the weapon is meant to be used both for close and long range combat. the sharp blades are for close combat, while the ice cristal is meant to be thrown as a projectile at the enemy. about the bending, at close combat it is used in a manner similar to the asian martial arts, not for thrusting.
i hope to have enough time to tweak it more …
-claudiu
i finished the modeling for the weapon and the normal map.
now it has some ballance.
-claudiu
The weapon looks good, but I’m still admiring your work with hi-poly and low-poly blending. You use normal mapping in a great way. I hope you’ll have time (at the end of this challenge) to share your technique.
Good work!
The Ripley resemblance doesn’t bother me. She doesn’t really look like Sigourney Weaver, it’s just the combination of those clothes and the high forehead. More like a mercenary from Alien 4. The outfit is very well-designed, the colors, the combination of materials, really top-notch. I hate to say this, two days before the deadline, but I agree about the weapon. I think a battered high-tech firearm, perhaps with a bayonet or axe blade in the stock, would fit better with her style.
it’s too bad the weapon doesn’t work with the rest of the design because it’s too late to make another one :sad:. she was suposed to have an aditional dagger like weapon, but time … if you look at the beginning of the thread you can see the concepts.
right now i am doing everithing i can to finish in time. i still have to make a base and pose the character.
here is the latest version of the textures. i’ve also added alpha planes to better integrate the hair. the character is exactly 6000 triangles :).
a screenshot without illumination:
-claudiu
beautiful style!!
and love the way the hair turned out
only thing i don´t like is your in the wrong team 
keep going!! 
it’s finally over. here are the final images submited:
Winning Pose:
Beauty Shot:
Construction Shot:
Texture Sheet:
Concept:
best of luck to everyone and see you next year :).
-claudiu
She is looking great … wonderful normalmapping progress
and great final pose and final presentation. Shes a killer 
Great stuff man - love the realism. Her expression is fantastic. Nice, subtle work on the texturing too.
looks great the fashion was really cool from the start and it looks really good finished!
only hope the stand doesn’t steal all the subtle ancient-feel of the character as the stand itself doesn’t feel so ancient but then… the war isn’t set in their ancient age anyway! 
good luck in the war!
dpizzle : thank you !
Crinity: i’m glad i succeeded in making her look realistic. that was my aim.
erik_j: when i made the stand i thought of integrating her in the current environment, not to suggest her nature. now that you pointed that out i hope it won’t affect the character.
i hope to return to this character soon to polish her. there are many things i would like to do differently, but didn’t had enough time for the competition. i’ll also try to make some renders with better light setups.
-claudiu
I love how this turned out. I think this is my favorite entry thus far, although so many of them have just blown me away. :buttrock:
Great work, and I look forward to seeing more work on this character (after you relax a bit!)
Really great job, the final is very natural and aggressive. I particularly like her hands and face.
Good work! (look for the email from me)
Looks fantastic. Great job finishing the model. The realism is really impressive. Her face and expression top it all off.
Really nice entry!
your final pieces are really impressive! poses are perfect and it’s really hard to say that this is a low-poly model! Really amazing entry!
