ED-209 1/12 Scratch Build WIP

[RoboForceGo]

As mentioned, online resources are the way to go! I personally used Gnomon Workshop to get a pretty well rounded intro to ZBrush.
There's definitely more intuitive software for making hard-surface designs, but ZBrush was where I felt most comfortable. While I've had the software for a short amount of time, I should note that I have some experience with physical sculpting and model making. There was a lot of overlap in skill when transitioning into digital work which made the jump a bit smoother.

My process for sculpting ED was really quite janky to be honest. I relied on a function called Live Booleans to basically cutaway at geometry to achieve the shapes that I wanted. It was also crucial to look at a part and envision it as a simple shape that I could build upon. So for example, the foundation of the mouth/jaw area is just an elongated sphere (picture an egg laid longways) sliced in half. With just that basic shape you can start to cutaway some of the larger landmarks, like a trapezoid for the mouth, and continue to build from there. Does that make any sense? I'm not very good at teaching!

Attached are some photos of the live boolean feature:

 

[RoboForceGo]

Some furniture pieces to compliment ED. Still need to sculpt the glass table and lamp!

 

[basementdweller]

So basically you took an organic approach baa-dumtish (sorry)... No that makes plenty sense. I half expected it to be way more convoluted or involved if you know what I mean? So all the little pistons and moving parts where booleans as well? I don't have Zbrush, only the free version - does it have any sort of assembly mode, like adding joints or rigging?

Btw - I went on a Robocop bender a few days ago after marvelling at your ED and I found some really cool full scale makes on youtube. The most fun was from some guys that did a scene for the movie "Our Robocop remake" where they made a really nice puppet fullscale Ed-209. I thought of that as it's the exact scene with the above furniture Here is the vid (the making of is much more interesting) Our Robocop Remake - Scene 9

 

[RoboForceGo]

Yeah, all of the keying and moving parts were achieved through booleans. So another example, for a piston you would take a cylinder, duplicate it but shrink it down maybe 25%, then just subtract/cutaway from the larger cylinder while both shapes are overlapped. That's pretty much the gist of keying in ZBrush. It get slightly more complicated when you account for tolerances (do I want this joint to be super tight or loose?), but you get a feel for it over time. ZBrush does have rigging, but I don't know how to do it yet. There's still a lot for me to learn!

Also, that Our RoboCop Remake ED costume is fantastic. Some of the other full scale ED's floating around on youtube are really impressive in terms of craftsmanship and dedication, but they're based on the super inaccurate NECA toy, which in turn is based off of the inaccurate Argonauts model kit!

 

[joberg]

Love it!! Keep up the great work; eager to see it coming to life

 

[RoboForceGo]

Some more background prop progress. The lamp is built and wired up with a nano led!

 

[RoboForceGo]

I've started some base coats of paint on ED. The mouth area is pretty much finished, just need to glue things down.

I used Spaz Stix mirror chrome on the exposed metal parts. It's a little too reflective, but I can dull it down with a top coat.

 

[MangyDog]

This is really exceptionally cool
Always loved Ed209... I had a toy ED209 with a capgun snapper in its back... Apart from the snapper, it was prolly the most accurate toy ED going

Youre also making me want a form2

 

[Duncanator]

Wow! The mesh on ED's head looks great! And the radiator in the back of his mouth looks amazing!

 

[joberg]

Fantastic work on that mesh head and I'll have to try that chrome paint also!

 

[RoboForceGo]

Made a lot of progress this weekend!

 

[FriedrichFuchs1]

Splendid work! Once it's done you should try recreating ED-209 movements for comparison to the movie model.

 

[Chaank]

This is coming out really nice dude. You should consider doing kits

 

[joberg]

Extremely beautiful all over

 

[g0rb]

Sublime... this looks very cool. Well done!

 

[Duncanator]

Looking great!

 

[RoboForceGo]

ED's nearly finished! Just missing a few wires and the decals. Unfortunately I had to freeze a lot of his joints because the tolerances were too loose, so it's just a statue now.

Moving onto the backroom of the OCP boardroom set next.

 

[MangyDog]

still amazingly stunning

 

[Hoplitespear]

Nice one! Looks beautifull.

 

[doppelganger]

So you have made an exceptional ED-209 and are showing it off on The RPF...... I hope you've made enough for EVERYBODY!?!?

Seriously though this is incredible, I cannot believe the quality and resolution of those prints. Mind blowing.