Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. The atmosphere and attitude at this forum is great.
Now to address some critiques. Thanks again everyone for your opinions. My friends and family are not Gear Heads so getting the feedback from peers is awesome.
Paulson - I'm going to get those calf's fixed tonight. I have a turn around rendered to give a better look at the arm and the "Boxing glove". Let me know what you think.
Still too H-t-H aggressive? I get where your coming from. I think if it was a little smaller it might look better. Maybe scrap it all together? Your thoughts?
Mangozac - I think for Jes to create this unit, striking a balance between raw interpretation and derivative expression was a lightning event for him. His style is so distinct and not anime. It must have been a struggle to let enough of the origins of the inspiration to seep out to attract the player base they wanted but not be so strong it drove the Grimdarks into a frenzy. His initial sketches show a much heavier and armored look than the actual released model. But enough academia....
The size of the head is a concern. The proportions of the original kit have the head larger than the forearm. I am playing with the proportions to get a taller sleeker look but still maintain that combat purposing look. The torso of the Crisis suit is huge compared to the relative mass of it's limbs. Which makes all the limbs and head seem tiny. I want to avoid that, going more of the route Forgeworld has taken with their X9 series.It may look a little different on both the body and backpack are on.
If the head is shrunk a bit how much would you say? 20%?
The pelvis on the original is atrocious, no movement of any kind. Having a pivoting and slightly tilt-able waist was one of my design requirements for this unit.
All - I am thinking of using Shapeways Ultra Frosted material, I can file and sand it to prep for resin casting so a little stepping is OK. The site says they can get it back in 10 business days, I need it by the 16th. This gives me time for the casting before I show it on the 23rd in class, using it for a Uni project. I know Shapeways is the budget solution and I figure this will cost about $70 before shipping. those of you familiar with this material and the scale of this unit can you weigh in on the detail I might get?
The other choice is Moddler, their stuff looks amazing, but I have no idea what it would cost and how fast I would get it. Paulson I know you have used their services, could you ballpark me a price and time? I will be uploading something on Monday to either service.
On a model inspection note. I struggled for weeks trying to design and build this project out in Zbrush because I thought that the models had to be watertight, or manifold. Using the Dynamesh feature I can create manifold pretty quickly, but making the base objects is painfully slow in Zbrush. I modeled this in Max 9 and after several model checker uploads to Shapeways it would appear as long as the final volume has no holes, interpenetrating geo is ok.
Is this true?
If I have a closed box jammed into another closed box will it print ok? I have no idea. Some friends say yes others no, so I'm dying here.
Thanks again all. I hope to have more to show later this morning.