Imperial Dark Trooper Phase 0

[kishdr]

8 hours ago, Blue Hatter said:

I think that they're looking good! Nice job! Though I think that the texture for your game model may be applied to the model a bit screwy, the tube vents aren't in a wavy pattern like that from what I've seen, they're more of a straight line, just an angled straight line. The texture might not be properly aligned with the mesh. (Though admittedly the mesh itself is kind of wonky so there are some weird texture distortions even with the texture properly aligned.)

 

On a side note, one thing I think is kind of funny is that on the texture the OII greeblies on the back armor are reversed, making them IIO. But on the model that section is flipped to be back to OII, except that the shading on them is wrong as they're reversed. Crazy artists.

Oooh! Good eye!!! I'll modify the vents to match this (which also matches all the stormtrooper helmets) though, the 'incorrect' vents I had are quite common to find, even in the game, like with this screenshot. Maybe one of the versions of Battlefront had this UV problem, and it was fixed later on / before? 

 




Aswell as these vent fixes, I've done....
*Everything is fitted to the Jango clone body for accurate proportions... well, as comical as 'accurate' is, since the armor is so bulky as is.
* Smoothened out the back of the helmet. I misinterpretted the flatness of the low poly model as intentional design, when the textures imply smoothing.
*Edited the nose of the visor. Prior, it was actually impossible to see out of.
*Added Helmet seal
*Added neck gasket
*Reade the Chestplate and backplate
*Added a visual separation between the darker and lighter plating, due to there being 2 layers of plating.
*Now the straps match Clone Phase 2 armor
*Chestplate lines are cleaner and more accurate looking to source material
*Chestplate armor and Chestplate base layer fit over the liver armor, so theres no clipping / accurate bending
*Remade the Shoulders
*Remade the Upper Arm
*Remade the Lower arm
*Fixed the indents on the Lower Arm, to match reference more. No curve, straight path the indents follow.
*Remade Wrist guard
*Remade liver guard
*Liver guard lines are cleaner, recessions go all the way up and down to match Clone phase 2 kit armors

*Liver guard back details are cleaner

*Remade belt
*Belt pouches are symmetrical, unlike before where one edge was wider than the other

*Remade thermal detonator
*Remade Pelvis armor
*Pelvis armor backpiece is now flush, before it was separate. Backpiece aswell smoothed out and made smaller to fit silhouette more.

*Remade Thigh armor

*Thigh armor indents are cleaner, flat piece is flat

 

 

There is some movement to this armor, though not much interms of lowering your arms past this, as the armor already rubs against the Inner / base chest plate. A possible solution would be making the 'base' chest piece 'soft' armor. Perhaps industrial grade foam, with the outercoating of rubber or plastic. You can bend forward "theoretically" front and front side angled, as the base and upper chest plates are over the liver guard. You'd be able to squeeze a few degrees of movement into the elbows, but not that much. On the base model from Battlefront it looks like a lot more, but thats because the model is T-posed. The armor modelled to the same proportions to that armor afterall, and surprisingly fits a human body... with a few adjustments. 

[Blue Hatter]

Those models are looking really nice! Awesome job!

The armor definitely isn't made to be easy to move in... But the developers didn't have to worry about that. Things could always be tweaked a little to make movement easier.

What do you mean by the "base chest plate"? Is that the part over the stomach with the two vertical stripes and black dots?

[kishdr]

6 hours ago, Blue Hatter said:

Those models are looking really nice! Awesome job!

The armor definitely isn't made to be easy to move in... But the developers didn't have to worry about that. Things could always be tweaked a little to make movement easier.

What do you mean by the "base chest plate"? Is that the part over the stomach with the two vertical stripes and black dots?

This is what I mean as the 'base chest plate'. The Chest / spine armor is three parts. The 'Base' plate, which is Layer 1, then the Backplate, and Chestplate, which sit ontop of the base plate. The Part over the stomach with the vertical lines is the Liver guard. Perhaps I have my names wrong though.

 

[Blue Hatter]

5 hours ago, kishdr said:

This is what I mean as the 'base chest plate'. The Chest / spine armor is three parts. The 'Base' plate, which is Layer 1, then the Backplate, and Chestplate, which sit ontop of the base plate. The Part over the stomach with the vertical lines is the Liver guard. Perhaps I have my names wrong though.

 

Ooh, I see! Why not make the base armor and the armor that goes over it one piece? That might make movement easier as you'd only have the one piece to worry about. If the base armor is "lower" than the armor over it it would still have the same layered look... It just wouldn't technically be layered. Would be less armor to have to wear, too.

That's how my armor is. It looks like it's layered but it really isn't, it's all just one piece with the base armor being slightly thinner than the over armor, so there's a ridge between the two, giving it a layered look. I also did a bit of air brushing to gave it more of a shadow just to make the layering look more... err... layered.

[kishdr]

10 hours ago, Blue Hatter said:

Ooh, I see! Why not make the base armor and the armor that goes over it one piece? That might make movement easier as you'd only have the one piece to worry about. If the base armor is "lower" than the armor over it it would still have the same layered look... It just wouldn't technically be layered. Would be less armor to have to wear, too.

That's how my armor is. It looks like it's layered but it really isn't, it's all just one piece with the base armor being slightly thinner than the over armor, so there's a ridge between the two, giving it a layered look. I also did a bit of air brushing to gave it more of a shadow just to make the layering look more... err... layered.

There's a few reasons as to why the armor plates aren't joined to the base plate.

• Layered armor, instead of illusion
• Removable pieces allow me to show the baseplate, and how that looks. If the pieces were all joined I'd have more difficulty showing it off
• Allows me to make any edits to the base plate in the future
• Avoiding the one piece mold chestplate intentionally. 
• Gives options for those who eventually end up with the model. If its seamed to the base plate, there is no options. 

Ideally, in function, the top layers of armor would be E6000 glue'd to the grey base plate, so they wouldn't fall off or whatnot. Those parts being hollow on the inside.  The entire chest section is huuuge though, possibly there could be benefit to having actual detachable pieces of armor. Storage, molding, and seam lines. The cons... you'd need help to wear the armor, and possibly have to worry about the top layers falling off or whatnot. 

 

 

[Blue Hatter]

32 minutes ago, kishdr said:

There's a few reasons as to why the armor plates aren't joined to the base plate.

• Layered armor, instead of illusion
• Removable pieces allow me to show the baseplate, and how that looks. If the pieces were all joined I'd have more difficulty showing it off
• Allows me to make any edits to the base plate in the future
• Avoiding the one piece mold chestplate intentionally. 
• Gives options for those who eventually end up with the model. If its seamed to the base plate, there is no options. 

Ideally, in function, the top layers of armor would be E6000 glue'd to the grey base plate, so they wouldn't fall off or whatnot. Those parts being hollow on the inside.  The entire chest section is huuuge though, possibly there could be benefit to having actual detachable pieces of armor. Storage, molding, and seam lines. The cons... you'd need help to wear the armor, and possibly have to worry about the top layers falling off or whatnot. 

 

 

Ah, I see. True dat.

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

I mean realistically you could also make the under pieces only just overlap into the chest plate and such so that they are less weight and don't take up too much space on the inside of the armor. Similar to the yokes you see in the FOTK's. On the Imperial Combat Assault Tank Drivers we have foam inserts that go around the chest and back pieces.

I do agree that the chest section looks huge but I totally think that we can break it down for printing and/or ABS pulls. Definitely going to need help suiting up like the clones  

[kishdr]

20 hours ago, IcyTrooper said:

I mean realistically you could also make the under pieces only just overlap into the chest plate and such so that they are less weight and don't take up too much space on the inside of the armor. Similar to the yokes you see in the FOTK's. On the Imperial Combat Assault Tank Drivers we have foam inserts that go around the chest and back pieces.

I do agree that the chest section looks huge but I totally think that we can break it down for printing and/or ABS pulls. Definitely going to need help suiting up like the clones  

I can't say I've ever seen the Yokes on FOTKs, or know that much about the Imperial Combat Assault Tank Drivers. The foam inserts I take it, are to push up the plate so it stays out? 

With the chest section looking huge, ill be doing some slimming down on the profile of it, so it wont be "That huge" haha.

It only makes sense to suit up like clones, as darktroopers are clones!

 

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

The foam inserts are just for aesthetics more or less, I think to make the arm holes look a little smaller. I'm not sure what the purpose would be in the movie universe unless as sort of a dust shield or to give the appearance of an underplate. 

[kishdr]

 

Armor is successfully fitted and Retopologized. The fix list from before has been applied. The model has seen a 81% reduction in poly count. Going from 400,000 poly for just the armor, to 90,000, including the body underneath. The model is sharper, cleaner, and looks much more spiffy. Seams, edges and creases have been applied. The model is rigged, the last thing to do would be texturing it in Substance Painter. The E-11 may be a bit big, I think i got my scaling wrong. 

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Nice!  Great Lakes Garrison...you should get in touch with @Fivezero.

Yes I'd say the E-11 is big...maybe proportional to the trooper but I don't think it should be.  Keep goin!

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

im amazed.  weve gone from a low resolution idea of what it looks like to this nice, smooth badass looking armor.   Honestly I cant wait to see plastic or fiberglass or whatever it will be finalized in take shape.  I have no idea how you are doing what you are doing---im a technodork---but I appreciate all of it. 

 

[kishdr]

57 minutes ago, Blackwatch said:

im amazed.  weve gone from a low resolution idea of what it looks like to this nice, smooth badass looking armor.   Honestly I cant wait to see plastic or fiberglass or whatever it will be finalized in take shape.  I have no idea how you are doing what you are doing---im a technodork---but I appreciate all of it. 

 

its quite the difference isn't it!

Proportions aren't 1 to 1 to the original BF Pandemic model, but that's due to changes like the armor layering and armor fitting to a proportional person, ect. ?

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Excellent work!

[Blue Hatter]

Dang, that is really impressive. Nice job!

[kishdr]

Oh boy, time to crash the forums somehow by posting images!

 

Quote

Heyo, its about time for an update!

Feels like its been forever since I've worked on the Darktrooper, but it in reality its been less than a week. Perhaps this is due to me starting a new project every other day? 

I spent all of last night grinding out the Darktrooper's Helmet and helmet greebles. Well, I got the entire body ready for it, its just that the helmet is the only thing finally textured. 

Here's the processe' of that:

• Mesh Made
• Materials Assigned
• Seams Applied
• Edges Applied
• Mirror Applied
• Close Verticies Merged / Cleanup
• Reworked Seams to match IRL Helmet kit seams
• Created Color / ID Map
• Exported Low Poly / High Poly
• Imported to Substance Painter
• Baked my Meshmaps
• Baked my mesh maps again, because they were incorrect
• Baked my mesh maps again
• Baked my mesh maps again
• Again
• Again (I spent like 15 times trying to get this to work)
• Threw out my High Poly, because it was the thing causing my mesh maps not to bake correctly
• Used my Low Poly, to bake the mesh maps
• For like 4 hours, worked on applying weathering, grime, grit, yadda yadda in Substance Painter, using the color pick tool, to match colors 1 to 1 from the 2004 model's textures.

Really, the meshmap thing wasn't too huge of a timesync, I spent most of the time painting and relearning Substance Painter. Programs really cool when you're doing things yourself, and not relying on all the presets, which I did in the past.  Some of these images are nothing new, but it shows visually the process.

 

Basic helmet uncolored, then helmet color / ID map created. (Think paint masking) Then, which you've seen before, is the Blender placeholder visual materials, which, are inaccurate actually! Which is why the final paintjob looks much different!

All work completed in Blender!  Imported to Substance Painter.

Early image of the painting process. Having my dual monitors finally set up really helps. Image dated at 11PM

Viewport of Substance Painter, in the painting workflow scene. 

Final image renders dated at 7AM so, I spent 9 hours in Substance Painter, including the time it took to reboot it when it crashed on me 3 times. I shouldn't have stayed up so late, as I have things to do but..... Guilty pleasure! Hope you enjoy the eye candy! (None of this would really ever effect the model if it was printed, as you can't print textures).

I feel the weathering is a bit heavy, when compared to the shiny, spotless 2004 model / costumes you all have. It just fits the trooper so well though!

These clones aren't fresh from Kamino, they've been through years of warfare, slowly losing what makes them physically human. The Grand Republic that they fought for, no longer in existance, only the Imperial, Galactic Empire. An Empire that dragged these veteran clones back from their medical bays and barracks, only to press them back into service. No, was not an option. Peak performance was the only thing accepted, and that meant at any means necessary. Organs, bones and limbs replaced with Cybernetics, the same technology used on Lord Vader.  New weapons, equipment, and a body the new Darktrooper's themselves, couldn't recognize. They were forced into becoming something they would have battled against under the banner of the Confederacy of Independent systems and the Droid Armies...

 

This is why I feel the heavy weathering fits. These clone troopers, in the ex-canon, were forcibly transformed into cyborg enforcers of the Galactic Empire. Elite Tactical units who are more metal than man, fighting against the Rebel Alliances. Clones Troopers, who in some cases, the last parts left of their old body, was their mind. There was no honor, there was no Patriotism. Why polish armor for parades you won't be in, there's no order to anyways, only kill. There was only service of war, a constant cycle enough to break a man's mind. The Phase 0 Darktrooper's warped, twisted sanity of an existence being either taken from this world on the battlefield, or by the Trooper himself, with his own blaster.

 

 

[kishdr]

I'd say we're at the final day for now! I finished painting everything. I don't have a 3d printer, so I don't know the fixes I'd have to make to make it 3d print ready. Some people have been asking for me to mod this into Battlefront 2 2017, so I may do that. But not now! This was an entire month long grind to get here today, and I'm very appreciative of the tips and fixes you all left. Finally, I can relax in my chair, instead of hunching over like a shrimp working on tiny detail things. 
 

If you use twitter, you can see here. I wouldn't want to post future renders of this model, in non-showcase wise here, as this is for building real models, not posing fake ones :).
 

 

 

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

good grief. Your dedication to this project is just astounding. I wont comment on the details, most of it I don't understand  and what you polled off is way over my head, but this is awesome work.   

You've certainly earned the big breath and rest.   

The next step will be to develop a Reference Library.   Now we know how it looks.  Next we have to develop it for others to build. 

 

Well done! 

 

 

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Very well done! So much movement going on with this trooper!

[Blue Hatter]

That really looks awesome. You did a great job on the model! You should certainly be proud of it! And I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thought that these troopers looked better with some weathering.

Do you work in 3D modeling or something? I'm jealous of your skills! I took a couple years of game art and design at the Art Institute a few years ago, which included classes on 3D modeling (mostly in Maya) but I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Yeesh. Maya is one confusing program!

I have a 3D printer and I'd be happy to try printing some smaller parts if you'd like. My printer isn't very big so I probably couldn't print a helmet or jetpack-- well, I could if it was cut into small pieces, I suppose-- but handplates, shoe armor, greeblies, whatever, I can give a go.

[kishdr]

9 hours ago, Blue Hatter said:

That really looks awesome. You did a great job on the model! You should certainly be proud of it! And I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thought that these troopers looked better with some weathering.

Do you work in 3D modeling or something? I'm jealous of your skills! I took a couple years of game art and design at the Art Institute a few years ago, which included classes on 3D modeling (mostly in Maya) but I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Yeesh. Maya is one confusing program!

I have a 3D printer and I'd be happy to try printing some smaller parts if you'd like. My printer isn't very big so I probably couldn't print a helmet or jetpack-- well, I could if it was cut into small pieces, I suppose-- but handplates, shoe armor, greeblies, whatever, I can give a go.

I only have 3 years of experience with Blender. Started in late 2018, though I started learning it for importing models into VR games. The Darktrooper I ported not to long after I made the armor, aswell.

I started creating my own assets towards mid 2018, such as props. From props moved on to weapons, then mechanical objects, clothing, hair, characters.... fast forward and we're here. I do this all as a hobby. My jobs have never included 3d, as they were retail worker types, the most recent being a factory worker. Ideally, I'd like to have a career out of 3d, something is very satisfying about creating these models from nothing. 

I'd be more than willing to supply you the model if you wanted to print it. The only thing is, I don't know what's needed on the technical side of things to make that work. Does it have to be higher poly than it is, should backfaces be merged, how do I work with merged armor plates that don't have backfaces, ect. Perhaps printing it as a mini would be a good first step? 6 inches and below. 

 

 

[Blue Hatter]

On 3/21/2020 at 10:45 AM, kishdr said:

I only have 3 years of experience with Blender. Started in late 2018, though I started learning it for importing models into VR games. The Darktrooper I ported not to long after I made the armor, aswell.

I started creating my own assets towards mid 2018, such as props. From props moved on to weapons, then mechanical objects, clothing, hair, characters.... fast forward and we're here. I do this all as a hobby. My jobs have never included 3d, as they were retail worker types, the most recent being a factory worker. Ideally, I'd like to have a career out of 3d, something is very satisfying about creating these models from nothing. 

I'd be more than willing to supply you the model if you wanted to print it. The only thing is, I don't know what's needed on the technical side of things to make that work. Does it have to be higher poly than it is, should backfaces be merged, how do I work with merged armor plates that don't have backfaces, ect. Perhaps printing it as a mini would be a good first step? 6 inches and below. 

 

 

For only three years of experience that's mighty impressive!

I have to admit that I don't understand a lot of your terms, heh heh... I only know the basics of 3D modeling (I do a bit of 3D modeling for The Sims 2, but the models are not overly detailed or complicated and mostly rely on texture images to give them their depth and detail). I'm also not an expert when it comes to 3D printing... But from what I've seen so far, if there are no backfaces then the slicing program will assume that the object is solid... Like a helmet, for example, if it has no backfaces on the interior, if I closed up the bottom with even just a cylinder (something that would be easy to cut away) the slicer program will have the helmet print as a solid object. Of course that's not ideal for a helmet because it would require a ton of infill and filament and would take forever to print, so something big like a helmet would be cut into various smaller chunks that would be glued together after printing. There would have to be some kind of interior, though, some kind of shell on the inside of the helmet model, or the layers would end up paper thin. How exactly those interior layers would be added I have no idea.

But yeah, printing it as a miniature would probably work. The various parts could just be filled at the bottom, like I mentioned, and they would print as solid pieces.

Examples of my very basic knowledge of 3D modeling... ?