I eventually ended up producing the above photo, but it doesn’t look very good. I wanted to go for the colder looking realistic weapon look. Haven’t done any compositing yet either, above photo was raw render.
The materials look meh, the modeling looks meh, and I get the feeling that my lighting is destroying everything, but I don’t know how to fix it. I want some honest critiques, don’t hold anything back please, I’m looking to improve.
The black metal surface is TOO perfect. A small amount of scratches surface grain. Even a tiny bit of witness marks (Very fine lines from the machining process) Try using the wave texture to put a very subtle bump. A little noise to add some grain.
Seems pretty good overall. Consider putting a glossy coating on the plastic material: add another glossy node (colour near black) with very low roughness and mixed just a tiny bit.
As for metal, I think you went for too much roughness on the glossy shader.
The wood is another complicated material, maybe you did overdo with normal mapping/displacement. I am watching a series of tutorial from CynicatPro, they are very useful!
About the light, you should use a HDR whenever there are very reflecting surfaces… AND try adding a small sized source of light, as for now it is too diffused.
Mind that I am by no means an expert
Ha! Yes, that’s funny. I think it needs a built-in targeting laser too.
In looking at your model, I notice the curved bit edge needs to be longer relative to the cheek. I.e. more curve on the bottom edge. Shortening the head where it meets the hilt will work, although that will mess up your scope mount.
That’s a pretty cool idea, but I think it would look better in an outdoor scene with natural outdoor HDR lighting. I think you could have the hatchet buried slightly into a stump. I think the metal floor lacks a sense of story, and is honestly kind of boring. I would like to see the scope not only scratched up, but have LOTS of battle damage…cracked glass and big dents. Cool concept!
