I feel compelled to post this...Pablo Viggiano's work.

[Wiggins]

So, being a past Diablo fan, I have randomly been keeping up with the development on Diablo 3. I, personally, can say it looks good enough for me to give up MMOS and switch back to the old 2D-ish world again...

Anywhoo, I was poking around on their forums and came across Pablo Viggiano's page at Sideshow Collectibles detailing his Barbarian sculpt.

I'm going to post the link here, it's got some really great shots of his process, and I can say it's provided a good bit of insight on armor creation, and what's possible. I'm leaning as I go, and things like that just make it all that more illuminating to me.

So I hope this link finds you well also, the more seasoned sculptors here may have seen this already or knew about it, but here it is:

SIDE SHOW TOYS BARBARIAN SCULPT (http://www.sideshowtoy.com/?p=5469)

[dreamsorcerer]

------> walks slowly into a corner and cries like a girl..

[Wiggins]

------> walks slowly into a corner and cries like a girl..

Dry those tears sorce!
I was actually surprised to see so many images in the post, mainly because you see these kinds of things 3/4 of the way done or way way in the beinning, and then you see the painted shots, and that's it.

Thus far, in order of awesome original thought processes (I think) for armor creation-ing-ness that I know of and plan on trying...

Dream's foil/mesh method on post-bake figures (removable! who'dathunkit?)
frozen textures pieces/epoxy sculpted stamp thingies
Pablo's obvious toss-it-on-and-carve look on a couple pieces.

Looks like that guy's got a lot of tooling he did on some of those...I'm wondering how long these encompass, from image one to image 37.

[john d]

he dose have a website its sculptedheroes.com it show most of his work hes done for sideshow
he is a master at his craft

[Wiggins]

Thanks for that info, John. I hadn't poked around that deep to find his personal stuff. Much appreciated. :-)

[maddmaestro]

YEAH...WOW! Pablo is definitely one of this artforms masters. Can You guys see how many bakes have been done on this piece. Holy crap!!! This is sicker than t.b. ! Thanks for sharing wiggins! Btw Kenshiro I share your sentiments about wanting to go off and cry in a corner...and your skill is light years beyond mine!

Maddmaestro:afroboy:

[Wiggins]

Yeah, just went through his galleries....holy moly. The level of detail in pieces containing plate armor just astound me. It's the little things like the rivets and bolts that he uses, on top of engraving the pieces...seesh.

Good to know you can bake the living crap out of sculpey though. This kind of inspires me to just go over and over on my goblin. I wonder how many passes it took on that Green Goblin bust to get his hood to actually -look- like cloth/paperclay material.

[Aseyngel]

------> walks slowly into a corner and cries like a girl..

That comment completely saved my day!

- And for the sculpt - John D hits the spot: "Master" is the right word.

[taurn7]

psshh I can do that!




LOL! just kidding!! but damn! His skills just blows what little I have away! I am most impressed with the Jurassic Park sculpture. This just makes me want to learn more!!!

[dreamsorcerer]

YEAH...WOW! Pablo is definitely one of this artforms masters. Can You guys see how many bakes have been done on this piece. Holy crap!!! This is sicker than t.b. ! Thanks for sharing wiggins! Btw Kenshiro I share your sentiments about wanting to go off and cry in a corner...and your skill is light years beyond mine!

Maddmaestro:afroboy:

-------------> now sobbing..

[dreamsorcerer]

That comment completely saved my day!

- And for the sculpt - John D hits the spot: "Master" is the right word.

Saved your day did I? rofl! :D

[dreamsorcerer]

He is so amazing.. shall we beat him up? :) Or absorb his powers Peter Petrelli style-ee!

[original willow]

Wow, this really is amazing work. But, I'm confused. Doesn't he say in the intro that he's using Apoxy? If so then why the color change? I know you can bake Apoxy to speed the curing. Is that the process he's using?

[riteguytu]

Damn!

[Wiggins]

Wow, this really is amazing work. But, I'm confused. Doesn't he say in the intro that he's using Apoxy? If so then why the color change? I know you can bake Apoxy to speed the curing. Is that the process he's using?

Not sure, maybe someone other than him typed that intro...
In his shots it looks like, to me, that he uses very little epoxy, if any at all, on the body or the head, and even some of that closer-to-the-body armor appears to be completely sculpey (which is really impressive)

I'm curious about the little metal studs and etc, do you think any of those are pins to hold things to the baked form? When he decontructs everything in the final shots, im wondering if he's using pins to temp. secure things like the swords on his back....

All in all, crazy stuff.

[Robert.B]

Damn!! My mouth if fucking watering...Fuck i cant find the right words.....!

[taurn7]

He is so amazing.. shall we beat him up? :) Or absorb his powers Peter Petrelli style-ee!

lmao, yes we should beat him up! He is too awesome. I wonder if he'll come here and give us some tips.

[jbabler]

He is a really nice guy, I emailed him a few questions specifically about his Blood Elf vs Daraenei sculpture he did... That particular piece took him three months easily, working fulltime on it! He used apoxy on everything but anatomy, then he does sculpey. Then drilling/sanding/carving until he got it where he wanted it.

[Wiggins]

He is a really nice guy, I emailed him a few questions specifically about his Blood Elf vs Daraenei sculpture he did... That particular piece took him three months easily, working fulltime on it! He used apoxy on everything but anatomy, then he does sculpey. Then drilling/sanding/carving until he got it where he wanted it.

3 Months full time eh? Sounds right for that piece. I looked through each pic on the site for that one, I was really stoked to see that in his gallery, the concept art that I'm assuming he was working from (somewhere on Blizzard's site...) is sick too.

Sanding and carving, now that's interesting, It looked like, to me, some of the barbarian pics towards the end, had some dusty looking spots on the arms and anatomy, I'm guessing that was some sanding residue or perhaps a lighter color caused by some carving.

[Hybrid_75]

Holy Crap! thanks for posting that, Holy Crap that sculpt is amazing

[KingUnicorn]

Pablo has always showcased some serious command over his craft. But this...This is just a reminder that there's always another level hiding behind the one you've just discovered.

Damn. Just damn.

~KU

[Hybrid_75]

I like the fact that he sculpts and carves and pretty much just does anything he see's fit to acheive his goal. Sometimes I get caught up in trying one approach when something maybe better acheived another way.

[julien n]

Details are unbelieavable! :xpld: :xpld: :xpld: :xpld: :xpld: :xpld:
Wonderful work!

[dark_wraith]

I saw that ting at SDCC, just blew me away. amazing sculpt.

[dreamsorcerer]

Yer know what fellow sculptors? I can't stop looking at this guy's work.. I really am so impressed by his sculpts, and his sketches. Wow. So much thought, passion and extreme attention to detail has gone into his work. I don't think there's a word to describe how excellent his work is. I think a word should be invented! I am totally inspired.

[Wiggins]

Yer know what fellow sculptors? I can't stop looking at this guy's work.. I really am so impressed by his sculpts, and his sketches. Wow. So much thought, passion and extreme attention to detail has gone into his work. I don't think there's a word to describe how excellent his work is. I think a word should be invented! I am totally inspired.

I usually end any session spent checking email with a trip to his site, seeing if any new galleries have been posted, then I always end up looking at his Dwarf warrior and his Green Goblin works...I try to pull in anything I can from his attention to detail and such, trying to think "how'd he do that?"

the answer I keep coming up on is Apoxie Sculpt or Epoxy.....I should probably get some.

[KingUnicorn]

I try to pull in anything I can from his attention to detail and such, trying to think "how'd he do that?"

the answer I keep coming up on is Apoxie Sculpt or Epoxy.....I should probably get some.

I don't believe more materials is the answer. I think studying his process is where you'll find the real secrets in his work. His planning, his keying of parts, his multiple bakes, his layering - they're all valuable steps that should be stuffed in anyone's mental toolbox.

I'm certainly not saying to overlook his patience and his keen understanding of anatomy, but there are other elements happening in the abstract that need to be appreciated.

~KU