Those Uruk-Hai are absolutely amazing. I remember when I used to raid in WoW, my orc death knight I tried to make him look like one but there was no way to get close to that rather iconic look or I just failed game fashion.
That pattern work is also top notch, I like how the fabric looks, it has the appearance of being woven and thick like on the 1:1 costume.
Theboo-bomb wrote:Those Uruk-Hai are absolutely amazing. I remember when I used to raid in WoW, my orc death knight I tried to make him look like one but there was no way to get close to that rather iconic look or I just failed game fashion.
That pattern work is also top notch, I like how the fabric looks, it has the appearance of being woven and thick like on the 1:1 costume.
Thank you very much TBB! Took me a while but I got there, think I'm a bit rusty! LOL. I know nothing about playing computer games or games in general but I do know a bit about copyright and patent law as a designer, the Jackson LOTR character designs are heavily protected, they even went as far as to destroy all the masks, props, ears, feet etc.. right after filming the movies.
They always say that 'the devil is in the detail', I'm not sure exactly what that means except perhaps that detail work is hard because I'm pretty sure detail work isn't 'evil' unless you have a phobia of some kind about it. Well whatever it is I've been doing a lot of it the last few days, had to retailor the tunic a bit as you will see the hem line initially was sticking out at a whacky angle once the boarders were glued on. The thread I need to use (still sewing) to sew the boarders in place decided it was going to behave like a cat had played with it, so I'm cutting it in shorter than normal sections and taking a bit longer to finish as I'm using double thread stitches as usual. The rest is pretty explanatory, the poppers are being used as buttons that will have loop closures like Oin's coat.
WRONG SHAPE
RIGHT SHAPE
MAKING THE BELT AND BUCKLE, REINFORCED WITH PLEATHER AND A LOT OF SAWING ON A NUT!
PVA STOPS BELT DETERIORATING A THREAD AT A TIME AND PROTECTS INK FROM BEEN QUICKLY WORN OFF.
Always,always,always a pleasure to read your posts. I have learned so much from top your crafting skills. I have even applied some of your solutions to my work world. There are so many ways to get from point A to point B! I lament some of the figures I had as a kid and discarded when I thought they were “unrepairable”! Thanks for sharing!
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Pontiacivan wrote:Always,always,always a pleasure to read your posts. I have learned so much from top your crafting skills. I have even applied some of your solutions to my work world. There are so many ways to get from point A to point B! I lament some of the figures I had as a kid and discarded when I thought they were “unrepairable”! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much Pontiacivan! A pleasure to hear from you again too! We all broke things and they got chucked as kids, the worst thing I did was leave boxes full of what now are highly sought after collectables in a basement when we moved house because I was then a teenager and had 'grown out' of that 'silly kids stuff'...
Stryker2011 wrote:Impressive, Alex. That belt buckle is something else. Really amazing attention to such a small detail.
Thank you! I was quite pleased with finding the perfect nut to make it from! LOL.
GubernatorFan wrote:I second Stryker. Excellent detail. Can't wait to see how it all comes together.
More sewing done but been finishing a marathon of a review for you guys on the 1/6 Bemular figure by Eastern Models and Illusion Studios(?), it's definitely not concise without too many pictures like yours are, I went overboard as usual!
Cheers have done now thanks to you! Think I already have The Nine but they're bloody hard to count in the dark!!
It seems I only have The Five, I can't count apparently...only the Morgul Lord is Asmus, had my own custom but it got recycled into my Medieval Warmachine figure, needed the metal Berserk Guts armour.
Rogerbee wrote: More masterful chopping from the Shovelchop chop shop, always a joy to see. That hobbit body couldn't be going to a better home!
Cheers Roger! I can't wait to get it and play 'inee, minee, moe' with Thorin and Kili! Fili's getting the one I already have because he's my favourite of the three with some crazy weapons to pose him with!
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Finished sewing the coat border patters on, made loops for the buttons, made his woolly fingerless gloves, boots are inked up as are the pattern wraps for them, sort of like laces and puttees combined. Found a bunch of discarded clothing in a bag outside today so went in the washing machine and is ready to be used for something at some point, also a really nice Indian sherwani (formal attire for weddings etc..) in the bag too, no idea why that was getting chucked out! Slightly tight on me as I have quite wide shoulders but I'm sure I can let out the back with a black partition, nice leather details with silver studs and purple buttons (pictured next to my Goth/pirate/highwayman coat) reminds me of Neo's coat in The Matrix films. Making bags and a scarf for him now with books and quills etc.. That HS is going to need some work though, looks way too square and the smirk and nose are off (sorry Peter) some real hair closer to the films colour and volume should help ie: it's much lighter in colour and bushier in shape as is his beard.
Posts : 20185 Join date : 2018-03-29 Location : Somewhere between myth and reality.
LOL you find the strangest things. But like Ovy's grandma's hose, I'm sure you will find the best use for them. He's almost done! I'm sure you'll make him perfect. And the chicken will be brilliant.
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Looking good so far. All the details look well done. I agree the scarf doesn’t work. Man, I feel for that actor… he looks as goofy in real life as his character in the movie. (I know, I’m mean.)
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GubernatorFan wrote:LOL you find the strangest things. But like Ovy's grandma's hose, I'm sure you will find the best use for them. He's almost done! I'm sure you'll make him perfect. And the chicken will be brilliant.
Stryker2011 wrote:Looking good so far. All the details look well done. I agree the scarf doesn’t work. Man, I feel for that actor… he looks as goofy in real life as his character in the movie. (I know, I’m mean.)
Getting there.. made a new scarf using bleached black sock material, white marker and brown Sharpie, later added a long piece of wire to have some control over it. Boots are done sans weathering (as is everything else as I do it last for obvious reasons), his canvas bag is a bit big but not sure if I care enough to change it again.. I'm weathering/ageing books and removed original cover pictures and internal script to be replaced by some Dwarvish runes yet to be sourced. Got his little weapons to do (did they really have access to rubber in Middle Earth? If not his slingshot is going to suck!!). His head and real hair are the main job coming up.
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Theboo-bomb wrote:It's starting to take shape! Really cool how he's nearing completion.
And finding free useful stuff is always a plus for scratch building, it's like striking gold.
LOL, it kind of is! Well until you end up feeling like hoarder...'if you throw that out you know you're going to kick yourself later down the road but if you keep it you'll probably never use it..' should be some sort of scratch building rule.
GubernatorFan wrote:Oh yes, it made a world of difference. Well done!
Cheers, the fist was just an experiment and he looked like 'The Vulture'.
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Stryker2011 wrote:That's a great improvement for the scarf, and the boots look awesome.
Cheers Stryker! Now comes the fun/scary part! adding 'real hair' using fur and synthetic hair of various colour for the braids, well the scary part is do slight mods to Peter's sculpt as the actor actually has a narrower face (it's easy to to see in hindsight, not Knocking Peter's skills at all) and I need to do this very carefully with mini files and scraper tools. I've already removed all the hair and knocked up these comparison pics for reference in Paint, the fur will bulk the head up again but I need to concentrate on the nose, chin, eyebrows etc.. first.
Peter's sculpt
What I've reduced it to so I can do all the mods I want
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Sorry, I couldn't help but think... do you go off on expeditions to kill bears in your spare time? I can completely relate to the feeling of reticence and guilt when modifying a fine and expensive sculpt -- how much more so when doing that to something even rarer and unique. But I know your talent and skill, and have no doubt you will do a great job.
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GubernatorFan wrote:Sorry, I couldn't help but think... do you go off on expeditions to kill bears in your spare time? I can completely relate to the feeling of reticence and guilt when modifying a fine and expensive sculpt -- how much more so when doing that to something even rarer and unique. But I know your talent and skill, and have no doubt you will do a great job.
Yeah...I hunt Teddy Bears! It's all faux fur lol. As for the sculpt, I know what you mean sort of, Peter always asked a fair price so it's not like one of those limited edition heads that go for £100 on eBay! He also made and painted them in one night (each) so it's not like I'm trying to modify the Cysteine Chapel that took a lifetime. At the end of the day Peter's sculpts are great for the price, communication and quick delivery, but sometimes something won't look right to me and I'll have to try and modify it until I get closer to what I want as he said himself "They're your sculpts, do what you want with them". I think I read your comment wrong! Oh well I'll leave what I've written as a defence anyway! Talking of mods his eyes need to be closer together, I absolutely hate painting, let alone sculpting eyes!! Been driving myself nuts with sculpting tools and milliput for the last few hours....
Posts : 20185 Join date : 2018-03-29 Location : Somewhere between myth and reality.
Well, one of the reasons you are so good at this is because of perfectionism. So you will keep looking for ways to improve what you've got. I see what you mean about the eyes, and it's fair. But certainly not the easiest modification (far from it).
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GubernatorFan wrote:Well, one of the reasons you are so good at this is because of perfectionism. So you will keep looking for ways to improve what you've got. I see what you mean about the eyes, and it's fair. But certainly not the easiest modification (far from it).
I have a back up plan for the eyes if my sculpting goes pear shaped, use my box of donor heads to find some appropriate eyes to cut out and steal replacing what ever mess I've made!
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Well this has been an interesting and fairly rewarding few days, I actually think I got the eyes right eventually, what had been missing was a proper brow ridge as Ori's is very prominent. So after sculpting the eyes with milliput and changing the nose (narrower) and mouth (more of a lopsided grin), I got out the Fimo Professional putty/clay and sculpted a new forehead for him then baked the head for 40 minutes in the oven. Next were the ears which I cut from a hs in my donor box then attached them to the head at the rather extreme angles the character/actor has his. Then lots of paint experiments to give him the pale freckled skin of a ginger that his character seems to have, did the eyes fairly calmly for a change with about as good as a result as I can expect from myself in this area that I suck at. Then different washes, rewashes, sponge work, marker pen work, matte clear coat and gloss nail varnish for the eyes and mouth. He now looks like a bit of a lunatic as is, sort of a cross between the local village idiot and an escaped convict from Scotland! LOL. The hair and beard should change that, I've already made his braids using a mixture of coloured synthetic hair and black thread just like the prop wig. The hair application is next which will be tricky as I have to turn a flat piece of unidirectional faux fur into a dome while incorporating the braids at the same time, of course the beard has to be done with it's little tied off tufts too. Don't be scared..he can't bite...actually reminds me a lot of my drug dealing and drug addled neighbour who looks a lot like this and after too many beatings in prison and at his own flat, has hardly any brain cells left or teeth...kind of a freaky coincidence as I hadn't thought of that until now!!
Now Baked..quite an apt description of my neighbour too!
Neighbour hasn't done a Chopper Reid ear slicing thing but did get stabbed in the neck one night which was entertaining!
Going to have to do something about those crazy caterpillar eyebrows I've ended up with there.. I'll resculpt and paint them tomorrow.
Looks a bit like Wallace from the Wallace & Gromit timelapse animation films! And the singer from Mightnight Oil...
Posts : 20185 Join date : 2018-03-29 Location : Somewhere between myth and reality.
Holy cow! I think at this point you should have just sculpted a new head instead of tried to modify Peter's sculpt. Either way, I am sure you will end up with a perfect Ori in the end... or a mini-neighbor, or both.
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Stryker2011 wrote:Holy cow! Dude, that is insane. What a change and he’ll of a lot of work. Looking so different and more like him (sorry, Peter).
GubernatorFan wrote:Holy cow! I think at this point you should have just sculpted a new head instead of tried to modify Peter's sculpt. Either way, I am sure you will end up with a perfect Ori in the end... or a mini-neighbor, or both.
That's a lot of Holy cows! I must be in India...bad joke . Cheers guys!, I always need reference points when doing sculpts, I'm terrible at doing human hs's from scratch, even if they end up looking radically different like this one, without them it's like staring at that dreaded piece of white paper (if you've done any 2D artwork you'll know what I mean). An analogy would be: starting with a sculpt is like being dropped in the desert with co-ordinates even if they are miles from where you want to be, starting without a sculpt is like being dropped in the desert with nothing.
I removed his eyebrows (before I even had my coffee or first smoke), sanded down what I didn't want like edges etc.. then tried using my fairly fresh (loads of ink) Gundam panel lining brown markers with no luck, they cost £5 each and hardly ever work!! When they do they're brilliant, tried dipping them in water, then acetone nail polish remover, did the paper towel trick, nothing seems to work . Ended up using Daley-Rowney water soluble coloured pencils that I've had for 26 years!! They worked a treat but aren't smudge proof like Gundam markers and won't like clear coat.. . Anyway, Mr. Potato-Head now has better looking eyebrows, don't forget the camera shows super high definition and not what we would see just looking at the figure with the naked eye.
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Doing the hair and beard, added his undercut first and trimmed it, then the top 'mop' that I had to cut sort like an egg from Alien so the fur/hair stayed going in a downwards layered direction since the fur is unidirectional, while covering the crown of his head cleanly and looks natural; gave that a trim and started on the beard. Now that he is a proud only member of 'The Beatles Fan Club Quakers' Chapter' I'll leave him be for a bit and have lunch then a nap...
Talking of mods his eyes need to be closer together, I absolutely hate painting, let alone sculpting eyes!! Been driving myself nuts with sculpting tools and milliput for the last few hours.... 
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