Hello there, here's my entry (wip) for the nurbsandpolys.com modeling contest. Looks like I'm a bit off topic (the overall shape is not retro enough), so I'm really open to any idea/suggestion to improve the model in the right way (but I don't want to restart from scratch ;))

So awsome!

If I had to critic the retro aspect, I would say the hip joint/midsection area couldnt have been so streamlined in the old day's. There would need to be more bulk there. Also, The feet could be track driven.

Very cool!
Burr

Hi BurrMan, thanks to give some advice !

Just to be sure I get you, do you mean this is to small/tiny ?



About the feet, I like the idea to put some rollers to this guy, that might be funny :o) (is that the idea ?)

In the fifteen rollers don't exist, it was four wheels !


here just for the fun http://www.shadow.org.uk/projects/bipedEnlarged.shtml

Wow, he sure looks cool PaQ!

re: 50's style.... Actually it seems like you've got some good elements in there for that. Maybe the amount of detail that you've got slightly works against that, I guess kind of those style robots have a pretty darn small number of parts.

Maybe one thing that would be easy to tune is to replace the shoulder joint with one that was not so flexible as a ball socket, more like a fixed hinge.

That one piece being different could possibly give a much stronger 50's feel without much other changes:




Kind of a strategic "downgrade" of just a couple of joints (particularly the shoulder) may really do the trick for the styling...

- Michael

And is he maybe going to have red glowing eyes?

Hi Paq,

Not really just a "particular" point of the waist but more "The overall".

Michael actually posted a good example of what was in my head. Back in the fifties the engineers didnt have the technolgy to make something so advanced. So the "Arnold Swartzenegger" V-type Muscle shape doesnt scream "Fifties". Please dont get me wrong Paq, Much better than I could do...Just trying to be the second set of eyes if you wanted.

If the "Body Shape" were upsidedown, so the legs were attached to where the arms are, and the arms are attached to where the legs are...The "Weighted Effect" of the overall robot would be more fifties realistic. You probably couldnt REDO the model this way at this point, but you could easily fool around with"Adding Weight" to the hip/joint area to see if it changes it to give you the feel you want.

Burr

Here's a shot of the "Nasa Crawler" That I was imagining with the feet.



If your not sure what this is you could google "Nasa Crawler" to see the track system that could driver johnny!

@Pilou Thanks for the link (je trouvais plus simple de dire roller que patin a roulette en anglais :P)

@Michael

Freezing/downdrage joints might be a solution, I will give a try for the shoulders for this version. I'm still wondering if the best solution should be to rebuild an other
robot, more blocky etc... it's just that I don't have a lot of fun to build so simple model :o). I've put lot of work in the joints, to make them working, and having a lot of freedom for pose the character, so downgrade this area is quite hard for my little heart :P

About the glow, sure eyes and the body will have some glow/light effect in ... but this kind of detail are not take in account for the contest. (pure modeling here).

@Burrman
No problem, I appreciate your input. In fact as I'm planning to build a different version, all your remarks will be take in account for the new one, especially the track stuff, can add some complexity to the model :)

I also understand the limitation they had in the '50 to build complex shape for toys, but I was more trying to build a real model, or a model that might be construct for some movies etc. I don't really understand why all this '50 models were looking so ... naive. When you see the kind of cars/aircraft/war machine they was able to build, I don't really understand why the limit themself so much when creating 'futuristic' models.

Paq,
Also, Now that I see you're modeling with bone kinetics and such, I understand. Good luck, I'll watch for the model in the end.

"Break a tie rod"!

That's a great robot design but there wasn't many Robot Monsters from the 50's B movies.

If you had did Forbidden Planet's Robby or Gort from the Day the Earth Stood Still, that would have been instantly recognizable.


I was tempted to enter doing a Gort model since the remake is coming out soon with Keanu Reeves - can't wait for that.


The only robot monster I can think of but is so simple to do (unless you do an animated scene with it walking around with lightning bolts and all) is Kronos ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ErOqYD-i3Q )




-Will

Hi Will, that's my problem ... how having fun to build such a simple model, simplicity affraid me I guess :o)

Can't resit to do a quick render from the actual model ... still so many things to do :)
(Would love to find a way to match MoI camera to other 3D package camera, so I can use the cool Moi's wireframe over a g.i. render pass)

Cool PaQ !


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Nice GI render, PAQ!

Yeah that's a hella nice model no matter what! I love the leg and foot work!

-Will

I feel like I'm changing my original comments after seeing this render. For some reason it seems more believable to me now. I cant put my finger on it though!

FYI

hehe thanks :)

If someone has a cool technical reference of a clamp (? google translate for something like this ->



Not sure how to put a retro look for this kind of tool either.

++

http://sti.tice.ac-orleans-tours.fr/spip/article.php3?id_article=283
http://www.robotshop.ca/kit-pince-robodyssey.html

Bonjour PaQ,

Search for "mechanical claw" in Google images ?

-Michel

Ok it's called 'claw', thanks for the help Michel.
First entry, perfect ->



This robot shop is super cool :) merci Pilou

Didn't match the photo at all, but I'm pleased with the overall volume :o) (Don't think my version will work either ...)