that lay in front of him was chillingly desolate and bereft of even the whispers of wind. The Ghonne, a cult of dark alchemists that serve their Demon masters beyond the veil of mortality, had a reputation for blood rituals. in their last days, they had kidnapped and killed every member of a small neighboring village, resulting in an all out attack by the Queen's guard, where every member of the cult was slain without quarter, and their entire village was turned into a graveyard, the ground salted, and every building set aflame.

It was rumored that this place was haunted by the vengeful spirits of those Dark artisans, but the Stag knew the truth of it. It was no rumor, he had seen that Nightmarish angel with his own eyes, with skin that must have been made of blue flames, the alchemical symbols on his robe unmistakable to his scholarly eyes. The monster that took his love was some how related to the Ghonne, and this God forsaken place was undoubtedly where it had taken her. As he wandered deeper into the seemingly endless dead lands, the silence was broken, by the unearthly sound he had first heard a few days prior. As the sound grew, so did a faint purple glow in the distant fog. With a slight reluctance, the stag pressed forward, now seeing a familiar blue color framed by the purple glow. as the mist parted, and the vague features came into focus, he stood, more than slightly stunned at the realization, that odd, faint sound was of flesh burning with the blue flame of a Demon.

Fear struck him like a ram charging headfirst into an anvil. The Demon was looking right at him--no, right at his very soul. As he raised his blood soaked battle axe for combat, the Demon's mouth opened to make a cacophony of sound. It was like a thousand guttural voices screaming in pain all at once, yet somehow he understood the message with crystal clarity: "Death is infinite". Just then, the ground began to tremble and split with the same haunting blue light erupting from below. As the land beneath shifted, arms started to burst forth violently from the blighted ground, as the restless corpses of the Ghonne cultists started to frantically grasp at his cape and armor.

The Stag stood frozen, absolutely shocked as the dark world in front of him transformed into an absolute masterpiece of certain death. This time, he did not think of giving up, but of something his father told him "Bravery is not about being fearless in the face of danger; bravery is when you are filled to the brim with fear, and you fight with everything you have despite it."



























The gohst statue on the left was sculpted with magnetic contacts on the bottom, so when you set it properly on the pillar, it lights up the 8 LEDs mounted on the backside of the stained glass.



OFF:



ON:

Looks pretty awesome.

Ooh exciting!

Damn josh looks soo sick! Helmet lookin killer soo far definitely keeping my eyes open to how this turns out

Diablo...

DrilOne wrote:Diablo...

What?

This one is mine.
I am so happy to see the first pictures. And I'm loving it. I can't wait to get more

fplus wrote:

DrilOne wrote:Diablo...

What?

The base has a Diablo III game feel... Plus the wings fit in too...

DrilOne wrote:

fplus wrote:

DrilOne wrote:Diablo...

What?

The base has a Diablo III game feel... Plus the wings fit in too...

The funny thing is, I"m one of the few gamers that isn't playing Diablo 3 right now.

fplus wrote:

DrilOne wrote:

fplus wrote:

DrilOne wrote:Diablo...

What?

The base has a Diablo III game feel... Plus the wings fit in too...

The funny thing is, I"m one of the few gamers that isn't playing Diablo 3 right now.

because the servers are down?

lol

Very excited to see this bro.

Very nice, Josh! I'm digging the diorama idea

Can't wait to see the finished goods!

another little sneak peak update from a this weekend.

Decided to add a lower jaw to the second guy, really liking it.



Blocking out the armor shapes on "The Stag" character, first time working with the 2.0 arms, decided to try and preserve the articulation.



going to be making a lot of headway on this over the next couple nights. I"ll try to update again tonight or tomorrow am.

Amazing work man love the progress shots!

Ohh shit that looks soo sick love the other helmet great stuff josh

That arm looks like a dick.

Crunch wrote:That arm looks like a dick.

LOL, you're the worst.

thank you for ruining that for me.

Crunch wrote:That arm looks like a dick.

hahahahahahaahahhahahahhaha didn't even notice that! lmao

Nice update Josh. Love what you have done with the trouble boy. Can't wait for more

fplus wrote:

Crunch wrote:That arm looks like a dick.

LOL, you're the worst.

thank you for ruining that for me.

Any time.

LOL thats the first thing i saw i had to look twice! i'm like no way josh made a dick for this squadt.

get your minds outta the gutter boys..........

LonerStoner wrote:get your minds outta the gutter boys..........

Yeah, you guys gotta stop thinking about dicks so much. lol

seriously though, now that you pointed it out, it's hard to unsee it.

actually, when I made the corrupter, I was super worried someone was going to say the fungal fiend had dicks all over his back instead of mushrooms. I might have scrapped the design if someone had said it when I first showed pics.lol

You know what kind of customs are shaped like dicks? The best kind!