The Rise of Darth Bane - The Project begins....

[Dr.FeelGood]

Hey there folks me again!

Well after a lovely supprise in the mail thismorning, i can happily say the "Darth Bane Project" has began


To start with, some referance materials...

Now for a long time i have really disliked the designs of Bane in his "Orbasalisk" Armor, the idea is all good and fine, but the execution has always left me laughing, where with someone as powerful...and down right EVIL as Darth Bane you should be affraid off...

So this version of Bane will be pre Orbasalisk...or after its eventual removal...


First some referance images...

These two images show Bane as he appears in the reditions of the Drew Karpyshyn novels...I like the idea of the facial tattoo's, and its something i will try to encorporate into the finished Bane's facial appearance.

His costume is going to be a bit of artistic liscence on my part, i never have liked how he's appeared in the comics or promotional artworks from years back...he always looked rather...odd, so it'll be functional, yet imposing.

Bane, as alot of fans know was almost as tall, if not the same height, as Darth Vader. I've spent the last week trying to extend BBi bodies to reach this goal and found it rather comical, so i'm going to attempt a new way taken from my experiences on film and tv...

Bane is also very "well built" as my girlfriend puts it....and thus, i will be constructing a "muscle suit" for him to help give across his "bulk"

Now...as for the likeness....

I found this amazing little head (little being a joke...its bigger than most 1/6th scale heads i've seen)

It comes from Red Planet Toys, an online company based out of New York...only took 7 days to get here so i'm well chuffed...

Now...Bane is bald...which will of course mean shaving what hair is on the "Markis" head...which i have already done...

Now this head is has a full pre-drilled neck, but the neck is too thick to fit in a standard BBi body...so i'm working something out to get it to fit..and look right...

Well thats my rambling done for now...back to work on Bane and hopefully will have some WIP pic's of the painting up before the morning (its 18:45 here right now...)

Wish me luck!


SJ

 

[myc]

go ahead !! want to see more !!! love to see more star wars characters !!

 

[Dr.FeelGood]

and time for an update....

Like an idiot i didnt check the "in progress" pictures i took during the paint up of the head...so all you'll get to see is the "finished" paint job....

there are seven layers to this paint job not counting the primer coat which was a simple light spray of Citadel White basecoat from gamesworkshop and the detail applications of the eyes eyebrows and scar tissue

I forwent applying the tattoo's to the head because i liked out he turned out without them...i may order in another head and then do a "with tattoo" version just to see how it looks...time will tell.

the next layer was a watered down (heavily) coat of the "Tanned Flesh" paint, i watered it down till it was a wash and brushed it all over the head giving it the "blood muscle" layer i'd normally use for a prosthetic make-up. I then layed out a quick dusting of dull coat varnish to keep it all nice and clean


Next came the vien layer, mixing up a near purple tint of humbrol acrylic red and blue with a slit dab of green, i then painted in some viens around his neck, temples and cheeks, and again another light dusting of dull coat varnish.

After that i did something rather odd...going back to my early days of make-up design i then went and mixed up an off white semi-wash, slightly thicker than the "blood muscle" coat from earlier, and painted over the ears, cheak-bones, brow folds, nose ridge and chin and again, dusting of dull coat.


After that...i left it all night long...partly due to passing out at my desk...but anyways...A long time back, when i was painting 1/12th scale Citadel figures for a friend, i mixed up a series of flesh tones to use, these came in handy for the Bane figure....

Taking half mix of "Dwarf Flesh" and "Tanned Flesh", with a slight additive of "Elf Flesh" gave me what i refer to as the "Fat Muscle" coat, thin, but useful coat to start brining out the required flesh tone on the finished head, this was brushed lightly in three very light layers, left to dry with each layer.

The final layers were a mix of "Elf Flesh" with a very light additive of "Tanned Flesh", watered down to a fine was and brush over. the top of the head, face and throat. The very last layer was a mix "Tanned Flesh" and "Dwarf Flesh" mixed with a few drops of water and applied like make-up to give the definitions to the face.

The lips were a two part mix "Dwarf Flesh" and "Tanned Flesh", the eyes a fine mix of Red, Yellow and the black pupil.

This sculpt also features a set of facial scars, which were done with the first coat of watered down "Tanned Flesh" and then built up slowly with washes of "Scab Red" and "Red Gore", the flesh around the scars was then give a very light wash of "Elf Flesh" to show the necrotic flesh of a un-healing wound.


Well thats it...sorry if it bored you...here are a couple of pics of the final paint-job

Front

Back

 

[drod26]

Mate that is and excellent write up of your work. The final paint job shows all your hard work and effort. Thanks for putting this together, I enjoy reading the post. :chew I like how the veins show on the back of his head, I would never think about doing that.

Can't wait to see the final product.

 

[abake]

Looks great so far!

 

[jsjedi]

Love it! I want one already!

 

[agonistes86]

Looks very cool, and I really like your step to step explanation of how you painted him up.

I like how the veins show on the back of his head, I would never think about doing that.

That's one of my favorite things about the paint, makes him look very realistic.

 

[Dr.FeelGood]

Thanks for all the kind words, this character is one rather close to my heart, always loved the character so i'm taking my time with the project to make sure i make the best possible outcome

As its a lovely sunday i'm spending it with those dear to me...

But in way of a quick update, here is the Headsculpt mounted now onto a BBi Body...

I like these bodies, as they have a good height to them and decent articulation, but as i said before, Bane is near 2 metres in height, so i'm working on a real world "work around" used in the production of Darth Vader...stay tuned...


and now...the pics!

Bane's head mounted on his new body...

and by way of extra fun, better quality pictures of Banes paintwork...amazing what can be done when he has a body to stand on

and a better look at his facial scar

 

[drod26]

The head looks great on the muscular body, very cool..

 

[Dr.FeelGood]

Still needs some...padding....tho...after all right now he looks like a Scarran

 

[Avfin]

Is that Novel out---I read the other Bane stories

 

[Dr.FeelGood]

Dynasty of Evil isnt due out till the end of this year...

The pic came from Random Houses website when the press release was done showing artwork for up-and-coming books...

It was that cover art that made me choose the Markis head from Red Planet Toys...

More WIP pics will be up in the coming week...


SJ

 

[Dr.FeelGood]

Hey folks...i'm back with more!


Well, i did a quick comparison between the BBi and the standard Art S. Buck body on my Star Wars collection...and bane came up closer to Luke Skywalkers height than Qui Gons...

Not very imposing eh?...

Now as we know...as i'd said it a dozen times or more...Bane is more in line to the 2 metre tall mark (just shorter than Vader) than the shortstack that is Luke...

So...20 minutes and a lightsaber (ok a hacksaw) later i did what no other person could do (in recent novels at least)

I hacked up Darth Bane...

The idea is to add an extra 1-1.5 inches in height to him, and to elongate the arms by .5 inches to bring it into "scale"..already have 1 leg sitting in milliput with a plastic rod acting as the bone...it'll take a few hours to set then i'll give it the final layer in milli and start to the other leg...

On a side note, i've re-done the paintwork on his right eye, wasnt happy that the yellow bled out over the white, so now it looks better, next set of pics will contain a updated image of his head to show it

Stay tuned for more dismemberment!

 

[drod26]

Thanks for the update SJ,

Your update should off went something like this:
" After 3 chilling pints of foster, I new what I had to be done. I hacked up Darth Bane up slowly in 8 places to add bring him to his height...

 

[Dr.FeelGood]

Thanks for the update SJ,

Your update should off went something like this:
" After 3 chilling pints of foster, I new what I had to be done. I hacked up Darth Bane up slowly in 8 places to add bring him to his height...

*ashamed face* it was the only way to drown out his screams......

nah all in all its working out well, i have his legs almost complete...milliput and humid temp do not go togeather!!!!


I'll have some updates of his...re-modelled body tomorrow...i think he's a full 13.5-14 inches now...

 

[Dr.FeelGood]

TIME FOR UPDATES!!!!





Well after a long night...with assorted body parts, milliput...and a thich plastic coathanger (classy eh?) we have a taller Darth Bane...

he now stands at 10.5 inches (at the shoulder), 13 inches from sole of foot to top of head

to show the scale difference...heres a shot of the "rebuilt" Bane body to how it used to be as a standard BBi

Bane in Progess...he doesnt look like a happy bunny...even with Dr House on standby

and the final, "finished" body, standing 10.5inches at the shoulder

Tomorrow i'm picking up some spandex like material to get on with the muscle suit to build up his chest, arms and thighs...

I will also do a comparison photo of Bane alongside a certain person who, in the long run...ruined all his plans....


SJ

 

[drod26]

nice mate.. the new body looks massive... good work.

 

[Dr.FeelGood]

Hey there Freakville...

After a short delay in updates its time for a MASSIVE set of updates...

Now there is nearly 30mb's of pictures in the following updates...so i warn you...it'll be a long loader

This one will pertain to the "saga of the muscle suit"


Ok so i decided to build Bane a muscle suit to give him the needed bulk to match not only the portrait but also his height and to match the concept art

Now i've built full muscle-suits in my time, fat suits as well..but by kermit i didnt have as much hassle building them as i did this one...

I went out and paid around £15 for a decent length of good quality Lycra, nice stuff, good stretch and everything. Just what i'd have used on a full scale muscle suit.

I got some foam to make the muscle bulk, slightly softer than the stuff i'd use on a full scale and went to work on planning it out, and then constructing it...

Now tho it looked ok "on paper", it wasnt practical...sadly...

So i took apart the muscle suit and did the old model makers "cotton wool padding" technique..

Again tho, good on paper, but just not...practical...for this project...so i scrapped the muscle suit all togeather and started working on a new way of doing things....

to be continued

 

[Dr.FeelGood]

And now.....what to do for muscle...



Well i remembered, back in the day (ok...so i wasnt even alive back then but i learned from the best) they used to bulk out stop motion puppets with layers of clothing, giving the faulse illusion of bulk.

So this i tried with Bane...

Working solidly on the top half of his body at the moment i have now given him a set of robes that consist of a under-tunic made of thin weave cloth that i then gave a double layer neck to to give him a bit of bulk in the neck and shoulders, a leather "combat jerkin" that i'm billing as a remnant of what he wore either as a driller in his pre-Sith Lord days or even from when he was a serving soldier in the Sith "Brotherhood of Darkness", before he was trained as a Sith Lord.

then over that (still need to add the sleeves) is a black material "tunic" that will be along the lines of the Jedi/Sith style tunics, baggy sleeves etc. Currently it is without sleeves...

I'm not at all happy with the material for his Over-Tunic, i think its far too stiff, so i am going to get a new material in the coming week the re-do it....tho i will show the completed current material tunic as well just so we can see how it'd look

and here are some pics with his completed all faux-leather/pvc belt, all hand-stiched, and yes...he is wielding Palp's Lightsaber...its the only one i had at hand...

Well this is his current stage on construction, i shall be finishing the over-tunic tomorrow...and moving onto his pants...

 

[Dr.FeelGood]

And now...after a short break...i return to the Bane...


his costume is now 95% complete, i need to border his leather tabbard with the same leatherette used on his belt (the redish one), and his boots are in the post, i did try to make my own but after nearly 30 attempts i just grew sick of it and ordered a pair of DiD German SS Jackboots...


The following images are to show Banes current state...and also, to show how bada** he is ..warning, there are ALOT of pics in this...


Bane...awaiting sentancing...

The three Jedi Masters arrive to take Bane into custody

A Master approaches

And the trio circle Bane, in attempt to subdue him

In a shocking move, Bane drops one of the three

And crushing his oppents chest with his foot, uses the force to choke the second

As the third approaches he rips his helpless appontents throat out, focusing now on the final threat

to be continued............