Author Topic: Straxus Customs 6-8-08 Cobra Sand Viper Re-envisioned  (Read 33903 times)

Offline Straxus

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Straxus Customs 6-8-08 Cobra Sand Viper Re-envisioned
« on: July 30, 2006, 02:29 AM »
I normally post primarily over at The Jawa, but I need to branch out a bit more. I started customizing arround the end of may this year and just started sculpting about a month ago.

Well today I wanted to give a fourth attempt at this helmet...
I used a cast AT-RT driver helmet with some dremel sanding down on some areas as a base to sculpt on. Partly cause I wanted the front "mouth" area to have some detail in it, and the AT-RT driver helmet had the middle/back detail I wanted included on the helmet (that I did not feel I was ready to sculpt with appropriate detail yet.)
Well here we go with the pics (sorry about all the fingers in pics, needed to hold sculpt support in place.)





next to the one that ended up too big, as comparison...


After I mold and cast this, I am going to modify a cast one so that I can have a Commander Keller helmet as well. (Sadly I have never read the comic he was in, much less know the name of it, but I see pics from it all over the place.)

I will post a few other things I have done so far in near future...
« Last Edit: June 8, 2008, 05:54 AM by Straxus »
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Offline BrentS

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Re: Straxus's Customs - Parjai Squad Airborne helmet
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2006, 10:25 AM »
I posted comments over at YakFace.  However, in short, I think you are off to a tremendous start!

Offline Straxus

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Re: Straxus's Customs - Update 7-30 BF2 Clone Engineer Helmet
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2006, 08:05 PM »
Thanks BrentS!
I am now starting on a Clone Engineer helmet, from Star Wars Battlefront2. I will try to post some pics later on this evening (well, evening Pacific time that is...) on that project.
What follows is some of my previous stuff. (The playdoe sculpting attempts have been removed... a bit ashamed of them now, but it was only sculpting media I had to work with up until couple weeks ago...)

What follows is a cut and paste of some of what I posted over at YakFace recently. This is my older stuff, but since I dont have alot of finished (or started enough to take pics of...) I figured I would show these. I eventually plan on redoing the "Bakara" style Utapau troopers with fully articulated body and possibly some armor changes and slight helmet alterations as well.
My Galactic Marine peices I have been working on...
Helmet and pauldron. I am reworking the pauldron soon. I used a cast and sanded down Commander Bakara helmet as a base for this helmet.








The boots for the Galactic Marine... (used sanded down snowtrooper leg casts as the bast. This is still a work in progress)
I figured my old snowtrooper repaint could help display the sculpted legs.













My first custom attempts! Simple repaints.












UPDATE!!!
Well, wanted to give the Clone Engineer a shot for some time. I finaly felt up to it today. Did alot of game pausing with my Xbox today to try to get some different angles. I pretty much just need to add some detail to the back sides of the helmet.
Let me know what you think.







« Last Edit: July 31, 2006, 02:28 AM by Straxus »
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Offline CloneCommander1

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Re: Straxus's Customs - Update 7-30 BF2 Clone Engineer Helmet
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2006, 12:25 PM »
That looks amazing!  I really like how much detail there is around the eyes.  Have you considered painting it like commander faie?  Again, great work.
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Offline CommanderKorbra

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Re: Straxus's Customs - Update 7-30 BF2 Clone Engineer Helmet
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2006, 02:20 PM »
Wow all of these are great sculpts. You've done superb. I also like the Bacara repaints.
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Offline Straxus

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Re: Straxus's Customs - Update 7-30 BF2 Clone Engineer Helmet
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2006, 02:27 PM »
Thanks Guys!
I probably will eventually. I am going to mold and cast all the helmets I have been working on.
There is a new helmet I have been working on that I just pulled out of the oven (baking the sculpy).
This new (pics soon) is what I had envisioned as the eventual upgrade to my simple Bakara repaints.
It uses a cast Cody helmet as the base (because I wanted the face details and some of the odds and ends) but I sculpted it to have a Bakara like shell arround it as well as a few new details. This will be for my Demolitions/Artillery Clone specialists. Will try to post pics once I get my camera working again. Software issues with camera. (Eventually I will need to get an actual decent digital camera...)

I noticed as I was sculpting the face details on the Clone Engineer, in applying sculpey and flattening it, it looked like a Galactic Marine varient at first. So taking note of that, I will probably make a varient with face covering to supplement future Galactic Marine figures.
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Offline Glassman6

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Re: Straxus's Customs - Update 7-30 BF2 Clone Engineer Helmet
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2006, 05:04 PM »
This is really great work Staxus.  Really great!
I really like your clone engeneer.  Cool colors on the bacaras also.
You should give wax sculpting a shot. You get alot of finer details with wax and you look like
you have the tallent.  Kepp up the good work.

Offline Straxus

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Thank you!
I seriously never thought I would be sculpting like this within a little over a month of starting. I did make the occasional thing out of clay back in high school ceramics, but that was 14 years ago and nothing as small or detailed as what I am currently working with. However the ability to sculpt little bits here and there with sculpy and then bake it and add on more really helps me avoid ruining the project. (As opposed to working all details into sculpt all at once.) I figured I would still be trying how to make a helmet that did not look like a box...

I have heard of wax sculpting, but dont know alot about it. Do you know of any good links for a beginner to get started?
I dont know if I really have talent, but more like benefitial OCD and I am a stubborn workaholic...LOL

Glassman6, when I first started looking into the whole customizing scene, your name seemed to pop up everywhere I looked. To be honest, I have kinda regarded you as one of the great customizing legends out here. To get a compliment from you just made my day even better!  ;D

EDIT- Quick Update before rushing off to work.
Artillery/Demolitions Clone Specialist Helmet






Let me know what you think.
Later
« Last Edit: July 31, 2006, 08:17 PM by Straxus »
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Offline Phalanxx

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I have to say, your sculpting skills are very impressive.  Its hard to believe you just started customizing.  All the helmets looks great and I'm really liking your Clone Engineer helment.  It looks awesome. 
Visit www.phalanxxdesigns.com - Custom Figures and Cardbacks.

Offline Straxus

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EDIT - Just to make sure, you guys know that I am sculpting on a cast helmet with new details and not 100% from scratch? Just want to make sure everyone knew that. I use the base cast (though usually highly sanded down with a dremel) The Galactic Marine uses a sanded down Bakara head as the base frame work, the Clone Engineer uses a sanded  down stormtrooper cast as a base, the Parjai Airborne helmet uses an AT-RT driver helmet (mainly for "mouth" details) and the Artillery/Demolitions Clone uses a Cody helmet cast. (Though far more of the Cody cast is visible with that sculpt as I wanted those details to show with my sculpts as add ons.) In most cases that base cast as framework is there for something non-mushy for the sculpy to stick to and to help keep my sculpt to scale with other existing clone/stormtrooper helmets.

I did 3d modeling for a game (star trek armada modding) for six years prior to starting this hobby. Though working with clay and 3d modeling on a computer are two different worlds, I know 3d modeling helped me actually think in 3d terms. In reflection of my art from prior to 3d modeling was pretty much limited to a 2d perspective. Meaning I was ok at drawing, but suffered where shading and lighting was concerned. Now I can in my minds eye, see an object rotating at various angles with detail but six years ago my ability to envision such thing was very limited.

I kinda scorched my Clone Engineer helmet in the oven. It looks darker but should still come out just fine once I get it molded and cast. I am waiting till I have about six  helmets sculpted before I start making molds. So about two more to go.

By the way! Cool trick I found for those who do custom Casting. If you get parts that have small bubble holes in the cast part, there is hope! If you have some Sculpey, take a peice of it and lightly rub it over the areas with bubble holes lightly at different angles. This will help fill in the holes. I have to really look hard to find the areas that had bubble holes now! Next step, boil the cast peice to make sure the sculpy hardens.

The last helmet is still being worked on. I need to fix a few things and sand down some of the uneven parts of the "antenna". I used part of a paperclip inside the sculpy to give support for the antenna.
Ugh... just woke up and need coffee desperately.. I appologize if this last post did not make too much sense...
« Last Edit: August 1, 2006, 12:49 PM by Straxus »
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Offline Fritzkrieg

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Re: Straxus's Customs - Update 7-31 Artillery/Demolitions Clone Helmet
« Reply #10 on: August 1, 2006, 03:42 PM »
Wow!

Amazing stuff! I can't believe you've only been sculpting for a month. Weather the sculpts are 100% or not Talent like that in undeniable. I am always amazed buy customizers whom can sculpt in this scale with such detail.

Your Praja Trooper's helmet is deffinatly in the Top 3 of all the hand Sculpted Samples I have seen.

The Clone Engineer's Helmet is in the Top 2 of the samples I've seen made.

I like the fact that you've taken the Extra steps on your Galactic Marine to make it more screen accurate. Most of us just repaint a Snowtrooper and call it good enough But , You've gone the extra mile.

Now, your Demolitions/Artilliary  Trooper is the Real Gem of the lot. Not only does your talent for detail Show in this amazing Sculpt, But the Originality of the design makes this one of the Best fan Fic Clones I've seen to date. Any chance of seeing some cast of this helmet being made available to the Customizing Community. I'm sure Glassman could help you with some cating advice.

Impressive Work, I can't wait to see more.

Fritzkrieg
Fritzkrieg

Offline Straxus

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Re: Straxus's Customs - Update 7-31 Artillery/Demolitions Clone Helmet
« Reply #11 on: August 1, 2006, 04:38 PM »
Sure! I would be glad to get these out for others to use!  ;D
I still need to get my customizing area sorted out more, get more molding/casting supplies and few other things taken care of first before I can do any of that, but it will be in the works.
Glassman's tutorial over at IronCow forums (Thanks go to master_phruby for posting link for me over at The Jawa) has helped me alot! I just wish I had been directed to that link before I screwed up tons of molds...LOL
@Glassman: Thank you!
The Galatic Marine just started out (over at The Jawa forums) as an attempt to make a movie accurate helmet for IncomT65, I just started working on some of the other parts to see if I could do it. (Incom, if your reading this, I am shooting for middle of this month to mail the Galactic Marine parts to you.)

I actually got a few other side projects I am working on, asside from the helmet sculpts.
One project that if successful, will drasticaly assist those who sculpt their own figures and the other one is my AT-TE project. I saw Coeli's AT-TE over at Rebelscum today and about weeped, for it was a thing of absolute beauty! It was the AT-TE I was dreaming of eventually making. (On that note, I just got back from the dollar store looking for parts for my AT-TE, asside from the current box of parts I have been scavenging over the last month for this project.) While I am working out the details for that, I might try working on a "little brother" four legged version of it.
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Offline Straxus

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Re: Straxus's Customs - Update 8-2 Commander Neyo helmet WIP
« Reply #12 on: August 2, 2006, 07:48 PM »
Quick update before I rush off to work.
commander neyo helmet work in progress




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Offline Darth_Ennis

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Re: Straxus's Customs - Update 8-2 Cmdr Neyo helmet WIP
« Reply #13 on: August 2, 2006, 09:47 PM »
Excellent stuff here. The artillery clone helmet is completely Badass. Id love to have a copy of that. 

Is that out of your head or do you ahve a reference pic for it?

I look forward to seeing more from you.

Offline Straxus

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Re: Straxus's Customs - Update 8-3-06: My first head sculpt!!!
« Reply #14 on: August 3, 2006, 01:36 AM »
Alot of it is based on sketches I had made as reference images for my GURPS players for some battle armor in an RPG story arc I was running. (For those that dont know, GURPS means Generic Universal Role-Playing System)
If I had a scanner that worked, I would post the image. I might have one somewhere I drew in windows paint, I will have to look and see.

In a month or two I might be set up enough to take orders for some casts. I am just really low on molding/casting supplies right now and I am still rearranging my limited work area. (I sculpt and paint sitting at my computer desk...actually I do most all my work, except molding/casting at my computer desk...)

EDIT - Update 8-3-06: My first head sculpt!!!

I decided tonight would be the night to start my first actual action figure head sculpt. I have done plenty of helmets, but wanted to try to make the heads that would be wearing the helmets.
I started with a baked sculpey neck peg that was a duplicate of the one on an evolutions clone trooper. This will be my standard format peg size for all my future head sculpts to ensure compatibility between all my (eventual I hope) 100% from scratch action figures. 

This sculpt was suppost to be of Temeura Morrison (Jango Fett, Clones)... Cant say that it turned out necessarily looking like him but it did at least turn out looking human! (That was a releif...)
Let me know what you think!







« Last Edit: August 3, 2006, 07:08 AM by Straxus »
...carbon stars with ancient satellites colonized by sentient fungi. Gas giants inhabited by vast meteorological intelligences. Worlds stretched thin across the membranes where dimensions intersect...