Ray Harryhausen, the special effects master and living legend who has inspired countless people around the world, including many of the biggest names in movie making, turned 90 years old this year .... Every time I hear his name I get catapulted back to my childhood to unforgettable scenes that left me in awe of his work, ...
Three movies that had a big impact on me, ...
Jason and the Argonauts (1963),
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977), and
Clash of the Titans (1981) ... are proudly part of my movie collection, and throughout the years continue to enjoy watching them ...
So I've chosen to start a thread as a tribute to the man that defines what Fantasy & Adventure is all about, and just my way to say thanks for all those wonderful memories that fire up our imagination ...
I plan to model some of the famous characters Ray created:
TALOS (Jason and the Argonauts - 1963)
MINATON (Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger - 1977)
MEDUSA (Clash - 1981)
CYCLOPS (7th Voyage of Sinbad - 1958)
HYDRA (Argonauts - 1963)
SKELETON WARRIOR (Argonauts - 1963)
Not necessarily in that order, but starting with Talos ... .... I will keep all the different WIP in this one thread.There are other great characters by Ray of course, so I may do more down the track, ...
So I hope you enjoy the WIP pics as these characters take shape, and for some of you, .. take a trip down memory lane !! ....
Below is an Intro Pic to get an idea visually what I plan to do, and the first WIP pic to kick things off ....
Cheers
Jas
Link To Full Size Pic
The attached image below is only a thumbnail to display with the Thread title ...
Posts
Bye
I love those films, takes me back. When I were a lad....
I'll even allow your Heresy given the subject matter.
Watching
Sean
Ray Harryhausen and Willis O'Brien have to be the greatest stop motion artists that have ever lived, at least in my fantasy world! I grew up with Ray's movies and it was those movies that got me interested and invovled in stop motion when I was a kid. Using my trusty ole' Super 8 movie camera, our neighbor's G.I. Joe action figures (notice I didn't say dolls) and unlimited amount of summer days, I made many animated shorts.
Jason and the Argonauts has to be my favorite Harryhausen film. LOL, Talos always reminded me of the comedian Redd Foxx.
I am really looking forward to seeing how this thread develops.
Al
lets see what comes out here
Chris
... even it is frame by frame ...
Al
Subsribed!! I think most of us (older ones ) grew up with Rays art
Have you read his book "An Animated Life"?? Really cool!!
Al
Think I'm going to enjoy working on these models, ... haven't lost any interest in 40K, .. still very much keeping to what I've planned for that, ... just wanting a nice change. I've waited a long time to model these characters until I felt I could do them justice, .. so hopefully I aim to achieve that. There's one thing to do Character modelling, but another to have them accurate ... which will be the main challenge for me ...
@ Chanur:
I've got both 'An Animated life' and his new book 'A Life in Pictures' (released June this year) ... ordered ... so should get those soon !!
@ Tralfaz:
Ha, .. I used to do a few crazy things when I was younger too, using my dads video camera, constructing miniature sets etc, spent ages doing that stuff ... Btw the pic you posted of Redd & Talos .... That image of Talos is not the Harryhausen Movie version, ... but an imitation done by some studio .... If you compare Harryhausen's, you'll see its quite a bit different ...
@ somacruz145:
You've prompted me to do another pic for the Intro to this thread (below), mainly for those not familiar with the characters I plan to do, plus a better visual Intro prior to the WIP pics to follow ....
I've included it in this post, but my first post has also been updated with it ....
Will have the next WIP pic for Talos very soon, ... working on his head atm ...
Jas
LinkTo Full Size Pic
Especially looking forward to introducing my soon to be born son or daughter to these greats!
Cant wait to see this progress, I am sure you will do them justice!
I poly-modeled the head & helmet in MAX, i.e building the model one polygon at a time, so that I have complete control over the edge loops / facial features, ... This part of the model is now ready to be exported over to ZBrush for the final sculpt / fine surface details to match the Refs .... I applied a temp material for the WIP renders, ... but the final model will match the movie version with its appearance later ....
@ Wiz:
All the best mate for when the bubs arrives !! :thumb:
Jas
TALOS WIP 002 Removed - For better Updated Pic of Base Model for the Head & Helmet >> Post #25
This is shaping up nicely, looking forward to the sculpt results. If you can, information on how you are going to recreate the bronze material would be very interesting.
It's coming along very nicely (this is going to be cool! ), the only thing crit I have is maybe the cheek bones needs to be a little more prominent.
I suck with organic modeling ... LOL
@dwl:
When I get to materials I'll be going over the methods used, ...
@ Wiz:
Improved it a bit more in a few areas, but I've gone as far as I can go in MAX, ... The model now needs to be subdivided in ZBrush to finesse it further and finalise the look ... This stage is really just to get close to the form of his Face & Helmet prior to the detail stuff ...
@ ChrisGFX:
I know you're knee deep in Falcon Fun atm, .... but if you learn to do organic stuff, it can open up a lot more options with your modelling Chris, ... Just depends if you want to expand your skills .... You've already reached a high level with Hard-surface, and I don't think you would suck at Organics, .. you just haven't taken time out to learn it .... you have to bite the bullet and have a go
Below is the updated Talos Head ...
Jas
TALOS WIP 002 Removed - For better Updated Pic of Base Model for the Head & Helmet >> Post #25
Oooh even dig out 3PO, not messed with him for a while (back to the asylum for me, and expect to see you there soon with this project )
I've done a Test Pose of Talos on his Plinth, ... This will basically make posing of the detailed model easier later ...
@ somacruz145:
Cheers Adam !
@ Wiz:
Would be good to see 3PO dusted off, and see some updates Paul !! ... Besides I'm done with the R2 Mayhem Trilogy, I need some new material to work with ... I like to be creative when it's my turn on the Asylum Laptop ...
@ Lizzy:
Will be exporting all the base models to ZBrush for the sculpting / surface detail, plus any adjustments I need to make ....
Jas
TALOS WIP 003 Updated . Post#23
Cheers Guys ! :thumb:
Just a small update, the Plinth material looked a tad harsh, even though it's not supposed to match the Ref at this stage, I just wanted to tone that down a bit ...
Jas
*EDIT* WIP pic removed, .. Prefer to save shots of Talos on his Plinth when final sculpt is done ...
Worked on the Head & Helmet some more, getting close to his likeness. I preferred to refine the structure in MAX, as I'm going for accuracy to have something close to the Ref, with ZBrush being used more for surface details for these parts.
@Coolhand:
Cheers Steve, .... This is a special WIP project for me, so I'm taking it steady to get each of Ray's Characters as close as I can to his Physical miniatures ... I've spent a lot of time on his facial structure, since this part is the most crucial to get right ... building the entire head & helmet one poly at a time. I started with his nose, then built out from there ...
Jas
Link To Full Size Pic
Thanks Travis ! :thumb:
Here's the next update, ... His Feet & Sandals ... The following updates will start to see some ZBrush work done to the base models ...
Jas
*EDIT* Pic updated > Post #30
Made a few adjustments, thickened his ankles a tad, .. adjusted his sandal straps some more, and a couple of his toes. I preferred to do this in MAX than ZBrush, ... but think this is now a good starting point for these parts to export ....
Will be modelling him in a standing pose first ... finalise him in ZBrush, then will be exporting him back to MAX for final renders and posed on his plinth ...
@Wiz:
Cheers mate !
@somacruz145:
Thanks Adam, .. If I get it very close to Ray's Talos, .. I'll be happy, but will leave that opinion to you guys when he's done ...
Jas
Link To Full Size Pic
Base model of Talos is complete, ... His body proportions / muscle definition will be done in ZBrush to match Refs, as well as detailing the Sword etc ... I plan to show the completed model in both standing pose, and with him kneeling on his Plinth ....
For this WIP pic, .. Thought I'd show a 'before' render of him prior to his transformation from ZBrush ... He'll also be holding the sword properly once rigged ...
Jas
*EDIT* Pic Updated > Post #35