Cristian Carlone

@cristiancarlone

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Project Summary

This project draws on two passages from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, both describing humans transformed into trees — not as illustration, but as inspiration for a scene in its own right. The discovery of a beautiful piece of bark during a mountain hike with my wife provided the ideal starting point. The kit I chose is a vintage Zaku II in 1/144 scale.

The first of the two passages is from Book I, where the nymph Daphne, fleeing Apollo, begs her father Peneus to change her form:

“….. A filmy rind about her body grows; Her hair to leaves, her arms extend to boughs: The nymph is all into a lawrel gone;…...”

The second passage comes from Book VIII, where the elderly Baucis and Philemon are transformed together at the moment of death — bark sealing their final words to one another:

“Old Baucis is by old Philemon seen Sprouting with sudden leaves of spritely green: ……., And saw his lengthen’d arms a sprouting wood: New roots their fasten’d feet begin to bind, Their bodies stiffen in a rising rind: Then, ere the bark above their shoulders grew,…..”

This diorama imagines a Zaku II, mid-patrol, seized by a sudden and rapid metamorphosis into bark. The cause is deliberately left untold — the scene is concerned only with the fact that it is happening, not why. The mecha shows only minor wear and tear: this is not an abandoned machine reclaimed slowly by time, but an active one undergoing an unexpected transformation.

Its legs have already been absorbed into the tree — only two broken fragments of a leg’s connecting cable remain, snapped off and emerging from the bark. The skirt armor has started its transformation, shards of bark protruding between the skirt gaps. The shield at its side is more advanced in the transformation, the wood having taken over it’s lower part. Vines emerge from the bark and slither along and over the Zaku’s arms and upper body, pinning it down the way roots seal over anything in their path. The shoulders are also covered, like vegetation hands holding it down. The mecha cannot pull free; it is being covered, so the transformation can continue. Still, in a futile attempt, one arm tries to lift what’s left of the body; the other reaches out, its hand open, fingers spread, in a call for help that will go unanswered.

Using natural bark, moss, and lichen, this piece is inspired by Ovid but also pays a small homage to a recurring theme in Tomino’s Gundam saga: nature reclaiming what humanity has taken from it.

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Metamorphosis week 6, ep. 37 - Washes time 1

Metamorphosis week 6, ep. 37 - Washes time 2

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Metamorphosis week 6, ep. 37 - Washes time 10

Sci-Fi

103 days ago

Cristian Carlone

@cristiancarlone | Sci-Fi

Metamorphosis week 6, ep. 37 - Washes time

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.

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HANGAR78102 days ago
This is a super unique concept like how it’s coming along!
- CC
  Cristian Carlone102 days ago
  Replying to HANGAR78
  @Gabriel Jimenez, thank you a lot. The inspiration came from this old piece of bark and the classic latin poet Ovid (Ovidio) and his poem “The Metamorphosis”
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Kodiak102 days ago
This is looking great!
- CC
  Cristian Carlone102 days ago
  Replying to Kodiak
  @Kodiak, thank you! I’m happy you like it.
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MechaPainter102 days ago
The idea is to have the bark blend into the Zaku so it looks like the wood is morphing into the Zaku? The edge of the transition needs to be more gradual. IMO, add another layer and find some bark to use as a stamp on the putty... smart the texture in and you'll have more control and be able to blend it better.
- CC
  Cristian Carlone102 days ago
  Replying to MechaPainter
  @MechaPainter, your advice is greatly appreciated! I noticed too the edges are a bit too thick. I’ll follow your advice and will smooth the new edges even more and better to make them thinner. The idea of using a piece of bark as texture matrix is brilliant! This is what I love about the modeling community, helping out fellow modelers and providing constructive criticism. Thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤️
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GunplaForJoy103 days ago
Looking good, I love the use of the bark as the base
- CC
  Cristian Carlone103 days ago
  Replying to GunplaForJoy
  @GunplaForJoy , thank you. I’m happy you like my choice of natural materials. I like using real materials in my diorama whenever possible.
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Christopher Koch103 days ago
This such a neat mixed media idea
- CC
  Cristian Carlone103 days ago
  Replying to Christopher Koch
  @Christopher Koch , thank you so much. I like to experiment and tey things. That’s the beauty of our hobby!

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