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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After metamorphosis, ep. 11 - older photos

Sci-Fi

42 days ago

Cristian Carlone

@cristiancarlone | Sci-Fi

After metamorphosis, ep. 11 - older photos

Ciao! These are older photos took during the metamorphosis work in progress. Some may be duplicates of images I posted earlier, butt it’s good to showcase my project as we approach the finish line!

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ozzys41 days ago
Excellent work buddy :)
- CC
  Cristian Carlone41 days ago
  Replying to ozzys
  @ozzys, thank you!
ZH
Zeon Hunter42 days ago
This looks awesome !!! Great job
- CC
  Cristian Carlone42 days ago
  Replying to Zeon Hunter
  @zeonhunter, thank you!
AG
Aaron Grider42 days ago
Im still new, bur does the Zaku's eye remain red without power?Am I overthinking it? It looks very cool.
- CC
  Cristian Carlone42 days ago
  Replying to Aaron Grider
  @aarongrider, thank you for your interest and comment! 😊 I’m not an expert on the monoeye either, but the Zaku in my project is powered and active, trying to, uselessly, escape from the metamorphosis. Reading the explanation of the project on my bio page may help to frame the narrative.

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