My First Sculpture (organic mech)

[bmcnully]

Hey guys Brandon here with my first sculpture. I currently go to the Art Institute in Atlanta. This sculpture was created in my sculpture class so pardon its simplicity. My teacher frequents this forum alot and told me to post my work here. I didn't think the quality was good enough but he requested it anyway lol.

I photographed the entire process from start to finish and I am glad I did. The initial design was taken from a combination of several mecha and the centerpiece came from the zentradi officer walker. My concept was of course to beat everyone else in the class and come up with something new, so I decided to try and integrate a lightsource directly into the model. The initial plan was to have the wiring go through the mech and and go under the ground I was creating using warhammer model turf and stop at a supply box of nearby infantry.

(sorry I do not have a picture of my concept art - I will have to find it)

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Mech_Final.jpg?t=1236658484

To start I built the wireframe and apoxied the living mess out of it

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture002.jpg?t=1236657062

Here is a closer shot to see the wire used in the process

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture003.jpg?t=1236657141

Here is my wiring setup but I had to scrap it towards the end. I could not get the lightsource to accept my input (the resistance was off somewhere in the line and I did not have the time to troubleshoot it) so I had to scrap it but here it is for reference.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture004.jpg?t=1236657190

Here is the fill I used of Aluminum foil to save some clay. To me this was the hardest part except the head. I got lots of nice papercuts (metal cuts actually) from doing this >.<

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture005.jpg?t=1236657322

This is the first layer of clay and me filling out the thicker parts of the limbs and body. Once this was done the aluminum finally stayed in place and it was much easier to work from here on out.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture007-1.jpg?t=1236657424

The head piece changed the entire mech design (and this was after midterm >.< ) and so I had to do some serious engineering to get it right so I could still finish and turn it in on time. My solution came from browsing the flashlight section of Wal-mart. I found an inexpensive spelunking LED headbanded light. I removed the headband straps and attached a copper tube using zap a gap and zip kicker and molded clay around it. After several attempts I finally got the shape and was able to create a removable headpiece that could service the batteries if need be. This changed the main part of the face drastically but it still came out good.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture016.jpg?t=1236657750
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture017.jpg?t=1236657774

These are shots of the final clay laying. Most of it was done by just my fingers. I really didn't use any of the custom tools my teacher had me make hehe. I did use a wooden curve tool to get some of those sharp carved lines but that is it. The rest is just layers and my fingers.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture013.jpg?t=1236657821
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture014.jpg?t=1236657945

My teacher wanted to see a big mech so I made him one. This thing measured well over 15" (almost 18" with base) and almost did not fit in my oven (scary moment days before final critique). I damaged it putting it in and had to remodel the top a bit while inside the oven before finally cooking it. I used a lower temperature than was recommended and cooked about 200 degrees or so for 1.5 hours then another hour on 100 degrees. It came out perfect. I removed the headpiece before baking and used a high heat hairdryer for about 20 minutes or so and used an oven mitt to hold the copper tube while roasting it with the hair dryer. I was scared it might crack but it too turned out great.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture015.jpg?t=1236657971

The paint was done about 4am in my garage with only one light using a tri color setup using high end spray paint. The idea was to simulate reflection and the nature of the way this organism pulled metal around itself to create the mech suit. The base coat was done in metallic black. I taped up the joints and painted it again with metallic cobalt blue, and touched up the edges with a hint of chrome sprayed from a distance.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture020.jpg?t=1236658759

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture021.jpg?t=1236658785

The light source could also change from light blue to red

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture023.jpg?t=1236658817

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture026.jpg?t=1236658853

The final touches you see in the other shots are pieces I picked up from the local Titan games and comics store in College Park. They are pieces from the Warhammer table top game and I did not create them but used them to enhance and show the scale of my model. The original idea was to create a destroyed wall piece the soldiers were hiding behind with the mech looking for them but the clay for the mech alone was well over $200 so I scraped it and used a fish tank rock piece. I removed the colorful plastic kelp and glued some real treated lichen onto to provide some cover for the hidden infantry. The trees were also from the Warhammer tabletop game. I covered the whole thing in real dirt and applied the warhammer shredded grass over it to create the final ground.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture018.jpg?t=1236658956

lol its my very first model and I have to work hard to pay for school so time is extremely precious. I know its nowhere near production quality and I barely did any smoothing but I like it and hopefully when I get out of school I will have time for an organic model. Here is a shot of the class and yes I was the only one in my class to finish =D, but I did get an A. Special thanks go out to Joe Gardner, my instructor, and Rodney Allen, the instructor of the second sculpture class for helping me.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/Picture028.jpg?t=1236659304

**edit**

I can't seem to get the images to show up in the thread. Only links will work can a mod help me fix this?

[taurn7]

Hey Brandon, Welcome to CA! It's finally nice to see someone from AIA to post here! Your mech warrior looks great, the design is very simple yet it is still very alien and mechanical. I would definitely like to see some of your concept art of this thing. Good work!

Now I got questions, looking at the last pic, it looks like everyone sculpted their own things, was this the final project? What else did you guys do? Man! I'm taking this class next quarter and I'm psyched!


oh yea, links only work because you have to put tags around the link.

[thatsmyboyblue]

Wow, I really like it alot. I never really thought of doing a mech. I have always thought they were cool too, so I will need to try my hand at it. You did a really great job. I hope you'll do more and post it.

[bmcnully]

Thanks guys. I was able to find some sketches but I can't find my layout drawing (drawing used to lay the wire out).

I used the IMG tags on my original post. Thats why I was kinda miffed at why it only showed links. Oh well. Yes we had to come up with a complete character. Everything from how it moved, ate, breathed, slept, reproduced, motivations, environment, etc etc. Once the 7 page writeup was done (if you were late to class it was a 14 page write up hehe). then you began on concept. Everyone in that class had to do that for their final project. It took the entire quarter and it was awesome. I bought extra wire, clay, and other materials and I would recommend you do the same as all the classes seem to be taught at the same time and all the stores in the area all run out together hehe.

Here are some of the sketches I found.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/ConMech.jpg?t=1236906898

I never finished the concept for the gun but it was based off one of the ships from Homeworld 2

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f211/Morkreth/ConMechGun.jpg?t=1236907332

Thanks for the replies guys.

**edit**

hmm the IMG tags are still not working. I see alot of other posts using some sort of imbedded thumbnails. Any suggestions so I don't force everyone to click links lol?