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 10, ep. 70 - Gear tour #1 - Gaahleri 1

Metamorphosis week 10, ep. 70 - Gear tour #1 - Gaahleri 2

Metamorphosis week 10, ep. 70 - Gear tour #1 - Gaahleri 3

Metamorphosis week 10, ep. 70 - Gear tour #1 - Gaahleri 4

Metamorphosis week 10, ep. 70 - Gear tour #1 - Gaahleri 5

Sci-Fi

69 days ago

Cristian Carlone

@cristiancarlone | Sci-Fi

Metamorphosis week 10, ep. 70 - Gear tour #1 - Gaahleri

Ciao! While waiting to pick the photos for the final submission (the SD card reader arrived today!), here is the display of the modeling gear I used for this project, starting with the ones from our gracious host: Gaahleri

- TURBOX mini compressor

- Swallowtail airbrush (Barbatos rex edition)

- Kaleidos mecha paints ( Olive green, dark olive green and carbon black)

- Kaleidos matt varnish, thinner and cleaner

- Kaleidos metallic markers.

The other tools will be part of the upcoming posts.

AQ
Arvin Quezada69 days ago
The newest addition of mini compressor will be reveal soon
- CC
  Cristian Carlone68 days ago
  Replying to Arvin Quezada
  @arvinquezada, thanks! I look forward to see the announcement.
G
gekoch69 days ago
I want that brush with a Fan Cap . For larger project.
DM
Doug Mulle69 days ago
It's so aggravating when those SD cards give you issues!
- CC
  Cristian Carlone69 days ago
  Replying to Doug Mulle
  @dougmulle , thank you! The issue is with my laptop that does have a slot for mini SD only. I bought a SD reader on line and now I’m good ☺️

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