U2-Pilot WIP (need advice on topology please)

vik

***latest update:




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Hi all,

I`m in the process of building a topology for this guy and would like some feedback on what to improve (please ignore the crippled fingers ):



Body is 2552 tris



Head is currently 1998 tris, will weld it to body






Cheers, vik

JKMakowka

Uhmm, got any reference for the suit? It looks overly bulky and deformed, but maybe that's how it looks...

Joshua Stubbles

The U2 suit was a NASA space suite, essentially. The plane went up to like 80,000ft or so, right on the edge of space. While the bulkiness seems ok to me, maybe the proportions or design is off a bit. Still great work so far though.

Mark Dygert

Looks like you're off to a good start

Crits:
- It looks puffy even for a U2 pilot.
- The straps that run tightly around the upper thighs are missing.
- Looks overly sculpted, maybe working with the high poly is past the point of no return but a lot of this detail doesn't need to be sculpted in, it could have been modeled in.
- Whats with the goatee? I thought facial hair was forbidden because it could interfere with the mask?
meh heres a paint over to cover the rest...

vik

thanks for the feedback guys.


JKMakowka: here are some refs I used and my crappy silhouette painting.
You guys are right he`s too puffy, too much oxygen in the suit maybe gonna make him slimmer a bit.









Vassago: Apparently, the U2 is sill flying. Pretty cool I though they were out of service long ago.

Vig: On some of the reference photos he has no straps and I thought it`d look cooler without it. But I will add it anywayif you think it helps the character. The goatee... yup you`re right. I kinda thought he was a `special` one, like a secret elite pilot so he can do whatever the hell he wants:D just like navy seals use beards and can get away with it:cool:

Thanks for the crits, keep em coming. I kinda was expecting a big raping session, but you are a gentle bunch anything on the lowpoly? it`s based on the zbrush lvl2 mesh so heis arm is a bit twisted, I`m not sure if it would cause problems.

Smirnoffka

The U-2S is still up and flying, and I heard a fact that every hour of every day somewhere in the world on is flying. You need to cut into the suit more with the straps, as the suits are not rigid, and while goatees (beards) are allowed in the Navy, you can't have them in the Army or Airforce. Plus, from experience, oxy masks are fucking annoying when you have any stubble.

vik

made some changes will update tomorrow, Smirnoffka are u a pilot? I will give the guy some straps, that big one that goes below the crotch. I`m not sure what it is called or used for.

Mark Dygert

I'm pretty sure that is a parachute harness. They also use the same pressure suits for the SR-71 blackbird (Habu) so you might be able to dig up some more ref. Here's all that I could find. http://www.vigville.com/forum_images/U2Pilot/
Like you said some ref has it without the straps and I think that just indicates they aren't fully suited up with a chute?

Anywho, it looks like you might have used the action figure for proportions and that is what gave the suit a bulky look? I doubt they made the clothing for the action figure out of the same cloth and its always going to be stiffer when its on a smaller scale. I would use these two images for fold reference.
http://www.vigville.com/forum_images/U2Pilot/U2PilotRef-001.JPG
http://www.vigville.com/forum_images/U2Pilot/U2PilotRef-016.jpg

Smirnoffka

Yeah, but not flying much at the moment due to an injury last year. Though, according to our current PR initiatives, I am NOT a pilot, nor am I employed by the ADF, or have anything to do with them. I don't know where anyone would get that idea.

http://files.openfrag.org/Members/smirnoffka/flight/2.JPG
http://files.openfrag.org/Members/smirnoffka/flight/3.JPG



EDIT: I am not sure if those crotch straps are for the chute or not. The U2 has an ejection seat, so all parachute straps I would assume are connected to the seat, which is like any conventional ejection seat. They could be chute straps or just some sort of retainers.

Oh, and are you planning on making the whole plane? That would be awesome, I'd really look forward to something like that.

Just some other really cool things about the U2



And this whole thread

http://www.xboxaddict.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82299

Those are from a U2S

vik

Vig yeah I used them, in fact I got the whole bloody website saved on my computer lol .They got some nice hires pics of cool looking figures. But the design of the toy is a bit different, bulkier overall and some things missing from the suit. Thanks for the pics I saved them all (those b&w photos are super cool I guess they are from the development :eek: )

Smirnoffka you`re the secret pilot guy I was talking about! (no goatee tho) I would give my left arm if I could be a pilot! unfortunately I get dizzy easily and would be totally useless (with all those crazy Gs and minus 1 arm). badass photos, cheers. I didnt think about doing the plane itself. Maybe if this guy turns ouot halfway decent he will get a plane. But I dunno, I kinda think the Blackbird is a bit sexier /much sexier / than the U2 so I`d go with that one.

just a tiny update: I`m changing the proportions. There are many things that are off and need to be changed. Probably going with #2 for the back.



I installed Transpose Master for Zbrush so I can scale the helmet which consists of subtools. Bit of a pain. I wish you could just export the lvl1 mesh to Max, make changes and import it back. I think Maya can do that, but Max changes the vert orders or something so the mesh would just explode if I did that (i tried it anyway but nope dont work )

vik

skinnier version 1.0

vik

update: rebuilt the lowpoly because the old one sucked. had some fun with the edgeloops on his face. was testing xnormal with a simple UV layout and a medium-res zbrush mesh. my cage wasn`t working for some reason but solved it with higher ray casting settings. Also the GW .obj exporter kept deleting faces from my mesh not sure why.

I`m starting to get sick of this modell, crashes Zbrush and Max like a biach. :poly105:

foldier, skinnier and now with 100% cheerful colours

vik

UPDATE: spent the last two days texturing this guy. half of that was baking maps and cakes in xnormal. 1day for painting while learning bodypaint at the same time. so the texture is kinda crap. his face especially, needs some blood transfusion. :poly004: anyway gonna have to put this on hold while I`m busy with uni assignments.