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Nomadic Scavenger Character

polycounter lvl 9
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PatJS polycounter lvl 9
This is my first character model (well, besides a few aborted attempts a few years ago), and I figure I should post it sooner rather than later. The idea behind the character is as follows: He is part of a group of scavengers who range across a large, post-apocalyptic landscape taking apart and collecting useful technology and bringing it back to their settlement. There would be quite a few of them, perhaps 5-15 or so, and they have a large vehicle used to haul stuff. This particular character serves a special role: he has a pneumatic "wand" which can have various tool attachments (impact hammer, angle grinder, etc.) for use in heavy jobs. I'm thinking of giving him a motorcycle to ride around on at some point. Anyways, here's the guy:
wip1y.jpg
I wanted for his dust mask to make him seem kind of rat-like, and I figure that if animated, the length of the mask would exaggerate head motions, making them look kind of darting, maybe nervous, to reinforce the scavenger aspect of his character. It is most obvious from the top:
wip2e.jpg
The following are images that show off various aspects of the outfit.
wip3.jpg
wip4nk.jpg
wip5t.jpg
The holes in the side of the helmet are "auricles" so that he can hear.

This last one shows the compressed CO2 tank that he wears. I haven't modeled the pneumowand yet, but you can think of the whole setup working kind of like a flamethrower, but with a longer tool, and grips like on an anglegrinder.
wip6h.jpg

There's a lot that needs finishing; I plan on adding seams in photoshop, and many pouches are incomplete. I also seriously need to work on the drapery for the skullcap/neckcloth, and I'm going to redo the sleeves. The pants are on their second zbrush iteration, so please tell me what you think.

The gloves don't really stand out here, but they are leather, and will have appropriate leather banding keeping them on and sealed. Also, the collar/shoulder protection is a large piece of hardened leather. The rest is rugged cloth or metal (in the case of the kneepads, helmet, fasteners etc)

The base pose doesn't really lend much to his character, so imagine him semi-hunched all the time, holding a 3-4ft long tool.

oh and here's the concept
concept2.jpg

C&C are very welcome, as I have never done this type of thing before!

Replies

  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    Looks cool to me :)

    Sounds like you've already got some plans for what to improve/change/fix on this guy, so keep it up!
  • Rojo
    Impressive. I particularly like the mask. Seems like an interesting character and is well thought out.

    The pant folds could be improved. It feels unnatural, like silk as apposed to a sturdy denim. The character feels too clean and uniform as a whole. When I think post-apocalypse, I think Mad Max, ragged and filthy with a lot of mis-matched accessories.
  • PatJS
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    PatJS polycounter lvl 9
    I was trying to go for a more home-made look to everything than a mad-max tribal-gimp look, which is why there are lots of odd buckles, no zippers, and non-real world gear (like the mask, the kneepads, collar, etc.).My thinking was that these dudes can make their own pneumatic tools and masks, so they can probably sew some clothes together.

    That said, I should probably mix it up with the fasteners and pouches and whatnot, make his gear clearly from different sources.

    The ragged and filthy will come; he's got a dust mask for a reason!

    I'll post my concept art tomorrow when I have access to a scanner.
  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    Hmm, on second look, I dunno if it's just the camera angles, but his arms look really short.
    Got any full-body views straight on from the front?

    His hands should land around the upper middle of his thighs when rotated down to a casual angle, right now it looks like they might not reach far enough.

    The waist also seems very high, makes his legs look really long proportionally to his torso.
  • PatJS
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    PatJS polycounter lvl 9
  • wester
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    wester polycounter lvl 13
    I like it alot.

    However i would really work on the design of the helmet. The goggles for some reason aren't convincing enough that they belong to that helmet. I think it might be the oval eye holes, i can't put my finger on it. It just doesnt feel like the gogles actually fit into the helmet well.

    It looks great and i can't wiat to see a finished product. I think a badass motorcycle would be great too.
  • raiskul
    Looking good so far but I agree with MoP the arms are a little too short extend the forearms a little and it should be fine. The shoulder pads might do with a widening in the front right now they seem to skinny and maybe change the design up so they don't look so much like football pads. Finally, just an idea how bout giving him a water recycling system like the desert suits from the Dune series by Frank Herbert.
  • iWeReZ
    The top half looks scaled down, As if you highlighted above his/her waist and shrank it a tad. also the neck wouldnt be that long would it ?

    Nice model though, quite a unqiue take on a common character, reminds me of stalker.
  • Stutts
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    Stutts polycounter lvl 11
    I dig the mask man good work
  • mfels
    Looks good, looking forward to seeing textures when you get to it. Good description of movement and pose, helps to visualize the final product.
  • PatJS
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    PatJS polycounter lvl 9
    wester: the eyepieces are kind of wierd; they are far to pitched to the side for proper normal vision, but I wasn't sure what to do to keep the rat-like look I was going for. As for integration, I should probably work to make the design look more like it could actually be fabricated. that might help to make them feel more normal.

    raiskul: the pads are actually a single piece of leather, and are meant to cap off the sleeveless overcoat and provide padding to the shoulders and neck region. I was hoping that material differences would be highlighted by the texturing, but I will work to make it look less like football pads, now that you mention it.

    iWeReZ: The neck is a bit long, you're right. On my concept, the shoulder/collar is higher in the center, and describes the trapezius region better, making the neck look shorter.


    oh yeah and the arms might be too short, but they were modeled slightly bent, so I'm not sure
    ortho view:
    wip8u.jpg
  • torontoanimator
    im really liking the mask, its easily my favorite part, goodjob
  • PatJS
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    PatJS polycounter lvl 9
    here's the concept:
    concept2.jpg
  • dv8ix
    Beware of Ant Eaters anybody?

    I think if I were that soldier, my neck would start getting craps in 10 minutes.
    Thats all I got to say. Other than the cow skull wouldnt be my first gas mask model attempt/
  • butt_sahib
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    butt_sahib polycounter lvl 11
    No comments! Everything looks great
  • PatJS
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    PatJS polycounter lvl 9
    Alright, so after a brief schoolwork-induced hiatus, I have begun work again. I hope to have the highpoly finished by the end of this weekend.

    I redid basically all of the cloth, and the front of the LBV. I also fixed the LBV length so that it didn't make his torso look really short.

    I just need to finish the compressed gas tank and make the pneumo-wand, and add some details to the gloves, and I'll be ready to move on to the low-poly. I'm planning on doing the seams in photoshop; I can't seem to get a sub-d level high enough for seams to look good in ZBrush without the same mesh crashing XSI or destroying my frame rate.

    wip21.jpg
    wip22.jpg

    and just for grins here's a zbrush shot (because matcaps are purty)
    wip23.jpg
  • praetus
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    praetus interpolator
    I don't know why but the idea of him using forearm crutches and having some type of shawl really seems cool.

    Forearm%20Crutch.jpg

    Side note, I love the mask and they way this currently going.
  • achillesian
    wait, its not a buff space marine or an orc? i dont understand
  • PatJS
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    PatJS polycounter lvl 9
    Just about finished, I think. Modelled the pneumo-wand and an angle grinder attachment for it, and put the compressed CO2 tank on him. I just need to fix up the bottom of the helmet, and I think I'll be ready to do the low-poly mesh.

    wip24.jpg
    wip25.jpg
  • killingpeople
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    killingpeople polycounter lvl 18
    can we please get some orthographic views of this dude. i'm also thinking his arms might be too short, even noting they're bent. and i think his crotch might be too high. look'n good.
  • PatJS
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    PatJS polycounter lvl 9
    here you go:
    orthotyme.jpg

    As far as I can tell, the arms reach down to around half way down the thigh; they are bent a little, which probably wasn't the best idea. I originally modeled them straight to get the scale right, so I think they should be fine.
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