Making of Bilial Part 5

Today I have finally completed all the sculpting work on Bilial.  I still need to wait for the final green stuff to cure and then I will have to clean him with some water and dish soap to get all the dust and yuck off his surface before I can paint him.

What do you guys think?

I had to change the pose from the basic concept since I messed up on the shield position.

Fully realize that his cape is not smooth at all. I wanted to go for a more raged looking cape then a perfect one.

 

So there he is, Bilial (pending a name change) Master of the Deathwing

Making of Bilial Part 4

Good news, my version of bilial is finally coming together nicely and is almost done. So far, I have sculpted on additional details on his cape and added more cloth on his waist. The only thing, or among a bit here and there, I need to do is attach his arms, head, and sculpt in some soft armor and he is finished.

Good timing as well, since my airbrush has arrived and paint is on the way. Soon, my Bilial will stand strong!!

Here are some pictures of what I done. Even though these updates are small, boy it sure took a long time making each sculpt.

Making of Bilial Part 3

I wanted to change the look on his cape so I started out from the beginning by redoing the structure. The main reason why I wanted to change it is because the original structure made the cape look unnatural. The strange shape just stabbed out whenever I look at him and that is not good in terms of painting it. To make a good paint or even just a decent one, the sculpt has to at least be decent. By adding another rod to the structure, it gave me the look I was going for, 4 folds in the cape. Plus, I bended the outer rods to make the cape look more wavy and more natural and I wanted the cape to look more like a "Batman" sort of cape where the end is wider than the beginning. Personally, I find it cool to look at. The hardest part was creating a bent structure that was even in length. Even though I did not get it perfectly equal, it will look just fine or at least, that is how I picture it in my head.

 

After rolling up some green stuff to make it as thin as possible while maintaining its strength and adhesiveness, I managed to complete it. I still need to sculpt in some final details where the cape meets his body and at the end of the cape but over all, I think it went every well and came out just the way I wanted it to.

The only bad thing that came out of this was I will need to repose him. The cape span and his shoulder pad can not meet since I do not want that to happen. Instead of a charging position, I decided to go for sort of like a "Bring it on" type of pose. This will be achieved by posing both of his arms in an opened position. They will bend back towards the back. He will look something like the picture.

Making of Bilial Part 2

I just got back from Boston yesterday. So I may not have a lot of updates for this entry. Before I left I managed to string a couple of pieces of wire together intended to be the frame for this cape. I may change the design a bit this week though since three folds in a cape sounds wrong for some reason. Again the technique I am using for building the cape is from The Fortress of the Unforgiven. I can't emphasize more of how helpful their tutorials are.

Before making the cape frame, I wanted to add some more detail to his back area. Since I already sculpted on cloth/robes to his chest region, I wanted it to continue to the back.

I was not as worried about the level of details here since the majority of it will be cover or block from sight from the cape I will be putting on him. Therefore, as you can see, the robes on his back are like they are. Well, at least I did manage to make them look convincing enough in my point of view. Again on The Fortress of the Unforgiven site, you can find numerous tricks and tips on creating robes or just search the popular forums for them. There are plenty on the net.

After I got back, I found that one of my packages has arrived. This order was made from Scibor which is one of the best makers of custom resin pieces and models on the net today. I wanted to add some originality to my Dark Angel chapter with some easy conversions, piece swaps. Here are what I order and how it looks on my Bilial model. (pictures of the actual pieces on bilial will be updated later)

Making of Bilial Part 1

I went through the codex and checked several websties about Dark Angel list making and who to choose as a HQ. After reading, I decided to go with Bilial. You are probably saying "No S*%T Sherlock!" and I don't blame you. He is probably the most over used HQ choice, period! Yet, because of the limitation of an old book, he is probably the only viable choice. Well, the biker dude is pretty cool and useful but I don't have the cash or the mind set to tackle a large fine cast model and when I do, I will be certain to take as many pictures and videos of what poor quality, or good, I receive.

Enough talking for now, here are some pictures for "The Making of Bilial" Blog

Firstly, I had to gather the pieces. Now these are not all of what I am planning to use. I still have some parts in the mail, when it will get here, I have no idea.The parts I gathered so far are basic parts from your normal Terminator Assault box. I got a Thunder Hammer, shield arm, legs, torso, and head. I decided not to use a helmet since in the Codex picture, Bilial isn't wearing one and I decided to use a bald head because, again, in the picture he doesn't have hair but I might add some though. It depends on how adventurous I want to be since the last time I attempted to sculpt hair did not end so well.

Secondly, I adjusted the legs by doing some repositioning by pining as well adding some cork to the base. Pretty standard stuff so far and I am pleased with the results.
I decided to pose him this way because I wanted him to look like he is charging over some rocks with his shield in a "Get the F**K out of the way" position and his hammer ready to bash some alien or heretic scum.

Thirdly, after getting the pose I wanted, I started with the repositioning of the legs. I sawed the leg into four main pieces and re assembled them using the pinning technique. You can find how to do this in plenty of places, but you can go here, Various Tutorials.

The conversion was basic but it did take a lot of planning and cutting. So if you want to try something like this, make sure you have the proper tools and protection. It isn't worth it to lose a finger!

Fourthly, after the glue dried and all of the pins were secured in to place, as well as there was not movement in the pieces, I added some green stuff on to the model.

This was probably the hardest part so far since I never sculpted whole terminator legs or feet before and the results, well, are not as I planned. However, I do have plenty of ideas on how to fix it. For now, I needed the frame to be secure so the level of quality will do for now. 

Lastly, I wanted to add some character into the model so he really stood out from other marines and can fully call himself "Master of the Deathwing".

So naturally, I added some robes/cloak/cape thing on his chest. This will continue to his back as well but not blocking the vents in his armor. Also, I am going to add more robes hanging from his belt and add robes along his body. Maybe I will use this to block the hideous leg I sculpted. I am not sure yet.

To conclude the look, I am planning to add a cape by using inspiration from The Fortress of Unforgiven. I stumbled upon this site late one night and was immediately impressed with the numbers of Dark Angel related articles and tutorials they had. It is a shame that this web site has not been updated or touched by the moderators or owners since 2007. So most of the models on their site are mostly old school, which for some is a treat but not for me really. I prefer the newer sculpts from Games-Workshop. The old ones just look weird!

Final thoughts, I really recommend anyone to get some professional or proper wax carvers. I have been sculpting for over two years and just recently invested in some proper tools. They make a lot of different in terms of ease of execution in what you have in mind as well as putty manipulation.

What do you guys think of him so far?