For a while I've been thinking about trying to do some aliens based on crustaceans. This is a tricky prospect as you really run the risk of making something that looks like another big alien or some sort of rubber suit B movie menace.
My approach was to try to create something along the lines of a shrimp with a flexible body, multiple legs and several sets of manipulating limbs. The end result was a bit less than planned as I found that all the limbs I had planned tended to get in the way and leave little room for technology. I also decided to make the legs meaty, with the joints and segments very robust and distinct to keep them from looking like spindly legged insectoid aliens.
Another thing I decided to do was to try to make the details of the legs in relief against a solid core to the figure. The objective was to try to reduce or do away with the negative space underneath the aliens so as to lend a little ease to any casting that might come from them.
I'm still experimenting with animation in the figures and also how to get gear and weapons in there with all those arms and legs.
-Eli
Posts
Looking good! I like the shape so far.
ReplyDeleteThey are a bit rough for me to be happy with them for finished product but I think I have a good idea where to improve then ext batch.
ReplyDelete-Eli
Very cool, kinda has a underwater centaur vibe. Multiple legs for locomotion and sort of humanoid upper body wielding the weapons.
ReplyDeleteThe humanoid pose is a bit more than I wanted for them and I figure it's more of a forced pose for the sake of aiming. The second example pictured is posed more naturally for the species.
DeleteVery interesting. You will need to ensure there is no void under the creature and a separate sprue of arms etc would be best on 'smooth' mounts, not pins, on 15mm you do not want pins, plus it means more mobility in the mounting.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more on this!
GBS
Separate arms are a real hassle to sculpt for me. I've considered doing a couple of dolly bodies and seeing about getting some masters cast up an then doing variants of arms and poses based on those.
DeleteWould certainly save on having to sculpt all those legs over and over and i don't see it as too much of a sacrifice on the integrity of the poses as those legs are not going to really have too much range and variation from pose to pose anyhow.
-Eli
Drop me a line at 15mm.co.uk if you want to discuss the practicality of these for molding SHM. Its a cracking idea.
DeleteGBS
Will do Gavin!
DeleteA promising start perhaps adding human kit like a backpack or something might add the tech you require.
ReplyDeleteJust the thing to fight 15mm Space Raptors!
ReplyDeleteYup, awesome.
ReplyDelete