Another thing I wanted for the jungle this year is a bird. Specifically a toucan. So I modeled one:
And then assembled it:
Ha ha…yes…yes…
It's interesting to compare these side by side. Some of the sharp angles of the model are smoothed, like where the beak connects to the head. If I were more careful I could probably replicate these more faithfully, but if I feel like the model is lacking those details later on, I can reintroduce them in the sculpt. I'm trying to find the happy medium where I'm doing just enough on da computer to get me to where I want to be in da physical world. This model might have still been too detailed! (The feet will be wire and the tail feathers will be flat, so I skipped those for the papercraft step, if you're wondering.)
Anyway, I stuffed the form with paper to give it some firmness. When it's got some paper mache on it and is solid, I'll cut the head off and re-attach it with a ball joint so I can also shove some servos in there and make it look around. I'll maybe make the beak open, depending on time and my own interest in doing so.
I also made two more guys after the success of the first guy and gave them all some more features:
The original is in the middle, and you can see where I've simplified the paper prints a little on the outside ones. (You might also be able to see where I've recycled some screenplay pages, thank you Amy!) I printed each arm and leg as one long tapered tube, which is not doing much to conceal the form of the underlying wood but gives it just a little more structure. I am tempted to sand the shins and forearms down so they're less square under the paper. Yes, I've just convinced myself, I'm going to do this.
I made the hands and soles of their feet from sheets of craft foam which will get painted later with everything else. They're just taped on for now, but I need to sand down the hand-blocks and build up the foot-blocks to make them more hand-like and foot-like respectively before attaching the foam with contact cement.
You may have noticed their faces are flat! They look like beekeepers or fencers or something. I cut an identical cardboard piece for each flat face-plane upon which I will sculpt faces later, using modeling clay that is then covered in paper mache. Then I can glue the two flat cardboard pieces together and smooth out the seam with more clay and/or paper mache. I predict it'll be easier to sculpt these flat on the table.
Additional steps for the trio:
For now I gotta take a short break though because I'm DJing this Friday with my pal Coleco and I need to practice! Catch us at Gin Rummy in Venice from 10pm to closing time. Also this weekend is Midsummer Scream, I'm going to be there at least one day but probably more because I was awarded a free VIP pass as a local home haunter. Wow!
Speaking of the home, I took photos of the frames I painted last year and I've updated my yard model with accurate textures for those things. This is the layout as I'm envisioning it right now, only using stuff I already have:
Compare this to photos of last year's installation; it's not so clear from the angle of this render but I've reoriented everything to be a little more enveloping, and also to construct a bit of an "interior" space, which is where the trio will be.
As you can see I have some more canvases to dig out of the garage and photograph. Then I'll start planning where all the critters go! Hell yeah. I'm also tempted to improve this model some more now that I'm more familiar with Blender, like applying a photo of the house to the cube that represents the house…hm…