Roboterkampf

Poster!

I was yet again inspired to make a fake propaganda-esque poster for Battlestar Galactica. This time I decided to make a fake ad for a nonexistent clothier/supplier.

BusyBee!

Hi gang, I have a whole slew of updates to post, so it should be a fun week or so! First up, I have been "building" some things out of model kit parts - these are modular, and will be joined to the main body soon (not shown).

The twin-boom shapes will have much more detailing done to them, once they are affixed to their armature!

My latest article

Heya gang! I just received my seventh issue of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Modeler, a book/magazine (bookazine?) published four times a year, from the UK. I have an article about the updated Cylon Raider from Revell, which I did the box-top mock-up for. I also talked a little about the other Raider models I have made, so the reader can see the options available. I'm working on another article for their end-of-year issue.

That one will be on a Maschinen Krieger model (the one I was posting about earlier)!

New toy - set for stun!

I got something very fun and cool in the mail today - a helmet replica from the first Star Wars, cast from a copy of an original suit - the lineage of this sculpt can be traced back to 1976 (nutball fans have mapped out all of the casting imperfections and asymmetrical areas and they match up to screen shots)... me however? It's a freakin' STORMTROOPER! I'm a five year old again - that's how cool this is.

Who has this helmet again? ME! That's who! W00t!

Filter!

So there is this thing I do as an almost-last-step in my weathering techniques that I learned from a very talented model painter, modified to my particular way of working of course. Any of you who took painting classes (or the more book smart among you) probaly know about things like Chiaroscuro and how to color the backgrounds to represent extreme distance, atmospheric interference, etc. Well, the use of filters in a three dimensional way is pretty much the same thing - you're trying to sell a sense of scale, and with this technique, you can harmonize all of the colors and tones used.

A filter is basically just a severely diluted pigment suspended in a solvent. Translucent paint - very very weak. You want to pick a color that doesn't fight with everything else, and that will either cool or warm the overall tone of the surface. In the case of this model you see below that I made last year, I picked an orange-brown color, mixing a few drops in the appropriate solvent base. It was sprayed in a few very light layers through an airbrush, and to the naked eye, doesn't even look like it's doing anything at first. I like to mix things up a little too, by masking off a couple of random areas that will not be affected bythe filter spray. What this does is suggest a newer body panel - the color is brighter and less dirty. You can see this in action on the panel on the top of the boom arm in the foreground - see how it stands out?

So that's the same process I used on the Escape Pod model I am finishing up for a model show this weekend. Here I have masked off the panels that I don't want to "filter". You can see the filter solution I have left over that was mixed for the model I mentioned above. For this model, I chose a greyish yellow.

Here it is post filter, showing how that previously-masked panel now looks "newer" and out of place. The whites I laid down are now ever-so-slightly toned down, making them appear more "real" and that will make the surface less toy-like.

And here is the same panel after the final layer of powdered pigment weathering has been applied, and the Dullcote sprayed (and drying still, hence the sheen). Note how I concentrated the powdered pigments along the lower edges of panels that would receive lots of wear, and in the crevices (where the tank treads meet the half-circles along the midsection).

I hope this little trick can be put to good use in your projects - it's a sneaky and subtle little thing to do, but incredibly effective.

Lisa is deep in her graduate courses again, so I'm going to make tonight all about cleaning up/vacuuming. It will make us feel better about our home (heh), and will probably confuse the cats. I changed over everything in their litter boxes last night, which is always oddly satisfying for me as it's above and beyond the usual maintenance, and the cats always clamor around, studying me with laser intensity while I sweep, dump, pour, etc. Sure enough, before I'm even out the door with heavy bags in hand, I hear them "skritching" away. Is it appreciative or is it a critique? Hehe.

Dry transfers

Hi gang. I have to finish a model deco for a show on Saturday, so I might not be abe to finish my pendant until later this week. But I am using a lot of the same techniques that I used on "0001", so I thought it was worth a mention. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, I worked at an art supply store. I hoarded eveyrthing I could get my hands on, and so here we are in 2007, with a basement full of paste-up wax, Tjanting tools, and dry transfer lettering sheets. Dry transfers were those expensive sheets of numbers and letters from Zipatone, Chartpak, and Letraset that were used by Architechts, Gallery owners, 'Zine makers, and poor college students in the days before affordable desktop publsihing (and still to this day, when you need to apply them to things that cannot be run through a lazer printer).

I use them on my models and art. Here's where they come into play with my recreation of the Studio Scale Escape Pod from the first Star Wars film:

IDing all those model parts is an arduous task - but IDing the source decals used are even harder, so I opt to recreate them with paint. Sometimes I can cheat a little with dry transfer letters. Here's the letter "o" put to good use:

Mine is on the left, and the real one is on the right:

Here's some "hash marks" that are made from lowercase "i" dry transfers. The red triangle and remnants of rectangles are done with paint:

More hash marks. The yellow-ish band was done with an airbrush. I masked off the rectangle after I had applied a layer of weathering with powdered pigments, and then brushed in the "chipping" effects with liquid masking film inside of the masked area. I sprayed the color, removed the masking tape, and rubbed off the liquid mask. It gave a nice color "over" the first layer of weathering, and when dirtied will suggest a long history to the surface - as if it has been used in harsh environments for years.

Like Tears in Rain...

Thank you all for the wonderful comments - it's encouraging me to keep exploring this new direction! And many thanks to Jane, who gave me the all-important shout out! I've already started a new design, which in my usual unintentional way is more ambitious than the first one. Speaking of "upping the ante", here is a look into an ongoing design exercise I have been plugging away at, time permitting/when the mood strikes. It's an expansion on the paper documents as created and (barely) seen in the 1982 film Blade Runner - a film that has had a tremendous influence on me, and the whole future/dystopia/sci-fi genre.

It all started when I was lucky enough to receive scans in 1:1 of a replica based on what was purported to be the original wallet that Harrison Ford's Deckard character had in the film. Let me first explain that for whatever reason, reference on anything Blade Runner related has been scarce, or veiled in secrecy - which only adds to the romantic mystique of everything seen on screen. The back story on this wallet is that it has been in private hands since the film wrapped, and was sold for $40,000 to another secretive (and apparently affluent) collector. This person decided to let a very select few in on a replica run, at $1,000 a pop. Too rich for my blood, of course, but once I had the reference material, realized I could do it - better. Not long after this, the owner of many never-before-seen prop badges and ID Cards had a public display, where a Blade Runner enthusiast happened to be, camera in hand. Here's a low-res sample of some of the things I was given:

With the internet at my disposal, I found the source art for the majority of the money. The prop money was monochromatic with the same design on both sides, and red or blue stamping on each side. The stamps varied a little, but a pattern was seen. I bought the source bills on eBay, scanned them, and used Photoshop to do a more precise cut and paste job than the original prop makers did (it was most likely done with traditional paste up methods - this was 1982, remember!). I then recreated the stamp designs freehand (for the swirly red band) and in Illustrator (everything else). Tom Wynn used his fantastic laser cutter to make these as rubber stamps for me, and I also burned some Gocco screens to mix it up a little. I also happened along on what must have been the original donor stamps for three of the designs, made by All Night Media. It's a good thing they keep these designs "in print" for as long as they apparently do! I was at Michaels, looking at stamps on a lark - it was an exciting afternoon!

So then it hit me.

Why not make something else while I'm at it? So that's how I decided to make all of the money in color with custom art on the reverse. I started with the one and five denominations, which were the only ones made for the film. One, Two, and Five bills were made this way, with the reverse riffing off the real bills reverse art (also tweaked to what the graphic designer in 1982 envisioned for Los Angeles circa 2019). For the One I added an Owl as a nod to the synthetic Owl seen in Tyrell's office, and the Two got a Spinner. The Five has some random machinery clip art from a Dover book on turn-of-the-century materials, and all three have Chinese characters that say snarky things. The One says "Owl Party" and the Five says "Celebrate Machinery".

For the Ten, Twenty, and Fifty, I had to design completely new art in the style of the smaller denominations. For this I used more source money from China, and it involved a lot more cut, paste, and cloning in Photoshop. I also tried my hand at making a Guilloche, but it's pretty tortuous, so for now I'm leaving that idea be. The Ten has the Offworld Blimp, the Twenty has a satellite, and I haven't done the back of the Fifty yet. I am printing these on linen stock, and then I am applying hot foil accents in places that make sense - the Chinese lettering, barcodes, etc.

As if that wasn't enough, as a one-off I designed a "Stock Certificate" for the Tyrell Corporation. This was printed on a breath-taking Asian paper that reveals watermark cranes when held to a light source, foil accents, and snarky language. On a design high, I also started making a Passport for Deckard. I used all of the same techniques for this - lasercut stamps, a sense of humor for the dark vision of the year 2019, and heavily modified elements of my Passport. The seal was changed to incorporate the Japanese and Chinese national symbols (as they are all apparently buddy-buddy Superpowers in the future), and I am having a lot of fun adding in references to other Sci-Fi properties in the visa stamps. Armistice Station from Battlestar Galactica, Thetis Refinery from Alien, Gateway Station from Aliens, and even a nod to Raider of the Lost Ark with my Tanis stamp. Here's a sample of all the bills I have been refining, the stock certificate, and some of the Passport stamp art. I also made a "how too" of the Twenty bill to show how I'm making the new bills:

And here is the Passport mock up. It's still being tweaked, and added to. The Deckard ID photo features a multi-view picture that I have made to look like a hologram - laminating an irridescent film over the surface to bend the light, and printing the image in a halftone in places. The back of the Passport has a fake electronic chip under a clear lens material - green cardstock with gold foiled "circuit patterns" applied. It's backed on the reverse by a "do not tamper" sticker that helps keep it secure through the punched hole in the blue outer material. The rest is just stamping, signatures, and printed stickers/seals. Much fun!!

It will change and grow... but for now, that's it!