Now that the world is starting to open up, events are looming. Which means that we have NEW EXCLUSIVES! So for this W.I.P Wednesday I am going to show you from start to finish of one of the new exclusives headed your way. Specifically, CARNEVALE!
From sketch to render to the final paint for product release, a lot goes into these models. The modellers and painters need a concept though and that lies with our wonderful artist Rei!
She is seriously going to hate me for posting these sketches but thankfully shes in an entirely different country so I am safe. Find me an artist that doesn’t dislike their work, right? Anyway, If you’re haven’t guessed it, one of the new exclusives is an alternative Venetian Noble, which begins with a sketch.
Rei makes some quick sketches, trialling different poses and once one ticks all the boxes, it progresses to a block and shading pass.
Rei than refines the chosen sketch, adding in the all important details that make this a noble. If you’re curious why it is black and white and not colour, well this is an artist trick to make sure values and details are right. Colour can be very distracting and if it looks good in black and white, it’ll look good in colour.
Yes, that is a flamingo pink feather! Many colours are tested and at this stage you can see the main colours had pretty much been decided. However, it really then does get down to the finer details of just what colour feather would this noble wear? You can pick your own colour but for us, we settled on teal.
Artwork complete! With the artwork finalised, it can then go to one of our 3D modellers to sculpt.
As you can see, the sculpture nailed this to look like the artwork. With it being in 3D, we can then check it for any potential casting issues, specifically undercuts and voids. We can then decide on split points and how it would cast best. Then its prepared for casting. In this case the head, body and gun/sword are separate pieces.
The 3D print are then sent to our resin department to be mastered and cast. Even the finest detailed 3D prints still need some clean up work, like removing those pesky supports. Once our resin department has mastered the model and a mould is made, the model gets to go into production. However, it doesn’t stop there, oh no.
Next stage is for our resident painter Fin takes up his brush and brings this noble to life, based on the artwork from Rei.
Its easier to get all those tiny little details whilst the pieces are separate and Fin has certainly hit the mark on those!
All together and ready to photograph. Whilst this post may only take a few minutes to read, its hard to convey the timescale its taken. The process from sketch to painted has actually been months in the making! That is for just one of the exclusives.
The other exclusives will be teasing in the coming weeks. These will be available beyond 2021 and if you cant make it to an event in person, they will be on our webstore at the same time. Fret not, our other exclusives, like Zovena Vela and Traffic James will be back too.
I hope this has been an enlightening behind the scenes process of bringing this models to the shelves. We’re excited to show you the rest!
Looking good, have been hoping for a female Venetian Noble to lead a group The Patricians 🙂
So beyond 2021 means 2022+?