Character Design Week 7

...every day!

Restoring Art

This amazing piece was an original display prop I was able to aquire about 5 years ago from a gent in the UK. A friend of the Design Team, he was given this helm as a bonus for some work. This is 1 out of 50 originally created, and apparently many are scattered across the world given out as awards, gifts, or so damaged in transit to events: destroyed. And judging by the damage on the back of the helm when I recieved it, I was surprised this made it as far across the World Pond. A large crack on the back of the helm, starting at the ridge and going around to the right ending near mid-helm. The paint was chipping off and the mold lines were like iron welds. To add icing onto the cake, the resin tubing glued to the helm were badly chipped and one had fallen off due to poor epoxy glue.

But Lord, what an opportunity.

My parents for a time were Antique dealers, you see. My father was a Carpenter and Artist, my mother an Artist as well. They would purchase Antiques and refurbish them, to sell at shows around the nation. I blame my extreme desire for perfection in my work on my parents, because they would do amazing things with wood. Totally strip down the old veneer and lacquers, disassemble it until it was like a puzzle. My Dad would recarve pieces that were missing using other parts of the item as resource, (if not researching it). My Mom would give it the final love of stain and varnish, rubbed into the sanded smooth wood. They refurbished Art and taught me how along the way because children are cheap, yet cost effective, labor. Granted I don't hate Antiques as much now as I did then, but then again I never knew they'd be teaching me the steps of restoring Art on my own. I interned for a short time with the prop team Hi-Impact a few years ago while learning the art of Special Effects and Props. Mat Clayson taught me a lot about vacforming, how to create a mold, casting, using Found Items in works, and working with plastic sheeting and fiberglass. So adding that knowledge into the mix, I got to work.

The remaining piping was popped off with slight leverage with my hand. The prop's paint was removed and the whole helm sanded smooth with fine-grit sandpaper to preserve detail. This included the weld that taught me the item was cast in a 3-piece fiberglass mold. The crack was filled with Bondo, then sanded smooth to match the planes. Divots and pits were Bondo'd and smoothed as well. Rivets were placed in panel dimples for embellished surface detail. Attention then turned to the piping. Chips were repaired with 2-part Apoxy Sculpt, sanded to match the planes on the rear attachment, or texture mapped with preserved areas. Seating was checked and any gap-osis was filled to ensure fit. A long process, but worth it.

That's when I chickened out. I've never painted something like this. The original was just a red helmet with no embellishments, and I played Chaos Space Marines or Eldar. So the helm was set aside on top of my display case and I continued to practice my own Art for some years. Up until a week ago. I was going through my models and came up on some of my Forge World bits I'd picked up at a Games Day. Having already purchased the new Space Marine Codex, looking at the Company markings earlier, my Muse whispered in my ear. Next thing I know, I'm deep into repainting this bad boy. I used the new Space Marine Codex as a resource, as well as the book Insignium Astartes. The Forge World icons were softened in boiling water and conformed to the surface prior to painting though, and I painted them along with the tubing. The piping and icons were placed with 2 Ton/Clear Epoxy Glue and rivets after painting. The whole piece is gloss varnished for protection from physical damage and discoloring by UV rays.

And here we are. This is a work of Art, and I hope I honored it.

DON'T LET THIS BE YOU!

Character Design Week 4

Character Description: Eka.
A young 20-something Asian woman who lives at the Gaijin’s Dojo. Saucy, pretty, and zoftig, she wears contemporary clothing or heritage wear. She smokes, but only cigarettes on a long-ass filter.

Character Description: Face
A young 20-something athletic male who lives at the Gaijin’s Dojo. Nice, good-natured, doesn’t swear, and portrays good values. He gets the Gaijin out of trouble; he's the Costello to the Gaijin's Abbot.

Character Description: The Window.
A window in the Dojo that is a portal to another world. However, the world behind the window may change upon opening or closing. The Window may be sentient. The Gaijin uses the Window to throw out trash.

(The Window is based off of a locker our Game Master used from the game “Teenagers From Outer Space” I played as a kid. Eka is based off of my girlfriend. Face is based off of me; while serving in the first Gulf War on the USNS Mercy, I was the ship’s Cartoonist, doing a weekly comic strip for the ship’s paper. I was called Faceman by the C.O. after the character in the strip.)

Story ideas:
1. Face walks up to The Window and opens it to get some fresh air. Upon opening it a deluge of water blasts forth, knocking him out of frame. The water then slows to a trickle and The Window closes.

2. Face walks up to The Window and sees a beautiful day outside. Opening it up for some fresh air, he sees a lunar landscape with a Grey looking back at him. He closes The Window and sees the pastoral day, then opens The Window a tiny bit and peers through. Only to see the lunar landscape and the alien picking his nose/flipping him off/waving. He opens The Window fully and crawls inside. Upon entering the lunar field, The Window promptly slams shut and disappears in a poof of smoke, leaving Face and the alien Gray looking at each other.

3. Face walks up to The Window and opens it to get some fresh air. As soon as he opens it a Cthuloid tentacle leaps out and grabs Face, dragging him kicking and screaming into the portal. The Window slams shut after Face is inside.

I'm including multiple ideas because the last assignment felt constrained; I didn't explore it enough.










Wewt wewt!