Leonardo WIP (Custom design)

[George]

How about looking for an existing shape/file,or in the worst case deriving your desired shape from that file?
Have you tried sites like papercraftsquare.com / papermau.blogspot.com / papercraftplaza.com / pepakura.eu ?
I've seen several shell shapes,from pokemon figures to actual turtle papercraft files.I hope that helps.

 

[FuzzyDrawings]

Thanks George. Unfortunately the closest I've seen for something like that is simeone requesting a pepakura file be made from a 3D model.

On another front, I finished the texturizing of the front shell this morning. All that's left for it is to paint!

 

[George]

Speaking of 3D files...have a look at thingiverse.com.Perhaps you will have better luck there

 

[FuzzyDrawings]

Thanks. I'll take a peek!

In the mean time, I starting painting the front shell today. I ran out of oil paints (was using tiny tubes of it), so I'll restock tomorrow and finish up. I'm doing a lot of thin layers of various hues to try and build up a bit of "translucency" with the shell, but airbrushing with oil/rubber cement is a little difficult as its drying rather dull. It's sort of nerve wracking not knowing how it'll chance once I apply the top coat, but I'm liking where it's going.

 

[George]

Awesome detailing/weathering ! :thumbsup

 

[FuzzyDrawings]

Thank you!

I had an ephany about the back shell. After sculpting the muscles out of foam, I feel pretty confident with that material, so I decided to treat the back shell like a giant foam muscle. I bought two blocks of upholstery foam, glued them together, and started carving. Things went quickly (a little TOO quickly as two sliced fingers suggest; ouch!) and I've now got a basic shape I like. EVA foam will go on top to strengthen it and allow for carving details and painting. Btw, does anyone have any tips for filling in gaps in EVA foam that would allow for carving/sanding/painting and maintain EVA-like flexibility? I'm using scraps of EVA foam so I'll have some gaps to fill.

I also attached straps to the inside of the shell and attached it to the harness I made earlier using buckles for easy removal. It works pretty well with minimal movement (the trademark belt and straps will take care of that).

 

[KrangPrime]

nnice to see some more turtles stuff on here. hard to believe there are not that man fans.

 

[George]

Fuz,check out page 1 of JfCustom's foam file thread for all sorts of files and techniques.He says you can use paintable silicone caulking to fill gaps between foam pieces.

 

[FuzzyDrawings]

You rock

 

[George]

Actually,JfCustom rocks :lol his idea,but thanks

 

[FuzzyDrawings]

Front shell is finished being painted.

 

[Westies14]

View attachment 727388

The sideways photography drives me nuts, but you're doing really really fantastic work here! Love to see such fast progress on this project.

 

[FuzzyDrawings]

The sideways photography drives me nuts, but you're doing really really fantastic work here! Love to see such fast progress on this project.

Yeah I don't get why it's doing that. The photos are vertical on my phone/desktop, but they flip when I upload them to the site.

 

[George]

Awesome progress

 

[FuzzyDrawings]

Thank you!

...and of course, after sleeping on it, I wasn't 100% happy with the paint job, so I redid it. I think this one is better.

 

[Bellthazor]

Looks amazing so far....cant wait ti see it all together!!

 

[Wimismith]

Dude, that looks so awesome, totally looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Your project is also giving me ideas for some improvements on a gargoyles costume I'm doing, hadn't thought of covering the bodysuit in latex, but it's an excellent idea.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FuzzyDrawings]

Dude, that looks so awesome, totally looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Your project is also giving me ideas for some improvements on a gargoyles costume I'm doing, hadn't thought of covering the bodysuit in latex, but it's an excellent idea.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! Word of caution if you do the latex method: you need far less latex than you think. I used a few more layers than I think was necessary and a test fitting shows that the suit is now a little tighter and restrictive than hoped. It's still wearable, but I think only doing two or three thin layers would have been better (I did about five, based on what I read others have done for Predator costumes). Live and learn!

 

[FuzzyDrawings]

Another update:

I'm nearly finished with the back shell; just need to add the growth rings around some more sections. I also started work on the belts and straps. Feeling a little good about the process, I put them together to see how things were looking. It's starting to look like a turtle!



I've still got a lot of work to do to get this ready for Awesome Con, but I've taken next week off of work so I'll have seven straight days to work on it instead of just a few hours after work. It'll be tight but I think I can get it done.

 

[KrangPrime]

Another update:

I'm nearly finished with the back shell; just need to add the growth rings around some more sections. I also started work on the belts and straps. Feeling a little good about the process, I put them together to see how things were looking. It's starting to look like a turtle!

View attachment 731199View attachment 731200

I've still got a lot of work to do to get this ready for Awesome Con, but I've taken next week off of work so I'll have seven straight days to work on it instead of just a few hours after work. It'll be tight but I think I can get it done.

I really wish i had REAL talent to do something like this from scratch. I have an eye for what i think looks right, or good. I can do somewhat decent 3D work.
But whenever I try to actually sculpt something it comes out worse than the other stuff .

one may think you could translate 3D tosculpt but it's a totally different set of hand movements :/.

I can't wait to see the finished sculpt.