Anatomy of terminator armour

[ardyer]

I am begining a conversion of a chaos lord in terminator armour. I enlarged the legs a bit with plasticard and putty, and I intend to have the left leg standing on rubble. I have already seperated the calf-armour from the greave. However, I am not sure where to make the cut to angle the calf correctly as I am not sure how the terminator armour would react. I figure there are two options.

 

Option 1

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/ardyer/Other%20Minis%20Album/chaos_lord_legs_1.jpg

Here, I would cut along the bottom, as if it was folding into the greave.

 

Option 2

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/ardyer/Other%20Minis%20Album/chaos_lord_legs_2.jpg

Here, I wouldnt cut at all, but instead pin and putty in the gap as if the calf was longer.

 

Has anyone done this before? Which would be the most correct option?

[Brother Gothard]

I have done this before, and you need to go with Option #2. However, one caution: in both cases, the thigh is way too low to join the knee at the proper angle. Just watch that.

 

I'll try to find a picture of my attempt.

 

edit - and then I did. It's rough, and the opposite side of the opposite leg, and an old terminator, but you get the idea.

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4198/terminatorwipge1.jpg

[Dominar_Mortis]

i like option 2, it seems to sit more natural than the 1st, perhaps twist the calf slightly outwards as well...just a little...not too much

 

 

DM :)

[-Q-]

Split the difference (a little 1, a little 2) and then cover the area with something. Chains, cloth, strap for a holstered ceremonial pistol, something like that. When you do something that *feels weird* on a model, cover it up to pull the attention away rather than let it stand alone.

 

Another option would be to repose the foot either just by changing the leg angle or by cutting the foot and changing its angle. Then your lower and upper leg sections won't need such a severe angle.

 

EDIT: ...and remove that bottom ring trim from the top of both legs. If it's off both, the viewer won't miss it. Taking that detail away from the join of the two legs will remove what would otherwise be a distraction since the viewer would have to reconcile the angle of the trim with the angle of the connection.

[transorD]

The answer is Option 3.

 

Neither of your examples are correct.

 

From your ankle to your knee should have about the same measurement as from your knee to your hip.

 

In your examples, you've made the lower leg about half the length of the upper leg.

 

IMO, the upper leg needs to tip up a bit more, and then scoot in closer to the greave, like Brother Gothard said.

[Monkey Garage]

straighten the right foot, this will raise the leg a bit and should put him at a more correct angle

[Shinobi_soldier]

make the upper leg angled up more, and join the two with option 1.5 (that is, cut a little off of both)

 

should work.

nice conversion there gothard

[Rich]

What I try and think of when I am reposing marines is to keep in mind that inside all that armour is a (relitvely) normal human. If you try and think what the armour plates would be like and where the human would sit inside the armour the pose can come together a lot easier. For instance with terminator armour the armour plates would be thick, so the human is in the middle somewhere and the armour plates, I feel, should overlap and bunch up to accomodate the person inside it rather than accomodate the shape of the armour already as well as having the bigger armour plates able to have the rebars on the thighs recess into the greave, rather than making more space around the knee to avoid that, which would result in the wearers leg getting dislocated probably!

 

In the case of terminator armour I have always thought that the armour plates are thickest at the front (as it would make the most sense for a suit of assault armour) meaning the front of the greaves would extend up past the knee joint because of the extra thickness and size.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v399/richard_milson/Command/Terminator1.jpg

 

These are some terminators I reposed keeping the same things in mind, although the picture is very small and both minis have more work to be done with them (the assualt cannon termie's knee Im going to rebuild for instance, its too far up his thigh for that pose, as I havent moved the knee after repositioning the leg).

 

By the way, the top part of the leg is his thigh, the calf is the muscle behind your leg, so is around the rear side of the greave (the front, thicker armour on the shin).

 

Hope that helps a little, shout out if you'd like a little more info as I love reposing minis, marines especially.

Rich