I give you the start of the Mecha Hammerhead Shark:
Very WIP, as you can see. Just the start of the head for now.
BgDM
is it me or it’s the same red chrome as your robot? 
I like the smooth lines 
Martin
is it me or it’s the same red chrome as your robot?
HAHA! Almost, but not quite. My bot actually has a red base colour with the reflective image texture applied to it. For this one, I played with the hue and saturation values and it came out like this. Just a plain old blender grey base material colour.
BgDM
i would turn the subsurf up some to get that chome smooth looking, but im sure this will be very nice when finished, a shark. why didn’t i think of that.
Yeah, it’s only set at 2 right now. Probably crank it up to 4 or 5 for the final.
BgDM
Cool. Are you planning to do the whole shark as a solid-body (liquid metal T2 type) or are you going to show articulations and mechanics?
Here is a slight update for you all to gawk in amazement at
harkyman: I am going to show some tubes, cylinders, etc. I like the idea of making it a la T2, but then it would just be a chrome shark and I don’t think it would fit the part.
BgDM
UPDATE
Body is now done. Onto the mechanics and finishing touches.
Is this looking too organic for a mech? I am hoping that once I start getting some mechanics, etc. added, that this will not look so organic, but I am not sure.
BgDM
IMHO, there’s too much chrome. you’d need some parts to break the flow of the chrome colors (like the red stripes on Harkyman’s spider). Maybe add a subtle bumpmap to break the specularity…
it’s starting to look very good.
Martin
HEH, yeah, I know. I actualy got the comment on CG Talk that it was way too shiny, so I rendered this one, without the reflective map:
I am thinking of making it all rusted up now. It is a shark and it is in the water, right :o
BgDM
Bingo! I think a rusty, barnacled, lichened mecha shark is the way to go. Too neat. I wish I’d thought of that.
at first, the top pic was kind of cool but i had no idea what it was…the red one is awesome though! =D
more wires, rusty wires…wires always look good…
and he needs some guns =
did u use the supra reflection map by any chance? it sort of looks like it in the eyes…
more wires, rusty wires…wires always look good…
and he needs some guns =\
You can count on it!
did u use the supra reflection map by any chance?
Yep. That’s it alright! Thanks again for the image by the way.
I wish I’d thought of that.
I didn’t want to do a spider like mech. Everyone is doing one, at least here anyway. So why not do something else I thought, and then bingo. Why not a shark!
Thanks for the comments guys.
BgDM
Very nice! Just add some good rust textures and some air escaping some valves and it will kick ass.
UPDATE - AUG. 6/02
Added the start of the propulsion system and the front fins. A little bit more tubing within the head to body conection. On to the inards and the small things.
BgDM
Looking good. Methinks everyone’s sort of playing off of everyone else for this contest, and the end result is that everyone is doing some truly superior work.
Blender rules.
I’ll second that. I think the quality level will probably be even higher than the last F1 Challenge. Kudos to all the participants!
Martin
is the shark one piece, or several separate pieces?
is the shark one piece, or several separate pieces?
What you see right now are seperate pieces that will be connected together via tubes, hydraulics, etc. that will make everything into one piece. I have it segmented right now so that when I rig it, it will have segments that are able to move and then the hoses, tubes, etc., will flex within these openings.
BgDM
just my opinion, but i really think it’s far too stubby. shark’s are such fliud, graceful creatures, but your’s would be very clumsy with only four segments to it.
if you added another segment between the head and the dorsel fin segment, put the lower fins on that, it would look much more elegant.
and if you divided the tail into a few more segments it could be posed with much more grace and dynamic compostition. it would also help give the impression of strong secondary motion, with the sweeping movement being delayed along the tail. ideally, the tail should be segmented like a spine, with lots of small sections rather than a small number of large inflexible sections.
hope you find my advice helpful, and not insulting.
later
BEAT