CQ's Skoping Experiments

[crimsonquill]

Decided it was time to dust off my skills at skoping to custom build my own team of Avengers.

First up is Captain America,



After the apparent death of Steve Rogers, John Walker was promoted into the job of filling his heroic shoes. John refused to wear Steve's iconic costume so it could be placed into the Smithsonian's American History Museum. John has some anger issues but he is a soldier to the core and they trained him well to be able to take on the mantel of Steve. He is proud to weld the legendary shield as one of the Ultimate Avengers.
(skoped from Ren's WWII, Ultimate, and Bucky Cap meshes and using the skins by both Courtnall6 & Murs47 as place holders).

Next up is Black Widow,



Natasha Romanova was one of the best assassins that Russia had under their secret agent training program. She could look like anyone, sound like anyone, and you wouldn't know she was there until you heard her guns went off or your neck snap. She fell in love with Steve Rogers and defected to become an Agent Of SHIELD. Her worse nightmare came true when she witnessed Steve taken out by a sniper during a mission protecting the President Of The United States from the Red Skull and his Nazi army. Natasha joined the Ultimate Avengers to seek revenge and bring Red Skull's empire to an end.
(skoped from Gren's Lady BlackHawk mesh and Paradox's Black Widow skope and using Paradox's skin as a place holder).

I'll be happy to make the skopes available for anyone to use but the SKINS SHOWN WILL NOT BE INCLUDED.

- CQ

[Cyber Burn]

Really digging the Black Widow CQ, nice.

[BentonGrey]

Nice stuff, CQ!

[spydermann93]

I keep meaning to comment, but I keep getting distracted by the pics!

These look great, CQ! I also like the backstories to the both of them.  Can't wait to see more!

[laughing paradox]

Great looking skopes.

Oofa! Black Widow is in dire need of a nosejob.

[cmdrkoenig67]

CQ, very nice work on those Skopes.

Dana

[crimsonquill]

While DaGlob is working on my design for my Captain America uniform here:

I'm working on John Walker's look in his military uniform and holding the battle damaged shield of Steve.



I'm still finishing up some elements but it's mostly done.

For those of you who want to see the designs I created on Hero Machine for the looks of my Captain America. Here they are:

Military:   Captain:

Still messing around with other ideas.. so much more to come.

- CQ

[Cyber Burn]

Some very nice stuff here CQ, and I am absolutely in love with that Battle-Damaged Shield!   

[crimsonquill]

DaGlob sent me his finished skins for my Captain America and Black Widow skopes awhile back and finally got some free time to show them off!
Thanks so much Glob!!! 

First up, Captain America...


and then Black Widow..


Fantastic work!!!

NOW these skopes are ready to be released officially. 

- CQ

[Cyber Burn]

Very nice collaboration guys. Re-designs of mainstream Characters are ALWAYS fun to see.

On a side note, what Mesh did you use as a starting point for your Captain America? I'm trying to decide which Mesh to use as a base for one of my Skopes, so that info would be helpful.

[daglob]

I just keep forgetting to put the .tga of the helmet with wings on it on my flash drive...

[crimsonquill]

On a side note, what Mesh did you use as a starting point for your Captain America? I'm trying to decide which Mesh to use as a base for one of my Skopes, so that info would be helpful.

I started the skope with Ren's Bucky Cap since it had the knife and pistol animations as well as the parts already laid out in the Nif. I then swapped out the base mesh with Ren's Ultimate Cap 3 (the one in army pants) and added the bits and pieces I needed from Ren's WW2 Cap and I think the helmet was from Ren's Ultimate Cap 2.

- CQ

[windblown]

Those look great guys, the skopes AND the skins  Great job!

[crimsonquill]

Thanks so much for the positive feedback, Windblown. 

I figured since I was tinkering around with another idea, I'd show off my next Avenger skope, THOR.



Thor in my alternative timeline came to Earth during the late 1960s and found himself swept up into the flower child scene which turned him into a warrior for peace and environmentally conscious thinking. Unable to keep up with his duties back home in Asgard he was forced to give up Mjolnir which eventually went to the mutant known as Storm when she became the Goddess Of Thunder. Thor soon watched the Vietnam War expand into a much bigger conflict that left far too many soldiers dead in battle or mortally wounded that he finally joined the Marines. It was a wakeup call for Thor as he finally came to terms with his responsibilities and duties as the son of Odin while he fought his way up the ranks into becoming Master Gunnery Sergeant. It wasn't until recently that he finally retired from military service to return to his duties in Asgard but instead of being given back Mjolnir, Odin had an alternate weapon forged called Thunderstrike which allowed Thor to resume his powers once again. He left for Asgard for many years until he heard of Captain America's death and returned to join the Avengers to seek revenge against Red Skull and pay back Steve for helping him during their time fighting together in the Vietnam War.
(skoped from Gren's Thunderstrike, Leonus, and AA's Hyperion; the skin shown is Ultimate Thor but I don't remember the artist.)

This is the look I'm going for in my skin:


Kind of a mix of Hippie, Asgardian Warrior, and Marine Trooper.

- CQ

[crimsonquill]

After rethinking over Thor's origin, I totally forgot about the Ares mesh which not only had a minigun but could be modified to throw Thor's weapon.. I quickly redid my HeroMachine design.



and then went to work skoping my version based on my idea to come up with this:



Soooooooooooo much more hardcase like a Marine Gunny should be.
However the beard and long hair from Gren's Leonus mesh isn't playing nice and is moving too far this way and that so I might have them in the wrong place.

- CQ

[Podmark]

Thor with a minigun - now I've seen everything!

[daglob]

"C'mere Loki..."

[crimsonquill]

I always felt that if The Ultimates were supposed to be the hard core cinematic versions of characters in the Marvel Universe then Thor would have been looking for a more peaceful life away from Asgard but forced to engage in the worse warfare you could ever imagine. So being a huge fan of Full Metal Jacket, I couldn't imagine a former God made mortal put into the battlezone of Vietnam and not come away from that far more battle hardened and then finally accepting his role as Odin's heir but using his skills with more modern weapons along with him.

What better Ultimate Thor cover then him wearing a mix of Asgard armor and military gear firing his minigun into a Frost Giant yelling.. "Tis not only time to bring on ye rain.. but BRING ON YE THUNDER!!!!" 

- CQ

[Cyber Burn]

However the beard and long hair from Gren's Leonus mesh isn't playing nice and is moving too far this way and that so I might have them in the wrong place.

- CQ

If you don't mind me asking:

1.) Did you place them on the "Scene Root", or on the "Head" Node?

2.) If you placed them on the "Head" Node, did you remove the "NiSkinInstance" from the pieces before you copied them over to the new Mesh?

[hoss20]

They were placed under the Scene Root, as that's where they were on the Leonus mesh. I was able to fix the issue and am sending CQ instructions on how to fix things using both methods (adjusting the pieces through the NiSkinInstance or deleting the NiSkinInstance and pasting the pieces directly onto the Head node).

[Cyber Burn]

They were placed under the Scene Root, as that's where they were on the Leonus mesh. I was able to fix the issue and am sending CQ instructions on how to fix things using both methods (adjusting the pieces through the NiSkinInstance or deleting the NiSkinInstance and pasting the pieces directly onto the Head node).

Hoss is definitely the man. 

But I think I need to pick someone's brain here. Hoss, could you please send me a copy of those instructions on how to adjust pieces through the "NiSkinInstance"? I didn't know that was an option, I also wouldn't have clue one on where to begin with something like that.

Sorry for the threadjack CQ. 

[crimsonquill]

Sorry for the threadjack CQ. 

No worries, Cyber. Thanks to Hoss's guidance and me dusting the cobwebs off my skoping skills, which I apparently had forgotten since I didn't use NifSkope in quite awhile, I'm back on track with getting Thor finished. 

- CQ

[windblown]

That looks promising cq, looking forward to see it skinned.

But I think I need to pick someone's brain here. Hoss, could you please send me a copy of those instructions on how to adjust pieces through the "NiSkinInstance"? I didn't know that was an option, I also wouldn't have clue one on where to begin with something like that.

Sorry for the threadjack CQ. 

Could I have those instructions too please?

[hoss20]

Mini-tutorial sent, gentlemen.

CQ, I'm glad I was able to be of some assistance. I realize now that I forgot to mention that I had enclosed a screenshot as a reference/tutorial, but I'm sure you saw it attached and figured things out.

[SickAlice]

^ would love the tutorial as well. That tends to be a frequent headache here.

[hoss20]

On its way, SA. 

[WyldFyre]

Could I get that as well please.  ekrdm09 at gmail dot com.  I wasn't even aware that was an option.

[hoss20]

It's been sent, my friend.

[WyldFyre]

Thanks Hoss. 

[windblown]

Thank you so much