Rohlan Dyre Progress Thread -- Image Intensive

[Qthooga]

Dude, you're a master at this sculpting thing!

Quick questions... what kind of clay are you using? How much, approximately, do you use for each mask? What tools do you recommend for the detail work?

Great job!:cheers

David.

Not a master yet...but thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll feel better once I actually have finished pieces.

Type of clay -- Regular oil-based clay...medium firmness. The sculpture shop I go to carries a couple of different types -- J-Mac Clay Products and Wesclay. But any oil-based clay should work. I've used firmnesses from soft to extra firm, and I like medium. Soft gets too gummy when you work with it a lot, and the extra firm needs to be blasted with a heat gun before you can move it around.

How much clay -- For the Calamari I used about 40 pounds. For the Coruscant Guard I used about 30, and the Dyre helmet was probably 20.

Tools -- I've collected a bunch of tools over the years. Follow slowly -- I'm going to use some pretty hardcore technical terms, yo.

*The loopy wood thing on the far left is my favorite. I can do just about anything with it.
*The really really big one in the middle is also pretty handy for smoothing out large sections.
*The silver dentist tool things -- they're ******* dangerous, but can be handy for intricate details on miniatures and whatnot. I've almost put my eye out with one, though, so...I don't like using them much.
*The other silver loopy things -- that are great for small detail work on larger pieces.
*Funny looking wood thing with black rubber tips on the bottom-- also great for detail work where you'd like to get your finger in to smooth something out, but your finger is too big.
*And the loopy wood ones on the right -- they're all purpose scraper things that are pretty handy, too.

I'm sure they have real names, but when I go to the shop and say, "I'd like something...kinda...big, but with loops, and sharp, but kinda smallish...like this [makes gesture with finger and thumb]," they always seem to know what I'm talking about.

On that Dyre helmet, though, I only used the really big one, the loopy wood one on the far left, the wood popsicle stick with the one sharpened end, and that twine at the very top so I could map out where I'd make my longer cuts.

 

[Scott Kaufmann]

You're far too modest Qthooga, that looks like some supreme work that you have done. I wish I was that skilled.

 

[The Clayster]

To be honest, I thought the same thing GCN did..this was a big surprise.

I am watching this thread with excitement (ew, not like that)


Keep up the great work!

 

[Qthooga]

Ok, so I guess (and this is my own opinion) there seems to be a supreme lack of new material here on the board? I see tons and tons of resculpts of the same exact thing, but nothing totally new (no offense to anyone -- all the work I've seen here is awesome).

I'm curious as to why only Jango/Boba and Zam are represented? If the board was all Mandalorian I'd expect to see Crusaders, Neo-Crusaders, or at least a Mandalore costume. Or is it just that everyone's staying focused on Boba, and leaving everything else out?

But with Zam's inclusion, I'd expect to see other bounty hunters?

I guess what I'm wondering is...atwhat point is someone going to say, "Take your squishy Calamaris and Coruscant Guards, and go back to your other boards, Q!" ...? :wacko

 

[Qthooga]

Or is the issue that people would like to do more Mandalorians, but aside from just doing a custom repaint, there's not much out there to really work with?

And sculpting new things -- from the response and questions I've seen so far -- is that not many know where to begin?

If you'd like, I'll put together a tutorial with links on where to get tools and materials from. I'd love to see more people doing original work. A few years ago our FanForce only had a couple of us that could do props, but over time we've got everyone doing something. It's the same with our garrison. Some sculpt, vac, electronics, sew, sew, sew, machine, lathe -- it's actually pretty impressive, and I love seeing all the new work all the time. And our FF group projects are crazy -- we've done everything from mass X-Wing costumes to Batman, and even restored (with the help of our garrison) the X-Wing many of you saw at C3.

But what I like seeing more are things that haven't been done before. That's really why I like doing this.

 

[NovallTalon]

I for one do not have the time to sculpt. I have a very busy job that keeps me on the road alot, and between that and martial arts...I just just enough time sleep and relax and thats it. Plus, I have no real artistic talent for something like this. My strength is electronics and making my armor work, so for the most part I stick to what I'm good at. =)

I think the whole "repaint" term isn't really a fair term. You can look at just about any custom and see differences from one suit to the next besides the paint that stand out. Another factor you have to look at also is that before we had any pictures of the old crusaders, there was pretty much only one design for armor based on comics, books, and movies which is what we see with Boba and Jango. I like to call it the "traditional" design because it is the most common.

Since the KOTOR comic novels have come out, we see new armor designs which are actually old armor designs. I think depending on what time frame you want your character to come from will determine what style armor you make. From 200bby till current SW time you rarely see any suits other then the traditional armor or DeathWatch armor.

TDH is the Boba and Jango elite costuming forums. Even though they do host a Variant board, I believe their supreme focus lies on mainly those two costumes...with Boba being the primary of those two.

We've got a guy over at Mercs who is working on a Mand'alor the Ultimate costume and is making his own mask based off of one pictured up in the Sarlacc pit. He's pretty good with art, so I have no doubts it will look great. I've also seen some Neo Crusaders here and there, but that helmet is pretty tough being totally enclosed and I think those crafting it either have gotten discouraged because of that or are just being slow for the sake of getting it right.

Feel free to do up that tutorial though, it's defiantly something I'd dive into if I have the time to do so.

 

[Qthooga]

That's understandable. And yes, I overused the "repaint" term a little. People have done a lot of work on their various accessories and whatnot. "Repaint" is an incorrect term. I think "retooling" might be more suitable.

I may slow down in my spamming of various projects, though. If the intent is to keep the board's focus on Boba/Jango, with a light smattering of other Mandalorians, I may as well try to help foster that idea.

 

[NovallTalon]

I wouldn't slow down at all. It's great to see the creativity. Just be aware that the primary goal of the forum is whats stated in the title =)

 

[Sarim Thiri]

I've only seen Mand'alor's mask done, and now Rohlan-in-progress, and a SWG-ish Neo-Crusader helm... which I consider not to be a Neo, more like a child of a Crimson guard and Neo-Crusader.

Thing is, the Supercommando costume (Boba, jango) is the most common and easy to make of all of them, and is one of the cooler ones. No one I know, except me, like the Death Watch, so no one has (to my knowledge) made one. At last we see the old rise in the community, and that's one thing I like.

The costuming community would get boring and colourless if everybody would dress as a character from the movies, as we have the expanded universe with endless possibilities, and "customs" are also something to spice it up, if well done.

Don't give up on this one, this is going to look awesome. It would inspire the rest of the community to see such a new character be made into reality.

"Why, that's one more legacy of the great Rohlan" - Mand'alor.

 

[Cer jo Aclos]

I would love to see that tutorial, I have sooo many ideas of things I want to do and make, but I since I have barely started on this hobby, I have very little knowledge on how to do things. I started off with the basic traditional armor set, and I hope as I go along learning new things to have my own unique suit. I love these cool unique customs not only because they look cool, but they also show me bit by bit what is possible and how to do it. I also love the simple "repaints" of the traditional armor because that's what I was used to, from the various old sources, but now that the new stuff has come out, I feel like our armor should change too. Basically what I'm saying is the traditional suit is a great starting off point, and from there we should try our hand on new designs. Ok, I'll stop there because I don't think I'm making sense and just rambling. Just my thoughts. Btw awesome job Qthooga!

 

[Qthooga]

Ohhh yeah. Ya know, I never even noticed that. LOL.

 

[The Clone Emperor]

kudos

Very strong sculpt work. Taken all the way, boot to jet pack, you'd have a gorgeous suit. (Please don't stop at the helmet.)

The Coruscant Guard helmet is particularily stunning. This has attempted before, but your WIP is the most impressive take I have seen.

I wish you great success in your continued efforts.

Be well,
Thomas

 

[setra]

oh man im really glad i caught this thread...i dont spend much of my web time here any more but this is very refreshing...well done....keep it up...also whay to go on the mon cal thats AWSOME you are quite the sculpter arnt you lol

 

[TeamFett]

Wow, I didn't even bother to look at this thread before because I thought what many others did about it just being another custom mando. I thought you were just going to have ref pics and only say what you wanted to do. Boy was I wrong.

That is simply beautiful work. You are very skilled at this, even if you won't admit. Please don't hesitate to "spam" us with more of your work.

 

[Melvin Fett]

Rohlan Dyre is such an awesome character. (Even if he is a 'deserter')

 

[GCNgamer128]

That Mon Calamari... if you do mold it for latex masks... I want one.

Your sculpting skills are just phenomenal.

 

[Qthooga]

Heh. Thx for the comments everybody.

No progress yet. Maybe Friday or Saturday. Need to catch up on work first.

I've been thinking more about how to cast the Calamari, and I really might do it in Nerf. I just need to figure out how to cast Nerf. Just so long as you didn't wear it in the rain so it got all crusty and the bits got in your eyeballs when you played catch with it.

 

[Qthooga]

Problem solved.

Nerf is polyurethane foam (figures. that's what Muppets are)

Self-skinning soft polyurethane foam.

Looks like it can be cast in a normal silicone mold. I won't rule out foam latex, though -- I've always thought it was a super dense foam, but being that I've never actually used it, I'm not sure yet. The applications that I have seen have always been pretty heavy. Once I start moving on the Calamari again, I'll give him his own thread. Same with the Coruscant Guard.

 

[Uther]

Holy cow, would I love a Mon Cal head. Do you have hands? Any idea on cost?

That Rohlan is amazing. You are truly a sculpt master.

 

[Untried Hunter]

Very nice sculpt,can't wait to see the finished product.