I modeled this pistol for my portfolio and I would love to get some feedback on it. It is based on a concept by John Anthony di Giovanni and is rendered in Substance Painter.
I feel like the weakest part is the design. I understand you worked from reference, but much of this weapon just doesn't make sense.
There is something like a picatinny rail on top, but its flat, so you couldn't actually mount anything to it. The front and rear sights aren't really sights at all... Looking at the side profile, picture a hand holding it. It seems terribly unbalanced. I suppose it matters what universe this gun belongs to.. I was thinking Halo-esque at first glance but that probably isn't right. In any case,if you aren't strictly stuck to a concept, I'd say, in the future, try to make sure that the design passes at least somewhat of a visual functions check.
About the materials, the OD green feels a bit like composite tank armor to me. Maybe that's the intention. It certainly gives a "ridiculously heavy" feeling. The extra heavy wear on the yellow panel doesn't quite make sense -- why should that one piece receive more wear?
The gray plastic bit of the handle might be improved with some kind of no-slip finish -- a corrugated or checkered or diamond pattern. That might look a little too "custom", however, if you were going more for a no-frills military style. In that case, maybe make it look like raw metal, with some decals or something. Just something to make it so the entire weapon isn't just flat materials with edge wear.
The inner pieces might stand out and make a nice contrast if it was a shinier metal -- maybe with a bizarre blue tint or something to push the sci-fi feel. Like only a special type of metal can absorb the heat of energy particles moving through the barrel. I think sometimes the advice of "tell a story" with your art is misconstrued as "make your model look beaten to hell." In the case of a weapon, I think you have to design how the weapon will operate first, then imagine how it would typically be used, and apply wear and filthiness based on what you come up with.
I agree with BIGTIMEMASTERs feedback. The weapon looks incredibly boxy, I assume you followed a 2d concept with only a side view. You should probably round off some areas and in general the weapon looks veery thick. You could try and scale it down width wise to 50-70% or so and see if it looks better.
Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. It is a good point to think more about the functionality and weight in the design. I also like the ideas for the materials and I will keep working on it.
I like it. For me, the edges and lines, general appearance, look very hard. You could bring in the side panels - side of fire arm, and chamfer them more to make the piece look more sleek. It looks like a heavy duty hand gun. Possibly push the scope up to where the white part is - remove that. Could even increase the barrel length. The grip is organic looking, and the rest of the weapon is quite right angled, if that makes sense. The whole trigger area could flow a bit more. Increase the size of the trigger and modify the placement possibly. I'm no expert though.
Replies
There is something like a picatinny rail on top, but its flat, so you couldn't actually mount anything to it. The front and rear sights aren't really sights at all... Looking at the side profile, picture a hand holding it. It seems terribly unbalanced. I suppose it matters what universe this gun belongs to.. I was thinking Halo-esque at first glance but that probably isn't right. In any case,if you aren't strictly stuck to a concept, I'd say, in the future, try to make sure that the design passes at least somewhat of a visual functions check.
About the materials, the OD green feels a bit like composite tank armor to me. Maybe that's the intention. It certainly gives a "ridiculously heavy" feeling. The extra heavy wear on the yellow panel doesn't quite make sense -- why should that one piece receive more wear?
The gray plastic bit of the handle might be improved with some kind of no-slip finish -- a corrugated or checkered or diamond pattern. That might look a little too "custom", however, if you were going more for a no-frills military style. In that case, maybe make it look like raw metal, with some decals or something. Just something to make it so the entire weapon isn't just flat materials with edge wear.
The inner pieces might stand out and make a nice contrast if it was a shinier metal -- maybe with a bizarre blue tint or something to push the sci-fi feel. Like only a special type of metal can absorb the heat of energy particles moving through the barrel. I think sometimes the advice of "tell a story" with your art is misconstrued as "make your model look beaten to hell." In the case of a weapon, I think you have to design how the weapon will operate first, then imagine how it would typically be used, and apply wear and filthiness based on what you come up with.
The weapon looks incredibly boxy, I assume you followed a 2d concept with only a side view. You should probably round off some areas and in general the weapon looks veery thick. You could try and scale it down width wise to 50-70% or so and see if it looks better.