Biorganic Kamen Rider — WIP

Hey everyone! I'm ABR, a self-taught 3D artist about 4 months into learning Blender with roughly 1 month of actual sculpting experience. This is my first major project and I'd love any feedback or critique from people more experienced than me.

A bit about me: I'm actually more of a topology person than a sculptor — which is probably why I started with the head wireframe before even knowing how to sculpt. The sculpting side is still new to me but I'm getting more comfortable. Retopo and wireframes are honestly where I feel most at home.

My long term goal is to become a generalist and eventually a Technical Artist, which is why I'm pushing myself to learn the full pipeline on this project — sculpt, retopo, bake, texture, rig, animate, and get it into UE5. All solo.

Controversial take: After learning to sculpt I discovered I actually don't like it it. Sculpting is the most boring part of the pipeline for me — I much prefer topology and wireframes. Please don't crucify me.

The Origin

After about 3 months of learning Blender I decided to embark on my first big project. I started with the head because I didn't know how to sculpt yet — just pure topology and some references to guide me.

Reference:

After finishing the head topology I realized that pure topology alone wasn't enough to capture the detail I wanted. I needed to learn sculpting to push the forms further and add the precision detail that topology couldn't achieve on its own. So I started learning.

My first test was... an abomination. But I pushed through, studied anatomy, and sculpted the body while learning figuring it out as I went.

First time sculpt attempt:

The Concept

The project started as a Kamen Rider fanart heavily inspired by Black Sun, but gradually evolved into its own original design. The concept is a biorganic Rider where the suit is actually living tissue rather than a costume.

After building the torso armor I thought what if parts of the armor weren't armor at all, but his actual flesh that had hardened?

The hip area ended up so detailed it made the rest of the body look unfinished by comparison. So I sculpt the entire inner body to match, even knowing most of it would be covered by armor.

The design principle is: follow human anatomy but push it to the extreme. You should still be able to read the pecs, ribcage, and spine — but everything is wrong. Corrupted. Like a human body rewritten by something else entirely.

And with that concept driving every decision, this is where the project stands now.

You might notice the armor detail level doesn't quite match the inner flesh — and that's intentional. The torso armor was made in my earlier stage when I was still finding my footing. The inner flesh was sculpted later when I got more comfortable. I decided to keep both as they are because together they actually document my progression as an artist within the same character.

Current Pipeline Progress

I've started testing retopology on one of the armor pieces to get a feel for the workflow. I'm not sure if the approach is good enough so feedback on this specifically would be really appreciated.

Character Forms

The inner flesh took a long time to sculpt and it felt like a waste to just hide it under armor forever. So the current plan is to give the character two forms, one where the armor is fully on, and one where it's been shed or molted, exposing everything underneath.

This actually fits the source material too — Black Sun is based on a grasshopper, and grasshoppers molt. The original Kamen Rider Black also had an upgrade form in Black RX, so having a second form has precedent in the franchise.

The flesh form could function as a more feral combat state — armor shed, organism fully exposed, with tendrils emerging from the back as an additional attack option. Think of it as the biorganic equivalent of an upgrade form not cleaner or more powerful looking, but rawer and more dangerous.

Still figuring out the exact execution but the dual form concept feels right for both the design and the lore.

Future Plans:

• Retopo the full character
• UV unwrap and bake normals
• Texture in Substance Painter
• Rig in Maya
• Animate a Rider Kick in UE5
• Full dual form showcase maybe?

Head Redesign (Coming Soon)

The current head was made early when I was still learning — the plan is to resculpt it to match the detail level of the rest of the body.

The new design will incorporate battle damage and scarring — one side of the mandible will be damaged/exposed, revealing the teeth underneath. This was heavily inspired by Nayuta from Tsutomu Nihei's Abara whose design I love (great read, check it out). Black Sun also has that iconic moment where he opens his mouth to bite, so I wanted to lean into that aggressive oral detail. The tendrils ideal also comes from her design.

Here are all the references:

Specific Help Needed:

If anyone has tips for retopoing a heavily detailed organic body like this I'd really appreciate it. I know the torso especially is going to be a challenge, any advice on approach, edge flow priority, or where to cheat the detail would be hugely helpful.

I've also been searching for similar biorganic game ready humanoid work for reference and can barely find anything publicly, seems like a genuinely rare niche. Would love to connect with anyone working in this space.

P.S. I know the front is heavy with detail — I got a bit too locked in and kept pushing.