The finished model for the Viking warrior. He is wearing a chainmail shirt, helmet and has his round-shield strapped on his back. His boots are fur-trimmed and the bottom of his pants are laced up in a typical fashion for the time. The banded helmet includes an iconic nose and eye-guard found on many norse warriors. His belt buckle is decorated with the mythical hammer of thor and the world serpent, Jörmungandr.
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The shield was very hard to sculpt due to the fact that it is basically an enlarged growth on his back! The detail level and mesh distortion made sculpting a smooth face and neat edges difficult and the same was true when stretching the shield strap out. I am less concerned with imperfections in the shield shape though as each one was hand-made and often a bit irregular, especially with use. In hindsight i could have added some battle-damage to it but superficial damage could be represented in the texture added.
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The chainmail was painstakingly sculpted ring-by-ring with probably thousands of interlocking hoops for extra realism.
NEVER AGAIN!!! I will have to investigate using a repeating texture stamp or something in future as this process was incredibly long-winded but does give a nice, authentic overall effect. |
I found that covering much of the facial features with the beard and helmet made sculpting much easier. The distortions caused by moving the ear forward were easily covered in little time with some bristly sideburns and the eye-guard of the helmet gives him a stern look, mimicking furrowed eyebrows.
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