Artscale: going digital

 that's right, i have decided to go digital for the Artscale project. I had made a slight error in my measurements while sculpting the clay sculpt of the naked marine. It meant that the marine was too tall at the average non-primaris marine size. It was a bit frustrating, and i didn't have time to sculpt it again from scratch so i consigned the fired sculpt to the "i F'ed up" box in case i could use it in another future project and set about modelling the armour in my 3D program. 

After selecting the image i would use as a reference i set about modelling the components. This was all done in a few hours and i made some slight adjustments as i went along based on the aesthetics from other artwork i liked. The above image is the result of that work, and the image below is a render of the same 3D models.

Though it looks good in the render i will have to see how it comes out in the print. I've made sure that all the components are separate entities so that i can pose it properly when i have the parts. There will be some tweaks, inevitably, once i dry fit it together. However, if the blue-tack version looks right then i'll probably put those components together in a mould for casting. I could just print a load out, but to be honest working with cast Polyurethane resin is much easier to drill and glue in place for different poses. 

It's all printing away now. At the time i write this it's actually only going to be 3 1/2 hours until the print is done. Got to love additive manufacturing.

On a side note i came across the original mould for my Mark 1 Artscale marine from all those many years ago.

This mould was made back in 2011 when i first decided to stop converting true/artscale marines from the standard marine models. I think i'll probably cast one up so i can put the two side by side to compare them once i have the first new 2020 Artscale prototype done. 

As i mentioned before i will be making a Razorback for the project too. I've been looking at the original Rhino parts i had made, and they're going to do the job, i think. It works out at being roughly the right size to have marines standing upright in the back. Though technically not a 1:56 scale model, it will be adequate for a 10 man squad of 7.5 ft tall demi-gods in power armour to fit in. Interestingly if a 1:1 scale Rhino is 6.6 meters in length then the GW model kit is to scale (being 11.7cm in length). This may not be the case though and i feel that the dimensions available online are based on the actual model than any documented dimensions. I admit to being a bit lazy in my search though, so if anyone has any other dimensions then please let me know what they are and where you go them from.

For now, that's it though. I will try to find some time this week to do some more work on the project and post another update.

Cheers

John