caitlinsmithfmp2

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Final Product Presentation

I am very pleased with my final product design and presentation, I feel it looks presentable and professional especially as it is in its own custom designed box, wrapped in a plastic packaging and covered in decorative tissue paper. I am really happy with this end result and would of loved to be able to make more models, presented in the same way as this, I am happy with the dragon I chose to create however and am glad I managed to get it done. One thing I would like to add is a protective coating to the model to make it stronger and smoother to hold, this is something I can do as an extra but it is not necessary to present the end product like this. 

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Box Creation: Part Three

With the box template I designed this week I made some final adjustments before printing it out on some fairly strong paper that would hold the shape of a box. I cut this out and begun to to fold each of the main sections, the boxes shape is purposely made so it can hold together without much glue, this worked well and all I need to hold the box together is some double sided tape, this is now ready to have the figure added into it.

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

To add some extra merchandise aspects to my model I have encased it in a plastic bag that will sit inside the box I am designing. I did this using some left over plastic and a hot iron to seal the bag, using some baking paper to ensure the plastic did not burn or stick to the ironing board. This worked very well as initially I tried to use a curling iron and hair straightener, neither of these were hot enough to seal the plastic together but the iron was just hot enough to seal it. I like how this looks as it makes it look more like a real product and will sit nicely inside the figures box.

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Colour Sheet Templates

With the help of Kieran, my dragon designs were used to create some A3 templates that were used as colour sheets for when I colour swatched each of my dragons. This was to show what I had in mind for their designs incase I wanted to make models out of them, this helped me choose which dragon I liked the design of the most and helped me pick Fjord as my favourite design. 

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Box Creation: Part Two

After creating the base for my box, I found some simple flying dragon illustrations and made them black so they would show a shadowy silhouette flying over the city. I used dafont to find a intricate and nice looking font that suits the story style and box aesthetic, this was then put on the rest of the box to advertise my product and promote it. Using the dragon designs I made, I turned them into silhouettes and put them on my box to show what dragons would be possible to get in these boxes if I had been able to create all the dragons I had designed for the project. Chance percentages were also added below these to show how likely you are to get certain figures, the one figure I managed to make was the rarest as a bit of irony for the project. The usual product information found on the base of many products was also added to make the box design look much more official, the Funko branding was also removed so I could add my own branding information to promote my product. After adding some more text to the boxes sides and some extra detailing such as social media details, I felt that the box was complete and ready to be printed onto card and folded into a box.

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Box Creation: Part One

I really wanted to be able to create a box design for my model to be presented in, my main ideas were to create a box that represented the two main aspects of my story that I have been focusing on this term. Based in a 1800s London based city, the story follows a young man who is tasked with saving the last remaining dragon in the world who had been hibernating in eggs for their own safety. After activating the first egg, the main character must travel in and around the city to find and rescue the new dragons, all the while having to protect them from others who are after the dragons and the frightened residents of the city. 

I wanted to show this in my box design so found multiple old looking maps and illustrations of London, overall the first looked best as it was landscape and would fit well over the box template. The template of the box was then created on a photoshop document and the design I choose was overlaid onto it so it fit perfectly. The section where the front of the box would be was left in full colour but the surrounding areas were lowered in opacity so writing was added to it much more easily. The next steps would be to add more detailing to the design as well as some advertising, so far the box is looking pretty good and I am eager to continue creating this so I have extra aspects to my project. 

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Completed Fjord Model

Fjord is nervous and quiet young dragon and is very cat like in appearance with a sleek dark body, large ears and long tail with cat like limbs. Fjord is navy blue in colouration and has white dapples and patterns on his body that make him resemble the night sky, he also has some unusual dark red markings near his eyes. He is a very calm dragon with bat like wings, he dislikes noise and confrontation but is very good in battle and stealth needing situations. 

I am really happy with how my model turned out, he shows a fair resemblance to my original design of him and the colour swatches I practised and although I started him fairly recently I feel he is a good quality piece and shows what can be done in limited time with limited resources. I really like the blue, red and white fusion to his design, the original body of his was very dull with just the blue but adding the darker blue areas, eyes, red details and spots really makes his design noticeable and fairly festive. He also reminds me of a donkey with his large ears and dark tints on his muzzle, ears and paws, however I like this as donkeys have a sweet and gentle look to them, some of his patterning also reminds me of Mexican festivals due to his mix of colours and unique patterning. If I was to make any improvements it would be to be a bit more subtle with the white on his design, I would like to make the designs more clean and smooth by creating them using clay instead of paint as the paint can easily smudge. I would also like to be able to paint my model in protective resin so it is much stronger and smoother to the touch. 

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Week Eleven Review:

This week was solely dedicated to completing and decorating my dragons, this included adding more bulk and body detail to my dragon, adding personality to his design, baking him and then painting him. Despite being a fairly small dragon, I feel like I achieved his design and personality in his model and the main issue I faced was with baking and painting him. When I first baked him I noticed that the blue clay I used was not hardening very well, because of this I had to bake him multiple times and eventually he became a bit more solid, however I still think he will benefit from a resin coating to protect the model a bit better. I then moved on to painting him, colour matching his wings so they were the same shade of blue and strengthening the red parts on his design as well as adding some shading to the muzzle, paws and tail. The main issue with decorating was his complex original design, covered in white star like dots, moon like spheres on his wings and white patterns running along his sides and legs. To cope with this I simplified his pattern design and painted it carefully on, in the future I would likely add clay patterns onto him instead to save time painting the complex patterns on. Now that I am done with my main final piece I can focus on how he will be displayed and prepare for our final college week and presentations. 

Week Twelve Targets:

During the final week I will be focusing on my worksheets that will present my work and my other presentation techniques, I will also be posting posts that I forgot too in current weeks to explain how I made my model and ideas come through. I hope to be able to create something to present my dragon in this week and even if I am unable to make an actual box or package for it, it will still be beneficial to show that I tried and had ideas that I wanted to use for this project.

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Fjord Model Painting

Using acrylic paints, I mixed together blue, black and white to reach the same shade of blue my clay was, I used this on the wings and any other places that needed to be painted the same blue, I then darkened this blue and used it on parts like the ear tips, pain tip, feet and muzzle. I let this dry before colour matching for the red and redoing the spots on the wings so they stood out, I then begun to add the white, simplifying my original design to something more achievable with my paint brush. I made these as bold as possible and although they were a little thick, I still like how they look, I then used the tip of a pen to add the dots and then left my model to dry again. Overall the model looks really good and how I wanted it, I’m glad I was able to colour match the wings to the body despite having to use different coloured clay. 

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Fjord Model Detailing

I started adding details to the face of Fjord, the dragon I chose to model, first adding on the horns and shaping the face to look like my dragon design, I also added eye sockets ready to add in the glass eyes. After adding them in I used some clay to create eye lids and used some red clay to add the undereye details, as I didn't have any blue clay left I sculpted the wings out of white clay that could easily be painted to match the body, I also added red detailing there. Finally I added in some extra detailing such as shaping the muzzle and face, adding nostrils and feet details to make it look even better. After test cooking some of my materials such as the eyes and clay to make sure they can be baked, I will cook this model ready to be painted and finished off. 

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Week Ten Review:

This week I managed to complete my base model and will now be able to add details, bake the model and decorate it to completing in the last few weeks. I also managed to finished the last few dragon colour sheets to show off my dragon designs a bit more. I have done almost all of my model work this week which is good as I really wanted to get at least one full dragon done. 

Week Eleven Targets:

My targets for next week is too detail, bake and decorate my model to completion, ready for out final week where we will be presenting our final outcomes and the development we have shown over our final term. I really wanted to get a box design done too and want to try doing this on our final Monday with the help of our tutors. 

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Dragon Colour Sheets: Chou, Blanche and Jinx

Chou is a pretty and brightly coloured butterfly looking dragon, the first colouration I tried on her was purples and pinks with a black body, I really liked how this looked and worked well, the second was also nice and used blues and white to show a lighter colour design, the last was my attempt at a more reddish butterfly that we commonly see, however the colours were too dark and as I don't have many reds it was difficult to show what butterfly variation it was, I still like the colouration though.

Blanche is a silver and blue ice dragon, I had not though of what colours I wanted her to be, my first attempt was very bright and blue which didn't suit her temperament, the second attempt was better but the blue wings did not work very well, the last was much better and worked the best out of all three.

Jinx is a large brown drake with rock like skin and magma aspects, the first design tried to capture his magma dripping skin but did not work very well as I struggled to make his skin look rock like, the second attempt was better but still didn’t look rock like, the final attempt was to try and show off his rock like skin. This did not work how I wanted it too but was still a nice colour design, the rock like aspects are something I need to add to the design as he does not look very rock like.

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Dragon Colour Sheets: Flux and Tempest

Flux is a small and playful grey drake, his design is fairly simple but it is one of my less favourite designs, the first was a darker grey which I didn’t really like, the second was lighter and worked a bit better and the third was a mix of grey and yellow which was also a bit better. However I would like to change this design if possible as its not very good for me personally and not what I imagined him to look like.

Tempest is a large wyvern with dark colouration and luminescent scales patterned onto her body, the first colour design I tried was one of my favourites and worked fairly well, the second was too bright blue to look natural and the last colouration was also nice, replacing the bright blues with yellows instead.

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Adding Clay

I managed to mix the blue clay I received with a darker blue to create more clay for me to use on my Fjord figure, I then added this to the armature so I had a base layer of clay on the model, after smoothing and bulking certain parts out a bit I started to add shaping to some thicker areas like the back legs and tail base, I now have the main model base ready to add some details such as eyes, horns and facial details. I will likely make the wings out of different clay as I have limited amounts of the blue clay.

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Facial Design Test

I was given a new clay to test, this clay is very similar in shade to the colours I wanted for Fjord in the first place, this clay is a bit firmer then the others I have tested but will save me time when it comes to decorating the model as I won’t have to colour certain parts, the only issue is that I have limited amounts of this clay to work with so may need to work with a variety to save time. This clay reacts nicely to heat and is easy to use when warm and kneaded for a little while.

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Week Nine Review:

During week nine I began to create colour sheets for each of my dragon designs, I also begun my model and armature this week and should be able to get this model done my the end of next week. I enjoy the creating part of these projects most and will also aim to start creating a box for this dragon to go inside. By this point I wanted all of my planned base models done however have only just begun my first one, I am behind on this but that is understandable due to personal circumstances. I have also made the decision to create Fjord as my dragon model as he is my favourite design so far and will be interesting to do.

Week Ten Targets:

By week ten I wanted to begin decorating each model but this is also difficult, however I will aim to complete decorating my main model by the end of this week. I will also complete some more colour sheets despite already deciding which dragon I would like to make.

[caitlinsmithfmp2]

Fjord Model Armature

Today I begun the process of creating the model, this almost always begins with creating the armature for the model to help sculpt it, I find making armature fairly difficult so I got Kyrsties help with it and can hopefully learn how to do it myself based off of what she has told me. After this I added some foil to parts that needed bulking out and then wrapped the whole model in tape to help when it comes to adding clay to the model. This armature is based off of Fjord as he is one of my favourite designs, has a simple body structure but is made more interesting with his colour and pattern design.