Cristian Carlone

Ciao! This update highlights an error I tend to make too often when I’m engaged in a modeling project. I‘m too much into it that I forget to stop, take a step back and evaluate the progress so far to identify issues, flaws or mistakes. It’s a sort of tunnel vision where my peripheral perception disappears and I lose track of the project as a whole and only look at specific details or aspects forgetting the rest. This is exactly what happened with the tentative to blend the Zaku into the bark and removing rhe shine.

Luckily, a do-over is possible and this exactly what I will do in the coming days. A fresh start on the blending to ensure a closer resemblance with the bark, smoother edges and a coarser texture.

A big THANK YOU to this amazing GWCC community for their encouragement, comments, constructive criticism and ideas. A special thanks to Mecha Painter and to Christopher Koch. You know why! 😉

The photo shows the primary “tools” I’ll employ for the do over. Wish me luck!

Ciao! I’m not happy about the results. As some comments pointed out the transition of the clay to the bark is not smooth and the surface is not fully textured as the bark and still too shiny….

I think “drastic” actions are needed….

Ciao! Facing trouble in removing the glossy sheen from the painted clay surface. I’m appling pigments and the a matt varnish. Let’s see how it will look like after this process….

Ciao! An annoying glossy look is present on the painted clay. I“ll start to tey removing it applying some matt varnish using a brush. I’m hopeful…..

Ciao! Today is focusing on some light dry brushing on the raised parts of the ”melting Zaku”.
Wet palette and my home made wiping board to apply a gentle dry brushing.

I started to notice a shine on the surface that I do not like and will need to be addressed later.

Also, the outer edges of the clay do not blend too smoothly with bark and will need fixing too.

Ciao! To give depth to the bark/melting portion of the Zaku, it’s time for some washes. I use Flory Models water-based clay washes because of their matt finishing andcease of application.
I used 3 different washes and once dry I partially removed them with s slighty damp paper towel gently rubbing the raised surface.

Ciao! No, it’s not a dog’s calling 😃 I continue working on recreating a bark effect around the Zaku waist during its metamorphosis. After the primary colors I applied a mix of the primary colors in a semi wet blending fashion to create transitions from the bark to a lighter brown-green to a darker green symbolizing the gradual transformation.

lt’s a lengthy process that will require more future steps. Hopefully convincing…..

Ciao! This updates shows the primary colors of the ”metamorphic“ Zaku being completed.
This is the foundation of the next blending, shading, weathering to give the transformation a (hopefully) cohesive look.

Stay tuned!

Ciao! This short update shows the initial bark color using a dark brown and a terracotta. These base colors will be modified with various shades to adjust to the bark and the Zaku skirt’s colors as much as possible…. Stay tuned.

Ciao! A quick update today. Started coloring the base of the metamorphosis using Kaleidos dark olive green, the same color of the Zaku skirt. This color will be the first of some layers I’ll try to modulate to recreate the transition from the Zaku to the bark.

I never tried this before…. Wish me luck!