It was my hope to have a video to post this week, but YouTube being YouTube, it uploads to around 92% and then stops, so I need to figure that out. And besides, I should probably make a few tweaks to it before showing it anyway.

In the meantime, I thought I’d share a project I’m working on that’s in the very rough stages of development. It’s meant to be my final for my “Organic Modeling and Hard Surface Texturing” class, due next week. Normally, I wouldn’t post something this early, but what the hell. Maybe some 3DS Max guru will see it, see how jacked up my poly-flow is, and give me some pointers.

Here is the initial sketch. The final model will have more detail, but decided to keep the sketch clean and simple to more easily pin down the basic shape in Max. It’s an automaton based on a gorilla, and I intend to used this model for my senior project and demo reel.

Here is a detail of the skull, based on the skull of a gorilla. My initial plan for the design was to mix metal and bone, as though Rigel Rinkenbach had begun cannibalizing the skeletons he was using to design the automaton in the first place. I intend for the eyes to be brass tubes with a camera aperture serving for it’s inner workings.

Here is the head with the undercarriage I started making. I intend to encase it in a hollow shell of thick armor and incorporate some clockwork innards. I also want to include pipes winding through the armor and out the back, like organ pipes to vent steam.

So, critique time. Tear it apart! I love to hear constructive criticism (especially before I put too much time into something, LOL!)