Fred Pred Custom - Update 19/04/13 - Longest Journey Ever!

[Giles]

Hi everyone, I posted my introduction back on the intro board but to save some time, I'm Giles, 26 from Cardiff. I've loved the Predator films for some time and have always wanted to put together a kick ass costume but have never got round to making a predator one (I always seem to go overboard on costumes but believe that you either do it right or not at all). Anyways, having spent some time on the forum, reading and trying to pick up tips, I bit the bullet, got myself some Klean Klay in grey regular and set about my first sculpt. This is the modified version as my first one was too small so I basically scalped my pred to build up the crown of the skull a bit more and tried to put human anatomy out of my mind.

I've tried to absorb general ideas, other peoples sculpts (which are absolutely fantastic, really love the snow pred) but I really want to make this hunter a one off as much as possible and bring something new to everyone. Other than the films I haven't really got into the comic books or anything else so I have my own take on where this guy is coming from. I liked the idea of ancient civilisations making sacrifices for the hunt (AVP) so I looked into Mayan history and discovered sacrifices were painted blue before being killed, so I'm planning on eventually giving this guy a blueish hue which in my head reflects the Mayan's painting their sacrifices blue in honour of the 'gods from the sky'. I know I'm taking liberties with Mayan history here but I think it's a cool idea, if it's been done before then I apologise in advance.

I was hoping for a bit of advice as to how it is looking and whether anyone can offer some pointers. At the moment I know that the symmetry is very off but I'm trying to get the basic shape right before worrying about symmetry too much and moving into any sort of detail. I'm also debating whether to build another ridge extending further out under the current ridge, thoughts?? I have have thick skin and no problem at all with criticism as long as it is constructive.

Anyway hope you like it!

 

[Blade3327]

Excellent job on smoothing the beast. That can sometimes be a tedious process.
I'd say it looks like you're using a lot of cutting or ripping-then-smoothing to make this mask. Try to start out with the simple duck-face shape, then add onto it and sculpt as much by hand as you can, to give it a more organic look. Plus this way, it's easier to fix symmetry issues and you'll get an even better feel for how everything is attached and works.

Hope this helps .

 

[Giles]

Thanks Blade, It's a bit of a struggle having never seen a pred head before but I think I can safely say that I am hooked already! THanks for the advice on using my hands rather than cutting etc. I'm new to clay sculpting so I'm still finding a technique that gives me control over the clay. There's probably easier things to start with but then where's the challenge in that!

 

[torredator]

this looks awesome!
can't wait to see this finished!

 

[Giles]

Just a quick update on where this is going. I've spent a bit more time on the inside of the mouth and the mandibles. I'm not happy at all with the lower mandibles and can't get the top mandibles right at all. The 'tusks/teeth' are currently sculpted in place mainly as a guide for everything else. The crown is a major work in progress and i'm starting to play about with ideas, though some serious re-modelling is more than likely. The cuts in the mandible skin are for symmetry guidance and will get filled in and textured properly.

Any pointers/suggestions/ideas at this point would be greatly appreciated!

I understand this is my first sculpt and is therefore not necessarily as interesting/worthy of comment as someones 10th or 15th sculpt, a P1 or P2 sculpt (no offense or dismissal intended here as the P1 and P2 sculpts on the Lair are incredible and have obviously taken a huge investment in time and require some serious skill and have provided me with a lot of inspiration) nor is there a huge amount of detail or texture on it at the moment! But I'm putting these photos up here as I feel this is the best place to get 'quality' feedback.

I just don't really want to end up in a position of posting a "final" sculpt or pictures of a first pull after a few months and then get lots of feedback saying the mandible are too small/crown too small/detail lacking etc

Thanks for reading

 

[Blade3327]

Don't worry about it, bro. Spend some time looking at the general shapes and the way the facial muscle structure flows. Dunno if this helps as it's a closed-mouth P1, but here's a little diagram of the basic mouth structure:

Notice how on the lower jaw area, there is a skinny mandible extension before the large teeth start. However on the upper jaw area, there is just a flap of skin that surrounds the big teeth or wraps around the base of them. The shape of the mouth is like a trapezoid, as shown by the thin white lines.
The eyebrows (and you seem to be pretty good on these, and all Preds are different) curl up and the underside of them becomes larger and curves down around the eye sockets.
The crown starts a little behind the lower jaw and curves up. The further up you get, the larger the holes for the dreads are.

Once again, not sure how much of a help it is, but that's how I read the structure.

 

[DarkFlamePredator]

Well what do you know? Another member from South Wales. Hello there and enjoy your stay.

 

[Giles]

So I have basically had a bit of time off the sculpt in order to sit back and reassess, by staring at it sat on my kitchen table which i'm sure my housemates are loving! Anyway, I decided to rip most of the mouth and mandibles out and start again after looking at Blades advice.

So this is a bit of an update, I added the dread holes to the back and did some detailing on the crown, and i think I've managed to get a bit more shape to the mouth.

So if anyone wants to comment or throw any suggestions feel free.

Cheers

 

[Tatsu]

Wow!!! Massive improvement you've got there, not that the 1st rough sculpt was by any means bad, but just seeing that update less than a month apart... wow. Nice job

 

[TokyoRose]

Kudos for having the balls to rip off the mandibles and start over. It can be hard to spend that much time on something and then tear it off and start over. I think in this case, you can definitely feel justified. It seems to have lent itself well to the overall look.

One thing that I might suggest would be to continue on with the dread holes and add a few more towards the front of the head. The area between the eye/upper mandible/crest seems like it's a bit to open. If you add a couple more dreads there, it may help bring it together. Just a suggestion though, maybe all it needs is a bit of texture. Your call.

Anyway, Keep with it. I'm really looking forward to seeing where you go with it.

 

[Blade3327]

Much better! Great job, man. Great improvement, and I love that you've started some texturing on it. Will keep checking back on this.

 

[jaz]

hey, looking good, from a fellow cardiff dewller lol

 

[anthmeister]

yea it really looks good =O

 

[Giles]

It's been a ridiculous amount of time since I last did an update so here it is. I've done a fair bit of major surgery. I started by taking out all of the detail that I had previously added (a slight tear was shed but I man'd up and got cracking) I've fattened up the mandibles and given him a wider jaw, running it a lot further up the side of the head than last time. I've thickened up the neck by a few inches and the back of the head. In addition, I've removed the top of the head and bulked it up putting a bit more of a curve on it. I've set myself a finish date for the sculpt of the end of March so the updates should be much more regular and the detail is to be added back on! (I realise he is very smooth at the moment, though maybe I'll make him Predator brother of Ross Kemp )

Just a few pics....

 

[MEANGENE83]

Here is a tip that helps me when I sculpt. I constantly remind myself that the SURFACE skin and texture must reflect a SKELETON underneath.

Remember there is a skull and bone structure under what you are making and let that guide you. Try and sculpt the skin as if its plastic pulled tight over an object... (bad analogy)

Does this make sense?

Study Study Study pictures, multiple angles. Dont be afraid to totally resculpt a certain section multiple times.

When you think its done, it isn't WORK ON IT MORE! Because once its molded, its over! No turning back. Point is take extra time.

Goodluck buddy. Your doing AWESOME!

 

[Tatsu]

It's looking fantastic, Giles. I really really dig that you're already detailing the brow & the cheeks still, the structure is really really coming together awesomely. Topic now on E-mail watch.

 

[Giles]

At the moment i'm doing about 1-2 hours in the evening every other day which is letting me get fresh eyes on "Fred" (as he's been named in the house) then do an update every four days with a couple of pics for any suggestions. I'm planning on getting some calipers at some point to get a few parts symmetrical but I want to keep a largish proportion asymmetrical so that he feels more organic. At the moment the dred holes are going in to give me some sort of idea of size and try to give me some inspiration as to how the crown is going to develop. Feel free to throw any ideas at me.

Meangene - I'm trying to visualise the skull/skeleton underneath, overall it's giving me more direction so thanks for that, though is making it a lot harder in terms of my skill current skill level! Despite about 3 hours of work since the last update i've spent most of it resculpting.

Cheers for looking.

 

[kandell1]

That is looking so beast! Great job on the attention to detail. Way better than anything I could ever sculpt :]

 

[Ozzymillz]

That is looking good. I want 1.

 

[Blade3327]

Awesome updates, Giles! Man, there's improvement with every post. This thing's looking great! MAJOR difference from when you first started and the jaws and eyebrows are looking better and better. Keep working on it, I'd love to see this badass finished.