Tyrael updates

So I have made some progress on the chest armor. Currently, it needs a few more coats of gesso, then it gets the crap sanded out of it before being painted.

This is my first time working with worbla, so there's some trial and error going on. I started the chest by trying to make a form out of craft foam to wrap the worbla around (I've read this is a good method for working with worbla). However, making a form to go over a chest that isn't flat is difficult to say the least. After screwing around with foam for a couple of hours, I ditched it and just decided to use the foam pieces as patterns for the worbla.

So after cutting out the worbla and trying to shape it, I realized how it will show every single little ripple if its lying on any non-smooth surface. Oh boy. Now that I've worked with it a bit, I realized doing the chest first wasn't the best route to go, but it didn't turn out too badly.

The first picture, you can see the front section and the back have been attached to each other (worbla sticks to itself wonderfully). I then added the collar, and did all the edge details with worbla strips. There's also small details around the collar.


There's going to be some rippling in places that I can't sand out, but most of it will be covered with other armor/fabric, so the small problems I see all over the place won't be very noticeable. The last chest picture shows the chest after about 4 coats of gesso. It needs maybe 2-4 more coats before its time to sand. I'm doing the gesso thing since worbla is a rough texture and not very metal like if painted raw. Thus the creation of a smooth surface for painting with the gesso (again, read about it on le internet).

I made the chest as one solid piece, but after adding the collar and the bottom pieces on the stomach, I couldn't get it on and off with the wing harness on (almost got stuck in it).

I ended up cutting the back in half, with cut out sections for the wing harness spokes, and added velcro closures. It goes on and off much more easily now, without scrapping my arms up from the worbla (that happened).

Other things I got done this weekend are the base forearm armor pieces. I need to add all the details and then gesso/sand/paint. Those are worbla over craft foam, they are much sturdier than the plain worbla chest. Live and learn.

The other thing that's mostly done are the circle armor pieces that go on the chest. They need to be sanded, and the worbla spikes need to be sanded and shaped, but they will be ready for paint after that.

There's a bunch left to do, but with the chest assembled, everything is much more manageable. Especially since I'm about to go on vacation and won't be working on anything for the next two weeks.

Because I'm defending my thesis tomorrow. Yep.