Making Pretty Pictures: Custom Ravager Assault Mecha, Part 1
I am, traditionally, a maker of things. Physical objects. Prototypes, models, sculptures, figures, what have you.
Real stuff.
I have usually forsaken the path of making pretty pictures with my models, usually because I didn't have time to learn before the next big sculpting gig was upon me.
Well, the next big gig is still upon me, but I figure I've got to learn this stuff sometime. Might as well be now.
So, I came up with a concept.
In the tradition of The Red Baron and Char from the Gundamverse, I want a dashing rogue character in a red vehicle who is a natural born (or cloned) killer.
He will be an independent Zas mecha ace, named (working title) the Red Raider. Corny, but it's a work in progress.
I imagine him to be a fairly straightforward mercenary pilot, beholden to his own code of honor, all the while selling his deadly services to the highest bidder. Yadda yadda yadda, you've heard it before, I know.
Now, bear in mind, this is more an exercise in the pretty picture side of things, and not really affiliated with the Kickstarter effort going on with Critical Mass Games (which is going to break the £7000 mark any minute now).
The Red Raider sports a twin gatling bit from the Arc Fleet Walker on his elbow weapons hardpoint, as a suppressive weapon. You can do this, too, with parts from your own bits box, but this is NOT going to be part of the standard kit.
Just wanted to make that clear.
So, please bear with me as I go down this short road. My friend Jimbo Burrell has very generously volunteered to help me along, and I'll be relying on him to do the trickier bits as I ascend up this steep learning curve.
More to come.
Best,
JBR
Real stuff.
I have usually forsaken the path of making pretty pictures with my models, usually because I didn't have time to learn before the next big sculpting gig was upon me.
Well, the next big gig is still upon me, but I figure I've got to learn this stuff sometime. Might as well be now.
So, I came up with a concept.
In the tradition of The Red Baron and Char from the Gundamverse, I want a dashing rogue character in a red vehicle who is a natural born (or cloned) killer.
He will be an independent Zas mecha ace, named (working title) the Red Raider. Corny, but it's a work in progress.
I imagine him to be a fairly straightforward mercenary pilot, beholden to his own code of honor, all the while selling his deadly services to the highest bidder. Yadda yadda yadda, you've heard it before, I know.
Now, bear in mind, this is more an exercise in the pretty picture side of things, and not really affiliated with the Kickstarter effort going on with Critical Mass Games (which is going to break the £7000 mark any minute now).
The Red Raider sports a twin gatling bit from the Arc Fleet Walker on his elbow weapons hardpoint, as a suppressive weapon. You can do this, too, with parts from your own bits box, but this is NOT going to be part of the standard kit.
Just wanted to make that clear.
So, please bear with me as I go down this short road. My friend Jimbo Burrell has very generously volunteered to help me along, and I'll be relying on him to do the trickier bits as I ascend up this steep learning curve.
More to come.
Best,
JBR
Comments
Here is my procedure:
1) Explode sets of surfaces and group or join them so that when you assign a texture or color all those surfaces are included in the change.
2) Assign a texture or color to the group… name it so you can use it on other parts. Be careful that if you make a change and you don’t want it to change all the textures that share the same texture, that you tell it to create a new texture and name that one.
3) Assign a gloss I find most metals work well around 50% to 100%... just play with it depending on the color or texture.
4) You can play with the gloss color as well. If you want Brass, start with orange and assign a gloss and then assign a yellow gloss color and it will look brass like.
5) If you have not done this, you should play with the ‘decal’ you can use this for number or symbols on your mechs. Just choose one and place it in the viewport that you want it to project from onto the surface and it will assign the texture so that even if you move the part the texture will move with it…
There are tons more but that is the basics.
I will leave you in Jimbos capable hands but if you have questions or want to Skype about the details just let me know….. Happy to help.
I have been doing a lot of ExtractSrf and Group commands, as well as assigning textures via Object Properties. Decal is the next hurdle.
Best,
JBR