Ah - I know it’s been a while since I’ve shown my face, but I thought at least a few people here might be interested in this project - I’m in the process of making a resin kit from one of my poses of Hunter - I hope to be producing the kits by mid-May. It’s been a very interesting process going from digital to “real”…
This is the original model (CG):
by permission of Full Circle Publications Ltd
And these are pics of the kit so far:
This is a test fitting for the wings…
and this is a bit of detail from all the finished parts so far. I still have to make molds and cast the sword, wings, earrings and armor - but it’s coming along. If folks are interested, I’ll post more as I progress…
Just in case you’re curious, she’s about 18" tall at the top of the (soon to be in place" sword, and there will be kits for sale. The parts in these shots aren’t cleaned up - they’re pretty much right out of the molds - these are “test” assemblies and when all the parts are finished I’ll be pulling them back apart to paint and finish the models (as examples).
I would be interested in hearing about the steps you have taken to get to this stage. Are you getting real parts made from pieces of the model by, for instance 3darttopart, and then casting molds yourself?
Convert the model to polys out of AM, and take it into XSI (or other poly package) for “processing” (preparation for molds,closing up volumes etc)
Send the parts off for rapid prototyping - in this case, 3DartToPart
Take the pieces, refine them, smooth them, add detail as required.
Pull molds off of the original pieces where possible - in some cases, “interim” parts were required (quickie molds were made to cast resin parts used for further refinement and addition of details).
Cast resin final resin pieces.
That sounds very simple and straightforward - which in concept it is - it’s the execution that proved a little more challenging. If I can find the time, I plan to write a book on the whole process as I’ve pretty extensively documented what’s been done so far.
Hey Joe,
I’ve been wondering what happened to ole’ hunter. That is looking really sweet. Definately keep us updated on the progress of this. Looking really REALLY cool. About how long has the process taken you so far?
I’m curious- since the inspiration for this model came from another artist’s work- is it legal to sell a 3d sculpture of it? Not to understate the work you’ve put into it in any way, but she’s very very close looking to the Bisley inspiration that he created in the 2d medium of painting.
Thanks for the compliments guys - I’ll keep posting updates as I progress on the model.
In regards to a few of the questions: Length of time spent so far - about 3 months of on-and-off time - maybe a hundred hours or so. The problem with an accurate estimate is that I also spent a lot of time figuring out exactly how to do some things - like finding a feasible way to smooth the model, or finding the most efficient means to process some of the materials that I’m using - silicone and polyurethane resin. I did a lot of research and basically couldn’t find much critical information about the “how” of things. For example, if you look for information on properly degassing silicone, you see a few quickie bits about it here and there - but no real step-by-step information - and especially what NOT to do.
The main process is mentioned above - the smoothing was, by far, the most tedious part of the work. I found a pretty good method (after a bit of trial and error) was to use laquer sanding sealer in combination with filler primer. Some parts that I wanted to do a lot of sculpting on (the armguards) were too unpredictable in the original form - i.e. the 3DArtToPart pieces are kind of “case hardened” and it’s easy to punch through to soft material - so I made intermediate molds and castings so to have a better substrate for refining and adding details (resin). As far as additional details, most of them were added after the original 3DarttoPart pieces were smoothed. I used MagicSculp and made a few custom tools to manipulate it. The chainmail was made with a tiny stamp that I made from a brass bolt - and a process involving wax paper, a pasta press, and vaseline - LOL. One thing I have learned in spades - Good tools may not make you a better artist, but they make doing your best work a heck of a lot easier…
As far as “is it legal” - yes. This piece is listed as being a “derivative of” or “influenced by” Bisley’s work in my copyright application. Actually, although it’s similar, it’s not the same. The law requires a 40% change from the original piece - and a common way to look at it is to take the piece in question, overlay it on the original, and drop the opacity of the layer so you can compare - if it’s still to similar - no go - (and laying a 3d object over a 2D image would be “interesting”) - somehow, I think a translation of 2D to 3D is a pretty big part of “40%”. When I’ve spoken with more experienced people, they say that if the original piece was of a trademarked character - like Spiderman, or Wonder Woman - you can’t produce anything like it without permission - but given what I’ve done compared to the original, they’ve all agreed that I’m not doing anything unethical or illegal.
Wow, that’s interesting info, Joe. Can you point me to some source on the 40% rule? I never knew that. And yeah, the trademarked versus copyright level of protection makes sense. Trademarks are seriously protected things- lawyers go apeshit over those compared to copyright. One is content, the other image, I guess.
I, personally, have never seen this in writing - it’s a figure that’s been bandied about by people more versed in the law than myself. You can read all about copyright law and how to apply for one on a piece of your artwork at: www.copyright.gov
While I was unable to find anything specific about the 40% rule, I did find this paragraph from the copyright site interesting - especially section (b):
[b]§ 102. Subject matter of copyright: In general[26](http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#1-26)[/b]
[b](a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of authorship include the following categories:[/b]
[b](1) literary works;[/b]
[b](2) musical works, including any accompanying words;[/b]
[b](3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;[/b]
[b](4) pantomimes and choreographic works;[/b]
[b](5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;[/b]
[b](6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works;[/b]
[b](7) sound recordings; and[/b]
[b](8) architectural works.[/b]
[b](b) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.[/b]
I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t say for sure exactly what that means, but it seems to say that you can’t really copyright the idea or concept of something that’s in a work of art - a character - you can only copyright the specific image or work of art. I think to lock down a character design, you’d have to trademark it.
I could be very wrong, but I feel confident that I’m not going to be getting myself into trouble legally or ethically.
Thanks, William - I’ll be sure to let you know when I’ve got kits ready to go - I hope to be able to go into production in early May. I’ve got a couple more molds to make, as well as winding and cutting all of the “jump rings” (metal rings for the earrings and other dangly bits) - I have to do them by hand since I can’t find an adequate source. I’ll then be painting one up and writing instructions to be included with the kits.
The book is going to be a bit longer - I’m planning on going through the process of making a bronze, so I hope to include that information in the book, too… Maybe I’ll be done by Fall some time…
BTW - In case you didn’t hear - Avalanche was assimilated - er - “acquired” by Disney. I’m now officially an employee of Mauschwitz - lol…
Making a bronze? Wow… now that will be interesting. I can’t imagine the challenges that one will bring up.
Any idea yet how much a bronze will cost? And you’re not talking bronze coating, right… but actual casting type work? Whoa… would be really neat to do that.
Yes - a “real” bronze. I have a friend who is friends with the owner of a foundry here in Utah. I think the cost will be relatively reasonable since they don’t have to do any of the mold-making, and I’ll be doing all of the brazing, cleanup, and chasing. I’ll probably leave the patina work to someone who knows what they’re doing. I’ve been told that the cost will be around $400 for materials and foundry time, but that’s really just a WAG (Wild-Assed Guess). I figure since I have the opportunity, I should give it a shot.
The smooth part is basically hand work. A lot of it. I’ve been told that 3DArtToPart will smooth objects for you, but I’ve never seen what they consider “smooth” and I don’t know how their process will handle details on the model (smoothing may erode details). I plan on contacting them to find out what exactly they do - because IF they do a good job, it would be worth the money to let them do it.
We still use AM, and probably will for a while - it’s pretty heavily integrated into our character pipeline - both animation and character-building. I can’t say (because I don’t know) when that’s going to change, but it is probably an eventuality given that we’ll be working with Disney Feature Animation and will need to be able to exchange assets with them.
