(image link follows rambling post…)
Last night I started something that I didn’t think I was going to be able to do for the Weekend Challenge, the theme for which this week is “wild west.” I wanted to do something fun but something that would push my blending abilities further, which is really what I consider one of the best reasons there is a wc here at elysiun.com: we challenge ourselves, and if you do something you haven’t done before YOU WIN 
By Sunday afternoon I had gotten in pretty deep into meshes, and while the end result may not be perfect (it is far from perfect) or what some people might consider a great Blender render, this weekend something happened as I was pushing vertices around in 3Dspace. I’ve used all the built-in Blender tools before numerous times (extrusion, dupliverts, layers, etc.), but never quite like this. In other words, things started coming together in pleasantly surprising ways, not by accident but by realization of how certain simple editing/resizing techniques could be used in new ways .
When I saw the movie that portions of the scene you’ll see was based on and to some degree parodies, I thought to myself, “I would really like to do something like that some day.” I’ve experimented with building spaceships, planets, robots, characters, entire scenes even, and more, but, with the exception of my entry in the F1 contest, I never got to a personally desired level of high render quality – and that had nothing to do with Blender (or my temporary reluctance to try external renders): it’s that I wasn’t necessarily getting the most out of the built-in tools, materials, lighting, etc. Blender is one of those rare great programs that can only get better as your skills improve and you think more creatively about turning points and primative shapes (cubes, spheres, tubes) into more complex shapes.
I guess what I want to say is that if you stick with Blender long enough and master basic modelling concepts and can get yourself to think creatively about shapes (and later, scenes) you can really create almost anything with this program. If you haven’t gotten all that you wanted out of Blender, STAY WITH IT AND WORK AT IT. I’m glad I did 
Anyway, here’s a greyscale preview of my entry for the Weekend Challenge. Why grey? I’m still tweaking the colors 
ALSO: there are three other scene layers I’m refining, including the background and another character (both not pictured here) that will provide a humorous explanation to the funny look on the character’s face.
http://webusers.warwick.net/~u1019306/myblenderimages/wc67-wip.jpg
I’m almost done with the rest of the scene, and I’m excited by the test renders. I’ll soon be posting my finished scene in the Weekend Challenge thread.
My goal in this project is to use only built in materials and textures, and unlike my last few entries I’m not focusing on adding a wealth of details (that will change because I like experimenting with details and textures on models). My focus here is on form and, something new for a personal Blender project, humor. As with previous WCs I’ve enjoyed working on this project and hope the final render makes someone smile and inspires more Blending.
Well, take care,
RobertT
