Creating Aliens From The Stories I Write - Part 1
Disclaimer
I'm a novice at model making; what I know about it, I've picked up from watching other people do it, and from chatting with people. I should really get a book on it or something just to learn it properly from the basic level. In saying that though, I don't think I do too badly.
In these model-making posts, I do a semi-tutorial, explain my thinking and how I do it, so if you're interested, hopefully, you'll be able to pick up enough ideas to get started, I'd also advise looking it up on YouTube, or even Google, there are tons of people out there who can help. More than anything, just practice. Buy some supplies - which are inexpensive - and get started, there's nothing better than practicing.
These creatures/ aliens I make are from the science fiction stories I write, and while I know what these creatures look like, I use model making as a way to give myself a 3D example of them, which then helps when writing descriptions.
First thing's first, and that's the armiture. For this, I knew it would be a bust, so I didn't need to get too technical with it. I worked out the base, and then the neck. I decided to form it while it was still attached to the spool.
The Spools, I got a five-pack of these wire spools off Amazon for about 10 Euros, and they come in different sizes - this one here being the largest.
Typically, I use the large, or the middle size for the armature, depending on the scale.
Once I was happy with the scale I cut and twisted the excess wire.
Usually, when making busts I like to do the head separately, just so I can work on details without needing to hold the entire body. But, today I decided to do something different and that was to make it all one piece, and I also hooked the end of the spine.
I wrapped a bunch of tinfoil in the general humanoid shape until I was happy with it.
Here it is from another angle, and you can see the round of the head. By this point the neck of the creature was long, but I thought of making it something similar to the Kaminoans (The Cloner Aliens From Star Wars)
Between the last photo and this one a lot has changed. What I failed to document was the tedious part of covering the tinfoil base in clay.
I know this part as the "Oh, I should do this." Section.
No, I'm not talking about creating ideas for the model. I've noticed that during the covering stage, my mind wanders and I ask myself if I really want to do model-making today.
Here's A Rough Idea of My Inner Thoughts During This Time Frame.
- Start: 10-15 Minutes - "Hmm, you know, I should probably do this, that, or the other. Maybe I should put this stuff away and do something else."
- Middle: 15-25 Minutes - "I'm Half way there now, I may as well finish it off and then come back to it tomorrow."
- End: 25-35 Minutes - "Actually, I'm starting to get an idea for it now. I'll finish covering it and work some details out."
This is pretty much how it goes every time I work on a model.
I usually go into these projects blind and around the time of covering it in clay, I find an idea I want to work out.
Because there are no real details in the face or structure, I decide to add some clay to build up the face, so I could get a better idea of how it should look.
As I said, the long neck gave it the look of a Kaminoan, so, to get away from that look, I wanted to add much broader features, which In a way is almost out of place with the slight neck and pinhead.
Here's a Kaminoan, by the way, just incase you're wondering
Here is a profile of the head, with the Jawline and facial structure blended in place it is starting to take shape.
I started to dislike the idea around now and was kind of annoyed by the out-of-proportion shoulders and the fact they were so flat.
I started to think of some ideas to mitigate this, and one of them was to model this as a head on a spike and I could turn the base into terrain. But, that wouldn't work, because the neck was too thick.
I picked it up, and decided to push up the tinfoil beneath the base and it worked to create the rounded shoulders, which filled me with confidence in the creature once more.
With a little more work, the face was looking much better, and I pushed some eye holes into his face.
Here's a side profile of how it looks now.
I positioned his head back, to allow easy access to his neck and lower chin, as I wanted to spend some time on his neck and voice box.
I had a much better idea of how he was going to look now. It started to resemble a turtle in a way, which got me thinking about some lore and general ideas about his species.
After some detailing on his throat, I really started to like it, and it gave me that push to carry on with a clear idea of where I was going with it.
I have these tools with a ball on the end of them, and there are many different sizes, I went over it with a mid-sized one, and then went over that with a smaller one for more added texture. It worked well because this creature is reptile-like.
I like the lumps and bumps on the skull, combined with the four eyes, nose, and neck. I think it all comes together to make something otherworldly, but also not.
By now, it was getting late, and while I wanted to continue, I thought I'd be better off leaving it until the next day, just to let some thoughts and general concepts mull over.
Motivation To Keep Going
Often times while working out these models, I go through many stages of hating it, and a lot of the time, I feel like giving up. Personally, I think that's normal, and the best thing to do is take a small break and come back to it.
Also, I rarely focus on one area for too long, it's good to move on to a different section so you don't get tired of it. More than that, it's good to work on a few areas gradually, because if you have a model with an amazing nose, and everything else is blank, you'd be more tempted to give up on it. But, seeing those details come in slowly over the whole piece, you're left with a good overall impression of what the end result will be.
No, I'm not talking about creating ideas for the model. I've noticed that during the covering stage, my mind wanders and I ask myself if I really want to do model-making today.
Here's A Rough Idea of My Inner Thoughts During This Time Frame.
- Start: 10-15 Minutes - "Hmm, you know, I should probably do this, that, or the other. Maybe I should put this stuff away and do something else."
- Middle: 15-25 Minutes - "I'm Half way there now, I may as well finish it off and then come back to it tomorrow."
- End: 25-35 Minutes - "Actually, I'm starting to get an idea for it now. I'll finish covering it and work some details out."
This is pretty much how it goes every time I work on a model.
I usually go into these projects blind and around the time of covering it in clay, I find an idea I want to work out.
Because there are no real details in the face or structure, I decide to add some clay to build up the face, so I could get a better idea of how it should look.
As I said, the long neck gave it the look of a Kaminoan, so, to get away from that look, I wanted to add much broader features, which In a way is almost out of place with the slight neck and pinhead.
Here's a Kaminoan, by the way, just incase you're wondering
Here is a profile of the head, with the Jawline and facial structure blended in place it is starting to take shape.
I started to dislike the idea around now and was kind of annoyed by the out-of-proportion shoulders and the fact they were so flat.
I started to think of some ideas to mitigate this, and one of them was to model this as a head on a spike and I could turn the base into terrain. But, that wouldn't work, because the neck was too thick.
I picked it up, and decided to push up the tinfoil beneath the base and it worked to create the rounded shoulders, which filled me with confidence in the creature once more.
With a little more work, the face was looking much better, and I pushed some eye holes into his face.
Here's a side profile of how it looks now.
I positioned his head back, to allow easy access to his neck and lower chin, as I wanted to spend some time on his neck and voice box.
I had a much better idea of how he was going to look now. It started to resemble a turtle in a way, which got me thinking about some lore and general ideas about his species.
After some detailing on his throat, I really started to like it, and it gave me that push to carry on with a clear idea of where I was going with it.
I have these tools with a ball on the end of them, and there are many different sizes, I went over it with a mid-sized one, and then went over that with a smaller one for more added texture. It worked well because this creature is reptile-like.
I like the lumps and bumps on the skull, combined with the four eyes, nose, and neck. I think it all comes together to make something otherworldly, but also not.
By now, it was getting late, and while I wanted to continue, I thought I'd be better off leaving it until the next day, just to let some thoughts and general concepts mull over.
Motivation To Keep Going
Often times while working out these models, I go through many stages of hating it, and a lot of the time, I feel like giving up. Personally, I think that's normal, and the best thing to do is take a small break and come back to it.
Also, I rarely focus on one area for too long, it's good to move on to a different section so you don't get tired of it. More than that, it's good to work on a few areas gradually, because if you have a model with an amazing nose, and everything else is blank, you'd be more tempted to give up on it. But, seeing those details come in slowly over the whole piece, you're left with a good overall impression of what the end result will be.
!LOL
lolztoken.com
But I forgot to mention it to him.
Credit: reddit
@killerwot, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @holovision
(9/10)
Looking awesome and you are doing a great job 😎
Looking forward to the finished alien 👽
Thank you so much, I'm glad you liked it!
I'm really happy with how it is so far, I should have another post up about it within the next few days.
You are welcome 👋🏻😊
I have some clay in a box still packed I want to make into something someday… just finding time after the big move.
Great, it looks pretty awesome already.
I will keep an eye out for it 😎
Enjoy your weekend!
Very nice work! I really do know talented people. It's one great skill to be able to write awesome alien stories, it's another to be able to make ethreal art like this out of them. It's coming out really nicely and I hope you don't give in and give up. Looking forward to the completed version. Or at least the next phase.✨
Hahhaa fingers crossed I don't up hating it!
Nah, I'm really enjoying this guy and think he has turned out great so far. I should have another post up about him within the next few days. It's great being able to see the evolution of these creations, and I even though of some lore for it's people which is pretty interesting.
That looks amazing - I can do terrain, and paint figures to a decent tabletop standard, but 3D modelling living things is something I'm not very good at. If you do any that are life-sized, you could paint a few layers of latex onto it and turn it into a wearable prop 😁
That would be sick! I'd love to get into making molds and potentially costumes but I don't think I'm at that level yet, and may never be. I did watch a bunch of the making of videos for Star Wars and that's where I got a passion for model making, I've never tried ships, but would love to go in that direction eventually.
Painting has never been my thing, I've always been bad at it, but I'd love to get an airbrush for doing these models.
If you look closely at a lot of the prop masks, they're actually quite simple in terms of detail. Once the latex sets, they get a basic coat of flexible paint airbrushed on, with maybe some shading and toning. But the real secret is that they get makeup artists to put finishing touches on and blend them with the adjacent skin or clothing.
Also, airbrushes are wonderful tools. Avoid the cheap Chinese sets if you can afford better, they really are a case of you get what you pay for. Iwata or Harder & Steenbeck are the best, with Sparmax a close second. Sparmax make good compressors; Iwata ones are awesome but getting stupidly expensive. I love my Iwata Kustom CS !
Wow, thanks so much for the tip, I'll be sure to do my homework before putting money down. But I do think they would really help me, as I've seen it's all about layers of paint, and that can really help to get some cool effects. Also, I saw a video before where someone made up a black wash, super diluted, and put that over the model at the end, the murky water ran into all the cracks to give it texture and made it look pretty well details because of it.
That's so interesting, I think making costumes like that is somewhat of a dying art - as far as the big screen is concerned anyway. But, there are a lot of passionate people out there still keeping it alive. If I was ever the head of a large sci-fi production, I'd go around to comic cons and hire people haha, I've seen some amazing creations people have made.
Excellent! I don't have much experience with clay, but I love this kind of stuff because it makes you pay close attention to the subject details.
It's really fun, and fairly inexpensive to get started, I bought maybe 50 or 60 Euros worth of stuff and haven't needed to buy new tools, even though I would eventually like to.
I'm getting a small table-sized tripod soon so I can record videos of making these models, which I think would be a good level up from taking pictures. It would also help me out because I often get into it and forget to document sections of the sculpt.
Videos would be great because it's such a tactile and organic craft.
These are some of my all-time favorite aliens! Great job on getting the models going bro!
I find them really interesting, and they truly are alien, especially the fin like mohawks of the males.
I didn't want to copy them, so tried to get away from the look of them by broadening the features of the model, as apposed to their very slight facial features.
Yes, my buddy turned me onto the StarWars material beyond the movies. I listened to an audiobook or youtube video about the history of the Kimonoans (or however the hell you spell it) and i found it truly fascinating. Their backstory is pretty epic! They make a pretty good base for an alien character, which i'm sure you can embellish to your heart's content.
Oh man, the Star Wars lore is amazing, there are some truly amazing backstories out there. I watched a video about General Grevious and how he became what he is, it was really dark but cool.
I love the behind the scenes too, there's a great video called Empire of Dreams and it's all about the model-makers and designers, so cool. It's kind of my hangover watch haha, something to zone out to and get lost in.
Great work but, more importantly, nice capturing of details and a nice little insight into your creative process. You've got yourself a new follower. Keep it up! ;<)