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PETROL/BLOOD - Der Hollander

I highly doubt I'll finish this contest on time, but it's a perfect opportunity to learn some new things and have fun doing it, with at the very least a new, creative piece for my folio. I've had a bad habit in the past of pontificating what I wanted to make for half the contest but this time I've been inspired right out the gate and I'm super excited to give this a whirl.

Like quite a few folks, I'm going the jetbike route with a female pilot because I wanted to get some practice with more hard surface and making female characters, so here we go!

It's a time of high adventure, on an alternate Earth, the Roaring Forties! Spirits run wild, lives are bold, and those with the thirst for adrenaline take to the skies in the most dangerous, high-profile air races seen the world over, culminating in the Semi-Annual Aerodrome Grand Prix. Held by a different sponsoring city in world-wide cooperation and competitive spirit, the Grand Prix attracts pilots from all over the world to test their mettle and their metal against veteran and novice, rich and poor in the greatest spectacle on the planet!

Now, if there's anything I can never say no to, it's the opportunity for doing deiselpunk and swashbuckling high adventure. I grew up in a family of aviators, so WWII planes are fascinating to me, and I also read a ton of classic comic books. Consequently, doing something along the lines of Redline and Crimson Skies is right up my alley.

I did some initial thumbnailing on paper before I came up with a silhouette and this basic concept drawing:
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I'm going to shoot for having major blockout of the bike done this weekend so I can play with proportions, I'm fairly certain I'm going to want to make it the full 6 meters in length, in accordance with one of the major laws of deiselpunk: "If you think it's got enough engine, add more engine."

Replies

  • aesir
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    aesir polycounter lvl 18
    I'm diggin the plane's style! I feel like you could stylize the lady the pilot some more if you wanted to fit it. More metal slug, less metal gear.
  • Der Hollander
    I was heavily inspired by that sort of Metal Slug chunky-ness, I'll definitely try and draw that into the character when I get to the sculpting, something kinda along the lines of doing some Capcom-style stylization?
  • aesir
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    aesir polycounter lvl 18
    You can take it as far as you want, it really depends on what style you're going for with the overall piece, and I think that'll come together on its own. Just don't be afraid to push it! Just don't fall back into too much realism (in my opinion)
  • Bbox85
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    Bbox85 polycounter lvl 9
    Dig it! Love the chunkiness! Both on the plane and on the pilot. Looking forward to seeing more.
  • Vrav
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    Vrav polycounter lvl 11
    Aw man, you got this Chris. I have been wanting to draw more mechanical stuff with that strong illustrative line recently... Metal Slug + Metal Gear ftw. Hmm, bolts and plates and little WW2 vehicle widgetry... wonder why. ;) Be free with it, this shall be excellent—tight detail weight and ratio so far.
  • RogelioD
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    RogelioD polycounter lvl 12
    Looks like we have the same project idea (Dieselpunk Aircraft/Female) for this competition! Awesome to see, very inspirational! I'm really struggling wit the design of my craft but hopefully by the end of this weekend I can at least come up with something half as cool as this =P

    Good luck!
  • Der Hollander
    I been suuuuper lazy and didn't get nearly as much done by the weekend as I wanted do. But in any case, I've got the initial blockout done with some work on the front cowl.
    Since I'm roughing everything out and building it using smoothing groups instead of doing real hard surface modeling, it goes pretty quick to get some nice shapes in there.

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  • Der Hollander
    I made some slight changes to the design, I was going to have the pilot sit crotch-rocket style but opted for a chopper/ape-hanger posture instead. Built the main forms of the engines, and I'm currently playing with the idea of making the twin Vickers gimbal-mounted so they can change firing arc to face the sides and back of the craft.

    Here's the updates I have for the model, not to terribly much. but it's chugging along.
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  • [Deleted User]
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    [Deleted User] insane polycounter
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  • Der Hollander
    I had about a week and a half or so where absolutely nothing was gettin' done on this project until I had the brilliant idea of staying late at work where there's less distractions and I'm used to the environment of "I'm in the office, so 3DS Max is open" and managed to get a fair hand done last week. I still have quite a bit to do yet on the cockpit and a lot of the small detail areas, but I've got the gun all built and the wings are at a good halfway point.

    I've been continuing to iterate on the design as I build, working out function as I build, so some design elements have changed quite a bit.

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  • EmAr
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    EmAr polycounter lvl 18
    I really like that vehicle. Great proportions and good progress too!
  • looprix
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    looprix polycounter lvl 8
    fun proportions!
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