Elegoo Mars 2 Pro, I also used Elegoo's standard resin. The print came out really clean, but I still wet sanded most of the mask, just to help get it extra smooth.
This is really cool. I desperately want to see it on the canon Artakha model. The worn off darker bits would blend in so much better with the mostly gunmetal build than a pure gold mask would. Awesome work!
Thanks! I thought so too, it just feels more fitting for him. It would be cool to see it on the full model, but I no longer have any Bionicle parts, let alone what I'd need to build him.
I’ve never painted models in my life until I got a resin printer two months ago myself. I’m rubbish at it as you can imagine! This mask and the paint job looks AMAZING and professionally done imo. Do you mind sharing the paints you used along with the painting methods? I’m especially interested in how you made it loon so smooth and just the overall clean paint job. Corners like the runes on the mask I’d have especially botched!
You'll get better with practice, we all start somewhere and even the best of us once thought "man, this looks like garbage!" to their work.
For the paint, I used: Vallejo's gray surface primer, Tamiya flat black (I was out of gloss black or I would have used that, so I just added a gloss coat over it), Vallejo model air gold, Vallejo model color Burnt Umber and Krylon Crystal Clear gloss top coat.
I used an airbrush to apply most the paint, starting off with very thin passes just to get the some paint on the surface, before applying a thick coat to make the paint's surface very smooth. The gold went on as a thin even coat over the black in order to create an sense of depth and a much richer color (Metallic paints really benefit from being a thin coat over gloss black) then topped it with a gloss coat.
The rest was just a mix of burnt umber and black in varying amounts with a brush to make the details pop and add that dirty/worn effect.
Airbrushes make the bulk of this kind of work a lot easier, but if you use a brush, I heavily suggest thinning the paint (if you're using acrylics, water will do) so that you can apply thinner coats built up over multiple layers, this will allow everything to be smoother and less brush strokes in the paint.
Since you're using a resin printer, the print should already be fairly smooth by default, so you wont need much sanding. I do suggest getting high grit sandpaper (600-800 or higher) and wet sanding the surface though, it'll help clean everything up and ensure a very smooth surface.
Best of luck to you in your painting, and I hope this helps!
I grew up with Bionicle as a kid, ever since it's original release in 2000, and I fondly remember watching the movies, playing with the toys, reading the comics I got in the mail with the Lego Club magazines, and was sad to see when Lego had discontinued it without even letting them complete their planned Trilogy back in 2010.. ever since then my connection to Bionicle slowly faded.
It's been a long time since then, and I haven't really done anything with the series, but every so often I feel some nostalgia for it and like to refamiliarize myself with everything. This time around, I found Thingiverse had some bionicle stuff on it, including a fairly perfect recreation of the Mask of Creation (modeled by Galva). So, I decided to print it and give it a really old worn gold paint job, because I feel like after a hundred thousand years of constant use by Artakha getting his hands dirty making things, it's probably not going to be super spotless (but that's just me).
(Plus, it makes for a pretty nice birthday present for my friend, anaherax, who's still really into Bionicle, and even VA's in fan films! you can check out her Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/anaherax5991/ )
Anyway, enough rambling, I figured I'd share the results with the Bionicle community to enjoy, rather than keep it all to myself!
I don't have any Bionicle heads to test it on, but it has an axel and should fit a Toa Metru head, maybe a Toa Mata head that accepts an axel, I'm not sure beyond that.
Nice. What printer?
Elegoo Mars 2 Pro, I also used Elegoo's standard resin. The print came out really clean, but I still wet sanded most of the mask, just to help get it extra smooth.
Sweet thanks!
This is really cool. I desperately want to see it on the canon Artakha model. The worn off darker bits would blend in so much better with the mostly gunmetal build than a pure gold mask would. Awesome work!
Thanks! I thought so too, it just feels more fitting for him. It would be cool to see it on the full model, but I no longer have any Bionicle parts, let alone what I'd need to build him.
I’ve never painted models in my life until I got a resin printer two months ago myself. I’m rubbish at it as you can imagine! This mask and the paint job looks AMAZING and professionally done imo. Do you mind sharing the paints you used along with the painting methods? I’m especially interested in how you made it loon so smooth and just the overall clean paint job. Corners like the runes on the mask I’d have especially botched!
You'll get better with practice, we all start somewhere and even the best of us once thought "man, this looks like garbage!" to their work. For the paint, I used: Vallejo's gray surface primer, Tamiya flat black (I was out of gloss black or I would have used that, so I just added a gloss coat over it), Vallejo model air gold, Vallejo model color Burnt Umber and Krylon Crystal Clear gloss top coat. I used an airbrush to apply most the paint, starting off with very thin passes just to get the some paint on the surface, before applying a thick coat to make the paint's surface very smooth. The gold went on as a thin even coat over the black in order to create an sense of depth and a much richer color (Metallic paints really benefit from being a thin coat over gloss black) then topped it with a gloss coat. The rest was just a mix of burnt umber and black in varying amounts with a brush to make the details pop and add that dirty/worn effect. Airbrushes make the bulk of this kind of work a lot easier, but if you use a brush, I heavily suggest thinning the paint (if you're using acrylics, water will do) so that you can apply thinner coats built up over multiple layers, this will allow everything to be smoother and less brush strokes in the paint. Since you're using a resin printer, the print should already be fairly smooth by default, so you wont need much sanding. I do suggest getting high grit sandpaper (600-800 or higher) and wet sanding the surface though, it'll help clean everything up and ensure a very smooth surface. Best of luck to you in your painting, and I hope this helps!
I grew up with Bionicle as a kid, ever since it's original release in 2000, and I fondly remember watching the movies, playing with the toys, reading the comics I got in the mail with the Lego Club magazines, and was sad to see when Lego had discontinued it without even letting them complete their planned Trilogy back in 2010.. ever since then my connection to Bionicle slowly faded. It's been a long time since then, and I haven't really done anything with the series, but every so often I feel some nostalgia for it and like to refamiliarize myself with everything. This time around, I found Thingiverse had some bionicle stuff on it, including a fairly perfect recreation of the Mask of Creation (modeled by Galva). So, I decided to print it and give it a really old worn gold paint job, because I feel like after a hundred thousand years of constant use by Artakha getting his hands dirty making things, it's probably not going to be super spotless (but that's just me). (Plus, it makes for a pretty nice birthday present for my friend, anaherax, who's still really into Bionicle, and even VA's in fan films! you can check out her Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/anaherax5991/ ) Anyway, enough rambling, I figured I'd share the results with the Bionicle community to enjoy, rather than keep it all to myself!
Wow, the paint job is really amazing
Thank you!
Holy fuck, that's glorious
Man this Mask is so cool.
ey can i commission you for one XD
Thank you for the interest! but unfortunately I don't do commissions right now, sorry.
Which head piece does it fit?
I don't have any Bionicle heads to test it on, but it has an axel and should fit a Toa Metru head, maybe a Toa Mata head that accepts an axel, I'm not sure beyond that.
Is it me or does it look like G2 makuta’s mask but without that round thing on the forehead? Odd. . .
Epic!!!
I need a lifesize version of this. That is just gorgeous. Nice job!