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WIP (commissioned) Left 4 Dead Diorama WIP

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  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
WIP (commissioned) Left 4 Dead Diorama WIP
Posted by smeagol the vile on Friday, August 28, 2009 7:08 PM

Ok, a clan mate of mine has commissioned me to build him a Diorama based off one of the games we play together.  "Left 4 Dead" is the game, its by the company 'Valve.'  The commision itself is a diorama wherein 'special infected' (infected humans that mutated more then the common infected) are ambushing a lone survivor.  

Before I go into the wip ill give some background and base on the game and the specific characters I am going to use in this dio.

The 'lone' survivor.  While the game is 4 player co-op and has 4 seperate survivors I felt that using 4 would clutter up the dio and reduce the tension that just one would cause.

This is Louis, he will be the lone survivor.



Example of Common infected (storming survivors held up in a child's bedroom inside a farmhouse)



Smoker



Witch



Hunter



 

For those who dont play or never saw the game before Ill explain a bit of it.  Zombie Apoclypse, starting 2 weeks after the first infection.  The infection is a mutated Rabies Virus.  Some infected mutate more then others, there are 5 of these.

The hunter which can grip walls and can launch themselves with a high velocity to pounce and tackle their prey.

The smoker has two abilities, one passive one active,  The passive is a cloud of smoke that he emmits that chokes survivors, the active is a long tongue it can use to snare and pull in survivors.  

The Boomer which has an extremly large stomach and vomits up a bile onto survivors causing a horde of common infected to attack as well as blinding those hit (they explode on being hit, spraying the bile everywhere as well)

Then there is the Witch, she sits in one place, crying.  If you avoid her your fine, but if she is disturbed (walking to close, shooting, shining your flashlight on her, looking at her) she will get angry, start screaming, then attack.  She incaps a survivor in one hit and it takes her a few seconds to completly kill one before running off.

Last there is the tank, the upper body of this infected looks like it took 500 times the dose of steriods, just a mass of muscle (semi funny because the legs are normal) and it is missing it's bottom jaw.  One punch can send a survivor flying yards.  It can also pick up hunks of rock and cement from udner it and throw them as well as hitting objects like cars, logs, dumpsters, and others, sending them flying at survivors to instantly incapisitate them

There are 4 survivors, Zoey (a college student) Bill (Vietnam Vet) Louis (middle managment type) and Francis (Biker gang member).  They are the characters you play as, they are immune to the infection, you follow them through 4 campaigns which play like movies without narration.  Any information you get about the story line comes from dialouge between the characters and graffiti scrawled on the walls though not all advice given there is correct






There are also some quite disturbing ones, the main one being when you have to hold out in a church, every inch of the walls are just scrolled with RIP messages

And something that always made the game super freaky to me.  It takes place close to home







Now that the background on the project is out of the way, onto the WIP and the details.

At the moment he has left it open to exactly what he wants, giving me some creative content,  He just knows that he wants the hunter pouncing off of the church wall.

For the base, he chose this.  While it is large, I love the mini art dios and will have alot of fun building it up, though the cleaning it up is a pain.



for the figures he has chosen, though, when it is finished, they will bear no resemblance to what they were.




I just got the supplies today and have started work ASAP.



Ontop of the figgures he purchased I may use a few from my own stash to beef up the dio a bit, hes a friend I dont mind using my stash for it.





I also got the package of milliput in the same day.  What a stroke of luck they came on friday too.  I have all weekend to work on this.



Now, with this wip officially started I wanted to ask a Q, with these hollow vacuform bases, how can I reinforce the bottom so they wont ever sag?

 

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Sunday, August 30, 2009 9:28 AM

Some updates.  Sorry for the lense flares, I couldnt get a shot without the sun being in the shot.

what you can't see is that inorder to help the putty and sanding process on the building I put excess strips of the vacuform plastic on the inside to reinforce the rear and give the putty a backing.

 

Now, onto the figures.  I have started on the figures.  Inorder to give a milliput test I decided to try out sculpting the witch's hair.  So I just got some thin putty and wrapped it around the head, pressd it as close as possible, cut off excess.  I used the excess and rolled it in my hand till it was long and thin.  I then cut those in half with a razor blade and attached them to the head.

My biggest issue so far is that the character wears limited clothes, a ripped spahgetti strap shirt and panties, so I am attempting to scratch mold some bare feet, its going to take some practice.

 

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: Massachusetts
Posted by jadgpanther302 on Sunday, August 30, 2009 10:31 AM
Looks like it's going to be pretty cool. My firends love this game. Unique dio too.
  • Member since
    December 2008
  • From: Las Vegas, Nevada
Posted by model maniac 96 on Sunday, August 30, 2009 2:20 PM
Ditto, this is going to be good.


Thanks, Jim
"Veni, Vidi, Vici" Julius Caesar: I came, I saw, I conquered.
  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Oregon
Posted by falschimjager on Saturday, September 5, 2009 2:40 AM

I see those germans, you mention videogames and zombies and i think of COD5. this'll be an interesting dio to watch.

-My brother wanted to do a nazi zombies dio once (the whole first map) but it was a pipe dream 'cause he's lazy. Big Smile [:D]

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Saturday, September 5, 2009 11:18 AM





 

So this is my progress so far.  I sanded the detail off of the chest, added bewbs then a thin layer of putty over it and sculpted it into a torn tank top.  I need to sand the back down a bit to make it thin enough, she seems hunch backed at this point

The rest of the shots are of the accessories for the survivor I started, a molotov coctail and a Med kit. (I may redo the bottle)

 

 

 

  • Member since
    March 2004
Posted by Grimmo on Sunday, September 6, 2009 7:17 PM
I am looking forward to this build! I love this game!
  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Colorado
Posted by psstoff995 on Monday, September 7, 2009 9:31 AM
Looking good so far- really like the hair on the witch. I've only played through it once as I don't own it, but it was a pretty cool game. I don't know about totally redoing the bottle- maybe just cut the bottom so it's flush with the blue section? It looks too rounded down there and I think it needs to be more flat

-Chris

US Army Infantryman

  • Member since
    March 2006
Posted by TD4438 on Monday, September 7, 2009 11:22 AM

OMG!

I love this game and will be watching this build take shape.

  • Member since
    January 2008
  • From: Bournemouth UK
Posted by Bodge on Monday, September 7, 2009 3:56 PM
Very interesting indeed.
  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Monday, September 7, 2009 4:02 PM

I did cut the bottle flush, Im thinking of redoing it becuase I didnt sculpt the rag into it

plus it seems to be missing...  I also think that I might sculpt a pipebomb instead of a molly. 

As I keep working though im getting more of an idea of how this is going to look when it's finished

for the small non church building I took the door size and cut some plastic out to fit snuggly, and using some screenshots Im going to make a safehouse door

 

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: University of Dayton
Posted by arkhunter2002 on Monday, September 7, 2009 4:46 PM

That's pretty sweet!  Fun game too...

I was thinking about doing one in 1/72 where all 4 of them are in a tight 360 and have a horde be surrounding them, because caeser miniatures has the perfect figures for it, they need to be modified a little bit.

I do like the witches hair too.

Are you making that type of safehouse door, or the one that you run into?  Because the one that you need to close is pretty much completely covered with a small window that you can barely see out of.  Just something to think about.

 

Take care,

Austin

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Monday, September 7, 2009 6:52 PM
I'm doing that kind there, I already have the window cut out, just have to cut strips for the extra metal and such

 

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Charlottesville Va
Posted by Stern0 on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 5:49 AM

Your modding looks awsome Smeagol! You got that sculpting down, can't wait for more..great work!Big Smile [:D]

Always Faithful U.S.M.C
  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 6:47 PM







 

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Colorado
Posted by psstoff995 on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 6:53 PM
Not bad, not bad- one thing I'll ask though, what kind of putty? Only reason I wonder- how does it hold up to sanding and carving? Because even though your sculpting looks awesome, you'll have to go back in afterwords, do a lot of sanding, then maybe even go back into it with a new #11 blade to make the details really crisp and pop out, I'm sure you're on top of it, just wondering. Thumbs Up [tup]

-Chris

US Army Infantryman

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 9:23 PM

Its milliput. 

It starts off in two parts, you mix it together and its like soft clay

mold it, cut it and such however you want.  After a little bit it becomes really tacky so you can stick it on whatever your sculpting or whatnot.  It takes 5 hours for it to cure to sanding hardness.  After that it can be cut as well, just like any putty, but once its fully cured and dry its hard as a rock.

I have already given the witch a few sandings to get that shirt and panties nice.

 

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Colorado
Posted by psstoff995 on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 9:30 PM

Ok ok- that's cool, the pictures must have been more of the clay stage as they look a bit mushy. As I said, thought you had it all under control, I trust you'll sharpen up the edges and have this looking real nice. Thanks for the update

-Chris

US Army Infantryman

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 7:06 AM
I will, but you have to remember, somehow pictures show EVERY blemish on something's surface, stuff you wont ever see in person.

 

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Colorado
Posted by psstoff995 on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 1:28 PM
Yeah I hear you on that Grumpy [|(] lol

-Chris

US Army Infantryman

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 7:03 PM

but even so, there are some details around her neck that I need to clean up.

I cant begin to say howhappy I am with how louis's tie came out

 

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 7:44 PM

A year ago you couldn't even reposition a leg or arm on a figure...

There's hope for you yet, kid..

*Sniff*... Our little boy's growin' up...*Sniff*...

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Thursday, September 10, 2009 9:16 AM

I may not offically finish many projects but that doenst mean my skills arent increasng with each one I dont finish heh.  Thuogh, theres no option but to finish this one, gona take me forever, but im enjoying the heck out of it.

May I take your comment as you think it looks good hans?

 

I do have a problem though, its the witch's hands.  You can see from the image that her fingers are elongated by close to a foot and pointed,  I have attempted before to mold these onto a premolded hand but it didnt work.  I'm not sure how to go about doing this because its such a small scale the putty used is brittle and breaks off easily... any suggestions?

oh, I finished cleaning up the neckline for the witch, as well as cleaning up louis's tie.  now a question about the tie though, I only have one part of it, should I attempt to sculpt the small part of the tie (the part that hangs behind the main part) or leave it as is? 

 

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Thursday, September 10, 2009 1:01 PM

May I take your comment as you think it looks good hans?

Yup...

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: University of Dayton
Posted by arkhunter2002 on Thursday, September 10, 2009 5:31 PM

I would suggest having her hands be flat on the ground or fisted up, that way they aren't free supported coming out of the other fingers.  You can't do this in 1/72, but you might be able to get away with using some really fine gauge wire to give "skeleton" to the finger.  Just a thought.

 

Anyways, looking forward to seeing some more of this dio.

 

Take care,

Austin

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Colorado
Posted by psstoff995 on Thursday, September 10, 2009 6:00 PM
 smeagol the vile wrote:

 now a question about the tie though, I only have one part of it, should I attempt to sculpt the small part of the tie (the part that hangs behind the main part) or leave it as is? 

If you have some thin strip styrene handy, you might just want to cut the little shape out and then glue it on, as it might be better thickness wise and as it's small, the fact that it'd be flat and not really formed to his chest would be ok, and as the tip might actually be off of the shirt- it could give it a cool 3D look.

Looking forward to some updated pictures Smeag Thumbs Up [tup]

And ditto what Ark was saying about the wire skeleton, for any freestanding parts, I really don't think putty alone will last long

-Chris

US Army Infantryman

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Thursday, September 10, 2009 6:35 PM

that skeleton idea isnt bad, tough the hands are SMALL!

As far as the tie standing up, the figure itself is really leaning low running so the tie wouldnt be sticking out, but thats not a bad idea.  There are going to be many diffrent things that are standing out 3d so, no worried about that.

 

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Colorado
Posted by psstoff995 on Thursday, September 10, 2009 7:03 PM
Good to know on the 3D- as for the small hands, I'm assuming you mean how skinny they are? If not then NVM, but if your talking about skinny fingers- the problem is not the thickness but the length- thats why I think if you found some thin gauge wire, you could get the strength father away from the arm to suport the fingers- the picture makes it look like her claw hand wraps all the way around her body, am I seeing that wrong?

-Chris

US Army Infantryman

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Friday, September 11, 2009 9:26 AM

it depends, while that artist drew them a bit longer, they are very long

 

The length is the problem, there long, and there thin to a point at the end...  as far as wire, I have some, but it isnt stiff...

 

  • Member since
    March 2006
Posted by TD4438 on Friday, September 11, 2009 10:10 AM
Supposedly it's possible,but I've never taken out the witch with a single head-shot.

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