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He looks even better with his teeth in :)

 

33557306902_d0d465c2af_b.jpg

 

I added various GW washes to the skin, and worked on the belly plate - lots of washes carefully applied in the crevices, then some drybrushed/blended oils over the top.

 

His mouth has had the teeth painted (so fiddly, I had to find a thinner-handled paint brush to do the backs) and again various washes and some highlights in acrylics. I also started filling in around the eyes but there's a lot of work to go there still.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

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Thanks everyone, it's been really fun to do this bit. I'll try and finish the face next and do something (relatively simple) to the spikes. The airbrush shading has worked out pretty well this time, presumably because he's big, so I'm not sure that every little thing needs brush-painting over the top.

 

I also need to make sure he fits in with the "I built a model" VTOL, i..e not go too far down the figure painter extreme highlights path.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

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So I've done all I thought I was going to do - some wet-blended highlights and shadows around the eyes and on the arms, red in the cornea, lots of work with oils on the skin and spines and then varnished with Light Sheen (skin), Flat (Plating and spines) and Gloss (mouth).

 

32906690884_062834ab2e_b.jpg

 

I think he looks OK, but there's a loss of contrast so I may end up doing some more work with oils in the shadows?

 

This is a front-lit picture in the plastic crate - very diffuse-looking now:

 

33709160606_8e0fbd29ef_b.jpg

 

But the eyes and face came out nicely at least :)

 

32906691814_40d1c66786_b.jpg

 

I don't want to go wild with the gloss varnish again because while he's just come out of the water, I thought he might look good with the lower parts glossy and then some Klear spattered over the boundary where he's been splashing around?

 

I'll get on and do the base next which should be pretty quick.

 

Will

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks folks, I haven't done anything with the contrast yet and I've been waiting to have time to go round the homeware shops base-hunting. I was going to use a black picture frame but I liked the wooden bases I used so much I opted for one of those instead.

 

My original plan was to put him on a relatively small base and have the beam and VTOL sticking out, but I was worried about transport so tried something bigger. In the end I thought that made the layout look really static and boring so went back to a medium-sized square base:

 

33991580322_dcae8a168c_b.jpg

 

It's a bamboo trivet, and while it doesn't have enough room underneath for batteries, I think I can either run a wire out to the edge or drill a big hole and keep them inside Bemular. The current plan is to use a small USB powerpack, which means I need a dropper resistor (or diode, hmm) to take the 5V down to the ~3V I budgeted the LEDs for.

 

I need to trim the rubber stripes off, drill a hole, and cut and paint some plastic sheet for the water surface. I also bought some translucent silicone sealant for the kitchen worktop this week and I'm wondering about using that for the lake water splashes - not sure that acrylics will have enough body to look right? Hot glue might work as well but the working time is very short.


Incidentally the backlit translucent beam looks pretty cool :)

 

Will

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Did you get the beam the way you wanted?  I have a confession,  the other day I went looking for a vid to post here to display the difference between Gamera's Taipei breath and Gamera's Toho breath. But I got distracted by some YouTube video about 10 giant monster movies you've never heard of. So an hour later I found out not only have I heard of all ten, I own DVDs of eight. With the other two on the DVR. 

 

So I wasted the rest of the day watching Reptilicus:

 

 

 

And the Giant Claw.

 

 

 

I might have a problem. ...

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Thanks for the kind comments all!

 

On ‎23‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 0:53 AM, Kallisti said:

Glad to have caught up again on this, those eyes are scary :)

 

Cheers, they're glass doll eyes so they have a lot more depth than paint would. I set them in translucent Sculpey so the LEDs in his head can light them up.

 

23 hours ago, Thud4444 said:

Did you get the beam the way you wanted?  


I think so, the second one looks better although neither is entirely authentic - in the TV footage he appears to have an infinite beam?
 

8 hours ago, BrotherMole said:

. The sculpt is amazing and the paint has really brought him to life.

 

Thanks, there are things I would do differently to the sculpt now that I've painted him - there are lots of cuts and grooves in the belly plate which don't reach the end properly, and I didn't smooth his skin over very well. But I'm still really happy and have been thinking about other things to sculpt :D

 

I got to use my favourite grown up tool today and cut a hole in the bamboo mat using a hole saw :) This took ages, especially given the '90s-vintage Nicad packs my drill uses, but made a beautifully clean cut with no splinters and more importantly no delamination of the pieces. I also ripped the rubber pads off the top of the thing - they were just hot glued into routed slots and pulled out quite cleanly.

 

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After that I cut a square of ~0.75mm PET sheet, rounded the corners and cut out the corresponding circle. I painted the lake on the underside using stippled tube acrylics, which is tricky because you have to paint backwards and can't really see what the end result will be. I think I started a bit on the dark side (I was always intending to back it with black-green) as it's ended up *very* dark, but I can tint the water media which go on top to offset that. It does make for nice reflections, and you can hopefully see where the stirred-up silt is which will guide the waves on the top layer.

 

It's all epoxied together now, the masking tape is slightly under the edge of the sheet but the glue bead shouldn't reach it so I think it'll pull out cleanly. I might need to add a dot of epoxy under each corner and clamp them down with pegs when I get to the end since they look a little proud in the pics. Bemular is just epoxied straight to the upper surface of the plastic.

 

Oh yes, and I was able to cut out the X of armature wire supporting the base of his body "cage", so there's lots of room inside for a two-AA pack or maybe a USB charger for convenience. I haven't done the final wiring up yet though.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

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I didn't explain it very well, but I cut a large hole through the trivet and the water sheet - Bemular's glued over that so his innards are accessible. However the small USB power pack I just got is too big to fit so it looks like back to the 2 AAA batter box or similar. I should get the wiring sorted out before I do the water really :)

 

Cheers,

 

Will

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎29‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 2:35 AM, Blastvader said:

I realised that after the fact Will, not your fault, I'm just stupid.

 

Not at all, it's 'cos it's such an awesomely discreet wiring solution. "How can that possibly have batteries??"

After a couple of hours of rummaging around and swearing I managed to locate my multimeter and wired up a little scrap of veroboard with bus and a couple of resistors. I hooked up one end to a battery box with 3 AAAs and the other to the various wires dangling out of Bemular's head. After checking it worked I potted it all with 5 minute epoxy, and it even fits inside the body cavity (just!)

 

33694836483_ab473e3e04_b.jpg

 

Not the best picture but it all works and I think it's the first time I've seen his eyes and beam lit up together.

 

Final steps are to sort out the water relief and probably do a bit more painting on himself, then mount the VTOL. I think I can epoxy the belly panel to the pin and then be able to remove the ship as the panel is a push fit.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

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On 4/26/2017 at 6:25 AM, Will Vale said:

in the TV footage he appears to have an infinite beam

I know it’s a bit late in the day, but have you considered using electroluminescent wire?

 

Cracking build BTW.

 

Mart

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Thanks all!

 

22 hours ago, LotusArenco said:

I know it’s a bit late in the day, but have you considered using electroluminescent wire?

 

Interesting idea! From what I recall you need quite big drivers for EL stuff though? I'd love to do a Bladerunner thing with loads of glowing stuff one day though.

 

Will

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6 hours ago, Will Vale said:

quite big drivers for EL stuff though?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lerway-Electroluminescent-Transformer-Christmas-Decoration/dp/B00GJL3P0G/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1494262412&sr=8-12

Runs off 2 AA batteries.;)

The transformer thingamajig makes a nasty high pitched noise if you hold it too close to your ear!

 

Mart

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