This is unbelievable. i love it!
Did my first complete paint test last night.
The base is automotive Black Primer. It's not a pure black and has a slight metal nature to it that I really like.
Then using a natural sea sponge I applied a few layers of dark green acrylic glazes. Like I mentioned in my previous post I tried to keep the color variations fairly minimal and understated. Flecks of gold acrylic were applied with a tootpick and smudged to avoid a "brush" feel to the marks.
I sprayed the whole thing with a Rustoleum matte finish clear coat and was initially bummed at how rough the finish came out after the spray had dried. I'm not sure if I was spraying too far away or what. It spattered a little bit too. Very granular in nature. However the texture ended up giving the Idol an even more "stone like" quality. Most of the ancient statues I had researched were usuallly of a rougher and more weathered finish. I suppose this is from gradual erosion over hundreds of years. Later on, this texture also grabbed the weathering wash nicely.
The thing is looking pretty cool at this stage so it really hurt to go the next step with the antiquing wash.
In order to mimic eons of dirt and grime and a sense of history, I push in washes of tan and burnt umber acrylic paints into the crevices of the statue and then wipe away most of leaving smeary bits in all the details. The effect is really striking in real life as you are doing the process. All of a sudden this painted chunk of resin looks a million years old.
I did this initial test on a really bubbly messed up casting-
The little bubbles almost look cool though. I might do one with some pitting in places.
Last edited by nick daring; Aug 7, 2012 at 2:16 PM.
Not only do I love the work you did, I love the research you put into it.
This is spectacular. If you start production, I definitely want one.
Tony
I love the bubbles... adds texture. I would love one, too - very creative! Breath of fresh air!
That's the plan.
I'm still pulling everything together right now and trying to make the time.
Nick
Those little bubbles make it look like it's made of coral or real rock that's had tiny imperfections in it.
Cool plans are brewing to bring this project to final production.
Stay tuned!
Nick
I have just stumbled onto this, and it's REALLY piqued my interest. I've been a closet Lovecraft fan for years (the curse of having "normal" friends though high school) so it's fair rad to see there are others who share in the nightmares.
I absolutely love the designs on both pieces, and the paint work is stellar. Keep it up, I'll be watching avidly.
This is fantastic, glad it got bumped up by commawaffle as I had not seen it. I have to go reread At The Mountains of Madness now...
Thanks fellas! The madness is reaching new depths as we speak. I'm going to do a big update on the project very soon.
Nick
Very cool!. Awesome seeing this go from concept to completion!
Did you ever end up offering these Nick? I'd be down for one.
This thing has taken longer than I'd hoped but here are a few tastes of things to come-
A bunch of resin and rubber
Test for a museum style base-
And tests for a box design-
It's all coming together nicely though.
Last edited by nick daring; Dec 27, 2012 at 10:25 AM.
This is incredible. And I love that labradorite reference. Have you considered casting these in clear resin swirled with opaque to emulate the look?
I have thought about doing that. I think for this first run I'm going to keep it simple with a solid casting but I will eventually try out some transparent casting techniques down the line. Still learning this stuff.
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