3D Model
Once i finished designing the concepts for my robot within our board game 'Build it up' i began thinking about making the idea into a 3D model. As our game is ideally based around collecting pieces of a robot and putting them together, i needed to think carefully at how i would make the model fit together without there being a healthy and safety risk of parts, and also to make sure everything fits securely. I already thought of the ideal material in order to make my model sturdy and successful. 'Fimo Light' is a very light modelling clay that can be easily manipulated into any sort of shape or texture. I chose this particular clay as it is just as strong as normal clay, but instead it's a lot lighter which is more practical for mobility within out board game concept. It also would prevent the likely hood of smashing.
I began making the sections of the body based on the final concept of my robot design. The clay handled very well and i was able to mould the shapes successfully to that of the original design. I used some clay tools in order to help me shape and cut away pieces to really give the character some definitive structure. Once the basic shapes were made i began sectioning textured parts from the clay to add onto the pre-made boy parts. I made pieces like individual bolts, tubing for the joints such as elbows and eye sockets. I also made an an antenna for the side of the head like in my concept drawings. I made this by using a thin wire and inserting it into a piece of clay attached to the side of the head. I then glued it into the incision so it would stay secure once the clay had dried, and finally to finish it off i added a small dome shaped piece of clay to the top of the wire for the 'light bulb' on the antenna.
I then added all the little parts to each section of the character's body. I drilled and fitted the small bolt parts and made tubing pieces to give the model more 3D depth. The only issue i had with this particular piece is that some parts were very fiddly and needed tools to score and wet attach them. Scoring and wet attach pieces added to the security of the fixings on the model, so i copied this process when attaching legs, arms and head pieces. The final objective from there was to successfully make dowels and holes so that the body parts could fit together securely. This seemed difficult at first as i would need to make a gradient in both the hole and dowel shape, so that they would fit together tightly and not come loose during building. I began making holes using the end of a paint brush as i wanted to start off small and gradually add depth for that gradient effect. I made a total of 5 holes within the body, one for the head and two for the arms and legs. Once these were constructed, i made a mix of water and strong PVA glue to line the holes. I did this because it would act as a sort of fixing mechanic when fitting the pieces later on, because the glue although it would be dry it would still have that rubbery texture.
Once the holes had dried, i began sectioning and shaping dowels for the body parts of my character. This took quite a while as i had to constantly test that each dowel fitted it's designated hole successfully, without it being too loose or too tight. However, once i played with trail and error, i eventually came up with the perfect shaped dowels. Finally, i scored and wet attached them to the different parts of the character's body within using the PVA and water mix. This would also create the same rubbery texture as within the pre-constructed holes, and from this both components would stick better together inside as the outer textures would cause more friction. After this process, i let the entire model dry over night so that the clay would harden with the PVA and water fix. Once this was complete i tested that all the pieces fitted together well, and to my advantage every piece fitted perfectly. Now it was time to paint.
Like my original concept drawing, i gave my character a lot of tonal range based on my historic research for a board game style. There was reds, greens, steels and rustic coppers that i had to use within painting this model in order to keep the likeness and style the same.
I went out to my local art store again and purchased the required acrylic paints, these consisted of Copper, Silver, Vintage Brown, Black, White, Red and Olive green. I began applying a based colour of vintage brown to all parts of the body. I mixed some black into the paint for the head in particular as i wanted it to have that dark and gas mask like effect. Once the base coat was complete i began painting the tubing around the joints of the robot character. I used black for this and a very think brush in order to make the strokes precise and accurate, so that it had more detailed depth. Once this task finished, i started adding the red to the eyes and antenna, the green to the mouthpiece of the head, and silver to the bolts around the body. I used a thin brush throughout the whole painting process, so that every detail was clean and well presented.
I really enjoyed making my robot for this unit, as it allowed me to experiment the contours of my robot i didn't already know. It also gave me an insight to the health and safety perspectives, so that i could make this production whilst keeping in mind the efficiency it would actually need if it would be manufactured. I chose the light clay so it would be less heavy during mobility in the box. I made dowels instead of pins, as pins are sharp and can be swallowed/lost. I chose a simplistic design whilst drawing, as i knew that making an overly complex robot would have been impractical with the resources i had. I believe i have successfully managed to recreate my robot into a 3D model, that both works and looks like it should.
Bibliography
. Google Images
