Area34's Area - BEEP BEEP mandroid BEEP BEEP

[tommyboy]

Thanks- I went ahead and released the Gladiator skope even though I don't think it's as good as my Blue Beetle. The TommyBoy parts gave me problems (Boots that wouldn't fit, the shoulder spikes wire frame is so small you can really do any details, ect) and as pointed out earlier current Melvin is an old chubby guy. I'm taking the skin and building a new Gladiator.
Tomato's Football body with different Tommy pieces. I'm not sure what I'm going to use for spikes yet and I haven't touch the REFl yet so it's all shiny.

Currently Melvin is not chubby.
Read Daredevil #96 to #98 of the most recent run.
And he certainly looks nothing like that body type. I modeled him as 6.6 to 7 foot, which he is, and a larger, more muscular than male_basic build, which he is.
What he is not, is Kingpin, Frogman or Volstagg.
Oh, and my mesh parts? The boots fit my mesh, which they are made for, and the shoulder spikes' wiremap needs no details because the spikes have no details in any of the 30 plus comics I based him off.

[Xenolith]

Male football isn't fat, is it? 

I think it just looks stocky, which he is, or was that last time I read Daredevil.  I think an adjustment to the skin would correct that.  There shouldn't be as much detail in the stomach.

[electro]

Ow i didn't know you made a Gladiator mesh Tommyboy or I just forgot - I like' em all!

[Blkcasanova247]

Y'know...he reminds me of "Bennett" from the Schwarzenegger classic..."Commando".

[area34]

I wasn't meaning to dis your work Tommy. As I said before, your mesh is a perfect classic Gladiator. The current gladiator though is bulkier like an old athlete, I agree the football body right now looks too fat. I'm hoping just it's because I haven't done anything to the skin and maybe the belt gives the wrong effect. If he still comes out look more chub than just stocky I'm not going to finish it.

And what I meant by the boots giving me problems is that I couldn't use them on any other body types not that they weren't good.

[tommyboy]

I wasn't meaning to dis your work Tommy. As I said before, your mesh is a perfect classic Gladiator. The current gladiator though is bulkier like an old athlete, I agree the football body right now looks too fat. I'm hoping just it's because I haven't done anything to the skin and maybe the belt gives the wrong effect. If he still comes out look more chub than just stocky I'm not going to finish it.

And what I meant by the boots giving me problems is that I couldn't use them on any other body types not that they weren't good.

Yes, I thought that you weren't criticizing the boots or anything else, just that you were pointing out the problems of skoping a new version. I just wanted to point out that it wasn't a case of the boots not working right on my mesh, and why I put no skinnable detail into the shoulder spikes.
Overall, I made my mesh quickly, as is often my habit, so there is definitely plenty of room for improvement. Also room for other "versions" of him, like the tubbier one that Bendis/Maleev showed, I guess. It's not the picture I get in my head for The Gladiator, but it probably is for people who never read the older comics.

[area34]

Yeah, I'm a Miller era DD fan so to me Classic Gladiator is what I think of when see him in my head.

Skinning question now. I'm working on a guy who has hair so I'm having to do something I'm not to confident with. Right now it's at three layers for the texture. Should I go for a fourth of darker or does this look right?

Spoiler

Edited to add -
I added a distance shot even though I was trying to hide the hex since it's not done.

[murs47]

Looks like it could work. Just make the front a little less symmetrical. How about a zoomed out shot?

[area34]

Alright I'm far enough in to show...

Spoiler

A Pyro Pack. I've skoped an all in one that will have four versions of the newly zombified evil mutant. Above is the Byrne era first appearance and the freedom force variant. I still have to do the version he wore most before he died and the Byrne era variant. I'm  probably not going to bother with his current zombie look...

The arms look the way they do because I added smoke fx from the hoses... or fire if you want...

[laughing paradox]

It looks good.. I really like the hair the way it is, actually. I noticed there are no highlights yet and the yellow looks like it's a bit dull. Brighten them up a bit!

[murs47]

Now that I see the hair zoomed out it looks good. Especially on pyro. It has a fiery-magma look to it. Well done Area

[miguelyanke]

LUV IT!!!!!

[Outcast]

Now that's cool.....err i mean hot....uh..superb job on Pyro.

[area34]

LP- Your right about the highlights. He looked to shiny and not cloth like while I was doing him at my work computer so I toned it down. Now here at home I can see how I pretty much made the highlights disappear. I think I'll do a new layer instead of trying to slider my old one again.

[detourne_me]

Kickass Pyro Area34! You've really come into your own!

[area34]

Ok, taking LP's advice I upped the yellow levels. I also had to soften the highlights to kill the shinny plastic look but I don't think it looks flat. I also upped  the orange in the classic look to add to the difference.



Thanks Dm, it helps that I'm avoiding things that I think will be to hard...

[area34]

I think at this point a X-men fan can figure out what team I'm doing...
Everything is pretty much done with Stonewall. It's Murs' base (as always) and I used Courts grim face to start with and then played with it a bunch to make it look like an old man. I'm not sure if the stash looks good (it's hard to do hair that small) but I really like how the belt came out.

[murs47]

I saw the title and thought someone finally did a Secret Warriors skin. You tricked me!

Anyways, looks good. The belt came out especially nice. Maybe add some shading on the purple where the yellow overlaps it to give it some depth. Keep up the good work Area.

[laughing paradox]

I like this.. are you going to skin Silver Sabre and Crimson Commando, too?

I also want to echo Murs' suggestion. Maybe instead of using bright seams for the tips of the yellow section, try a dark seam.

[area34]

I'm building a Crimson Commando skope right now and I have a nearly finished Sabre skope (just need to find straps to hang from his goggles.) The plan is to do all of the original Freedom Force.

[area34]

I flipped the seams on Stonewall. With Sabre I went with a different base. He looked wrong when he was muscular. I still need to do the logo but other than that I think I'm going to keep him pretty flat.

[cascarudo]

awesome skins especially pyro

[area34]

Waiting for the wife to finish dinner...



I changed the cuffs. The double rolled effect didn't look right to me. Greyed the goggles and browned the straps since it's that way in his first appearance. And the logo... I did the best I could, that logo makes no sense it has speed lines. How do you stitch speed lines? I treated it like a weird patch.

[murs47]

Very cool Area. Excellent work on the mask/helmet thing.

[Blkcasanova247]

Maybe don't go with the "skinned-on" belt....give him a real one. The wrinkles on the mask are excellent. The face looks good but I'd make the mouth a little more defined. To me it kinda looks loke another wrinkle.

[area34]

I added some highlights and more detail to face and added a skoped belt. I originally ditched the 3d belt because I wanted him to stay skinny looking.

[Blkcasanova247]

Dude that looks really good.

[Gremlin]

I like it! Very smooth and clean.

[Outcast]

Great work on Stonewall and Sabre, Area. I think Sabre's face turned out pretty good. 

[area34]

Thanks. I'm trying my best to customize each face so it's not blatantly the same base... and on that note-


The skope has been a thrall so I haven't finished all of him yet. I've spent most of my time doing the face so far though. That is the Courts new face base that I smudged to death and releveled before I started adding wrinkles and details. Before someone says anything, I've done that scarf three times now and it always comes out looking similar to Courts... the shape of the object just forces you to have wrinkles converge in the tip but at least the knot/ties look completely different. I'm heading home so I had to stop for the day but I'm probably going to add some sideburns to head- but other than that his face should be done?