Jeremiah Baker - Prosthetics Project

concept sketch

sample pattern for upper arm armor

ghosted painted black

ghosted with material assignments

render 01

render 02

Concept:

     I took inspiration from a mix between Medieval and Elven armor from Lord of the Rings. The overlapping layers of metal are a very prominent feature in that style, as is the leaf pattern shown on the upper arm. Medieval armor also often employs the overlapping metal pattern, usually with a more prominent overlap to cover the elbow. After the demonstration on customizing the core arm shape, I added some gaps in the design and only added two spikes at each point, which created a very aggressive feeling armor. 

Modeling Techniques:

I used Boolean Intersection with an extruded curve and deformed sphere to create the shape for each of the leaves. I then just arranged them around the basic arm shape. I followed the demonstration from class to add detail to the main arm shape. (This included unrolling a developable surface from the arm shape, drawing a pattern on the surface, and then copying it back to the 3D surface using FlowAlongSrf) The spikes were fun to make. I started with curves in 3D space, which I used to create a three sided pyramid shape. I then used the bend command in 2 different directions to create the final shape. I then just arranged the spikes along the arm. After the main model was finished, I used the bend command on the entire arm to give the arm a bit of bend at the elbow. 

Materials:

For the materials, I used a leather for the main arm to mimic the feel of armor. I originally wanted to do the leaves in a grassy material, but decided the gem stones worked better for the piece. For the spikes, I used a scratched metal texture to create the feel of them being battle worn.