A temporary resurrection . .

I had moved my art activities over to Deviant Art but I need to make some blog posts for a class I am taking, so we are temporarily reviving Blendoggery. Don't you die on me, old girl! Clear! Ka-chunk! We got a pulse! Anyway, I'll post a few updates of the models I was working on when I last updated this blog way back when. Here are some pics of the Rico model. I finished the texturing and have completed a fairly functional skeleton rig for the body, allowing me to pose and animate the character. I started work on a facial rig but never completed it. I would love to dig back into Blender at some point, but I don't have the time for it right now.

Johnny Rico and Jetboat

A little more work got done on my Johnny Rico model. The boots got some buckles and I started on the kneepads.

After months of working on my Johnny Rico model, I was sick of looking at it, so I decided to work on something else for a little while. I thought I would pick something simple and quick, and the Jetboat from one of the episodes of Roughnecks:Starship Troopers Chronicles seemed to be just the thing. This thing has been kicking my butt since the very beginning. It's only in the show for a short amount of time, so the reference I have for it isn't the greatest and I'm spending a lot of time going frame by frame, trying to figure out how it was built. This also has my first attempt at shape keys in Blender with the inflatable pontoons. Only a little further to go and then I can do a quick texture job on it.

Johnny Rico 3-21-12

My Roughneck trooper model moves forward. I made hip pads and pouches and then I've been working on the boots, and they are taking me a while, since my reference for them isn't the greatest. They are still very much a work in progress.

Johnny Rico 3-12-12

Progress being made. Added more parts to the chest piece, added the belly padding, made a belt and the flaps that hang down over the crotch and the butt.

Johnny Rico 3-07-12

Moving along at my usual leisurely pace. The shoulder pads were looking too puffy, so I've thinned them out some and continued making the pieces down the arm.

Johnny Rico model 3-1-12

Since finishing the Skimmer model, I have secluded myself in a distant, mountaintop monastery and set about learning the ways of Blender 2.6. I hated it with a deep hate at first but as I've worked with it, it's grown on me and I started to understand appreciate most of the changes that have been made since 2.49. I've been downloading and watching hundreds of video tutorials and I've been blown away by how little I knew before and how much Blender is capable of. Anyway, I've taken a stab at organic modeling, one of my weak spots , and was able to make a human head that bore a passing resemblance to the Johnny Rico character from Roughnecks. For the time being, until I find a good tutorial for modeling a male body, I've attached his head to a male base mesh model I downloaded from Blender Cookie. I'm working on building the powersuit now. Here are some pics of my progress. I'll throw some more up as I move along, but updates may be few and far between. I work slow.

Skimmer 1-2-12

It's been a long time since I posted anything on here, but I've actually been working on texturing the Skimmer model for several months. I've grown sick of looking at it, so it will have to be called finished, for now anyways.

Blender recently updated and the new version looks completely foreign to me. So the next project I start work on is going to be slow going as I learn the new interface.