Friday, May 15, 2009

Chainmail Part 2

Well I finally got the chailmail photos done to update the chainmail tutorial. i had shot some photos last week but I accidentally erased them so i had to redo (just keep in mind I was a little rushed) them so here they are:

Step 1: Add the putty to the figure and smooth it out with a clay shaper.




Step 2: Add any contours BEFORE you cut the lines in. Use a round tipped clay shaper.

Step 3: Cut your lines or "grid" into the putty. If you want finer mail make the lines closer together, if you want large rings make them further apart.




Step 4: Add the rings by using a pin tool and poking holes side by side down each row. Insert your tool into the putty and rotate it outwards in a circular motion (be very careful!). Stagger or offset the rows to get the "weaved" look.




DONE! This is what it should look like (although this is a real rush job so I ended up pulling it off!)




Try it out on your own and experiment. You may run into other difficulties and if you need any help or have any questions feel free to comment and I'll help if I can. You can check out the previous chainmail tutorial here, it may help explain things as it has diagrams.

5 comments:

cianty said...

Hi, I discovered your blog only recently. I read my way through all your previous posts and I'd like to say that I find it extremely useful. Thanks a lot for excellent work! I eagerly await your next updates! Cheers

Anonymous said...

Very useful! Thanks for your tutorials.

Anonymous said...

I have a question... why the lines? I understand creating the pin prick holes, but what does the sharp horizontal lines add? It doesn't really look like chain mail at all. Perhaps you can show us a finished green with some chain mail?

James Van Schaik said...

Thanks for the comments.

Anonymous, good question:
Your right about the quality of the finished product, as I said I was in a rush :(. I will try to add a photo of a green that is finished properly but I can't normally post photos of figures that are not released yet because the clients tend to get upset about that.

The lines are there to give the mail that quilted look. See this mail here http://www.karatethejapaneseway.com/photos/chainmail.jpg

If you actually look at mail there is a horizontal pattern to it, rather than just a bunch of holes or rings. The lines give you that pattern and they also ensure that all your rings are roughly the same size which makes it look more uniform and tighter.

Different patterns give you different types of mail. Sometimes I use a cross hatch grid to get more fine mail. If it is crappy, ill used orc mail I might not use a grid at all.

Thanks for your Question and I hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

Thanks James, that helps a lot.

Looking forward to seeing the new photo of a properly finished green.