Armageddon Sniper

[Ethan]

I found a contest going on for sculpting a character riding some kind of monster or beast so I decided to enter.

My character is going to be a post modern, female sniper, with body armor; riding a Siberian Sabertooth Tiger.

I still intend on printing this as a kit at probably 90-100mm.

As I work on this I would love to know if the general public think I should continue at large scale or if I should work on 90mm being the largest.

This page is now a place-holder for updating my cover photo. Scroll down for WIPS

 

[Helm]

Dunno as to the scale but it sounds a bit spiffy in concept, 120mm would make a stunning bit of kit visually but whether it's cost effective for you I don't know mate. Good luck with it, I don't usually have much interest in that sort of figure but this one just might change my mind

Steve

 

[FigureLover]

Nice start, you can see some basic outline of what you are attempting. As for scale, that depends on the competition. Is it for digital sculpting only or all forms, if it is for all, then keep it around the 90mm mark, if it is for digital only, then go bigger, you can fit more detail in it and go all out!!!!! Also what are the judges looking for and any criteria they want you to work to.
Ben

 

[Ethan]

Helm: Thanks! I agree with your scale as my own personal choice. I have printed at 150mm scale and I love the size but I think the tiger and base would be a bit huge! As far as how cost effective the size change would be I think it would not be a huge increase. It would cost me more for lager molds and of course materials for printing and casting would increase. That money gets rolled into the cost of the kit for the public so it's not a big concern as long as people want the kit! I can tell you that it will either be 120 or 90.

Ben: Thanks! The contest is for primarily traditional large scale sculptors. I can enter digital work however and for the contest itself I fear I will only have a rendered image done since it takes weeks to print the parts and begin the post production process. The judges are looking at the monster/creature first; since the contest is called "Monster Rider". The rules are really simple. Just create a character riding a creature, monster, or beast. There are no specifics aside from that.

After the failure of my first printed kit I have come up with a new way to win in the details struggle. Printing is fantastic but it just cannot bring out the details that are easy to sculpt in Zbrush. To beat this I will make a waste mold and cast each part in a wax compound. At this point I can join pieces together, smooth out any layering from printing, and also sculpt in all the minute details and textures that are lost. The compound I am going to use reacts like plastic when cold so I can ensure all joints fit perfectly and the kit maintains a really high level of detail. Once all of this is done I will make prototype molds and cast the actual kit.

I don't have a lot of concept art since I'm creating the base especially right out of my head but here are my two important inspirational tools right now.



This is the pose I like a lot so I will use this as a guide


She is pretty sweet! I am going to make some changes but the heart of the piece is here!

 

[Helm]

I dunno it might also look nice as a cyber beast along these lines to keep with techno woman or make her more of a fantasy type lol this is why I am kinda glad I can't sculpt just have to come up with smart arse ideas instead

Steve

 

[Ethan]

I'm planning on making her more of a fantasy type. Making a robot tiger would be awesome but there is no way I could complete that in time!

 

[Ethan]

Alright, a bit of an update. I spent today getting the my tiger base mesh inserted into the scene and posing him one tiny piece at a time. Now I can take him into my sculpting program and begin the real work.

The female figure is place for size comparison.

 

[Helm]

looks very interesting so far Ethan

Steve

 

[Ethan]

Thanks Steve!

Rain today in Dallas so I couldn't work my day job; allowing me to spend some good hours on the project.

Today I mostly worked the head of the tiger and then got a chance to spend a few hours on the whole body in Zbrush. I am guessing I am half way done with him now. The next steps are to finish out the head, legs and tail and then I will start adding basic accessories so I know where to sculpt the fur.

Here is the body after working the head shape and prepping for export to Zbrush






And a good 4 or so hours in Zbrush

 

[RKapuaala]

What references are you using Ethan?

 

[Ethan]

The only references I have access to are from Google Images... I have a decent side view and a side view of the muscles of a similar tiger but nothing that is exact to what I see in my head. I would say the muscular system of the body is looking really good but I have some serious work left on the head and the front legs are also a concern. I am lucky there will be so much fur that the muscle systems of the legs don't have to be perfect but the paws have to be fantastic so that will require some good time! The same is true for the head but the short fur around the front of the snout are going to show any problems so I want to get that nailed down soon.

All in all the only thing that still really poses a personal problem for me is the head shape. That back section is shaped with fur in mind but I really won't see how it looks until I get the details laid out.

Do you see something specific that needs attention?

 

[Helm]

As it stands the head reminds me a bit of a Coypu like animal maybe it might be easier to co-opt that and turn it into a rat like animal giving you a bit of lee way ? Just to save time I meant then proceed with the tiger alongside of it not sure when this has to be done for

Steve

 

[Ethan]

I have to be finished and posted by the last day in January. Luckily I start college again in a week so I can put in about 20 or more hours in that last week. I would rather be painting and lighting and rendering the final image that week though! Its going to be close!

 

[RKapuaala]

Ethan,
I can't put my finger on it specifically, but the area of the orbitals (eye socket area) seems to flare back too much. Have you tried referencing a house cat? The are strikingly similar to the bigger cats in anatomy and behavior.

 

[Ethan]

I have thought about that, good idea! Its at least a starting place.

 

[Ethan]

Not a tremendous amount of work done today but I did get the basic shape of the 2 front plates of armor for the sabertooth. I decided I need to get these shapes placed so I will know how and where to put the fur. As I lay fur I will rework my problem areas with the shape. Ending of course with the head!

 

[Vermis]

I would say the muscular system of the body is looking really good... I am lucky there will be so much fur that the muscle systems of the legs don't have to be perfect

I don't want to jump straight on here with the Simon Cowell act, but I feel I have to say: adding a lot of muscle and fur detail, let alone getting them perfect, isn't going to cover up fundamental flaws in basic proportions and poses. And don't be too sore about this, but your tiger is full of them.

I'd echo RKapuaala's question: what are your references? Apart from the art in post #4, which has it's own problems.

animals are harder than they appear!

Yup! If you sculpt human anatomy well (looks like you personally do), you need to forget sizable chunks of it when you move onto 'normal' creatures - ones that aren't dorsoventrally-flattened plantigrade upright bipeds...

 

[Ethan]

Totally agree with you Vermis

So this evening I restarted the head from a sphere. I was able to get to a used book store and while their selection was poor I did pick up a book on tigers; kind of National Geographic style. So here is the work so far. As I was rendering I was noticing all kinds of little shape problems but I think this is ten times better than the first head!

I haven't begun to really work the throat at all so disregard the terrible shape!

 

[Ethan]

So after a terribly long week at work I am done with full time until after school semester is over! I am so glad to be back in college on Wednesday!

I have today, tomorrow and Tuesday to get this project as close to finished as possible. Here is my updated work so far. I will probably be adding another 4-6 hours in this evening.

Still some adjustments to the face need to be made and the paws have a lot of detailing to do but I think I have the overall shapes right. Tonight's real challenge will be the teeth!

 

[Ethan]

Quick Update: Teeth, Tongue, attached head to body. Ran through the first layer of fur. I am trying for a shaggy, long hair.

The head is too big. Already fixed it but didn't want to re-render....