If they had battle robots during WWI ...

[Xayzer]

This is a model I was commissioned to make for a supplement to a tabletop RPG.

Modeled in Sketchup, rendered in Keyshot, retouched in Photoshop.

This is what I was told about the project:

"The Iron Hussars" are weird-tech robotic soldiers (powered by a Hyperborean artifact) controlled by the mysterious BARON KORGA!

"PULP VILLAINS: BARON KORGA" is a forthcoming .PDF ebook/supplement for Adamant Entertainment's pulp adventure roleplaying game line, Thrilling Tales 2nd Edition, for use with Savage Worlds. It will be available via RPGNow.com and DriveThruRPG.com.

Each Pulp Villains release will detail a nefarious non-player-character, ready to be dropped into your pulp-genre Savage Worlds game, fully statted, with details on their methods, motives, special gear, henchmen, allies and more -- along with a collection of adventure hooks for their use.

[Will Gibbons]

Nice work, both the modeling and rendering. One thing that I think is a touch odd is the huge shoulder armor, as this whole guy looks to be made out of armor. I get that it's a stylized thing, but seems a little ironic. It definitely has a WWI look about it and seems pretty tough!

[Speedster]

I think the large shoulder armor is to fend off those darned new-fangled "tanks"!

Great modeling and the material is superb!  Perfect choice. for excellent renders!

My favorite part is the WWI grenade!  And of course the gas mask and helmet are spot on!

Bill G

[Xayzer]

Speedster, thank you very much! I'm glad you like it

Will, thank you. You have a point about the shoulder pauldron, but hey, it's what the client asked for And besides, one can never get enough armor. BTW, since I see that you are a training specialist, may I presume to ask you a quick question? While rendering this model, I wanted to add a scratch texture map to it, but I wanted the scratches to be more prevalent where it made sense - near the edges (so the area of the positive curvature of the curvature texture). I thought of adding a curvature to the opacity of the texture map, but the map only takes it as bump height. Is there another way to achieve the effect I'm looking for?

[Josh3D]

This is so cool. Great lighting and materials, and that texture is just perfect.

[Speedster]

but I wanted the scratches to be more prevalent where it made sense - near the edges

I'm sure Will may have some tricks.  What I would do is two passes, one with the finer texture and another larger/deeper.  The comp one over the other  and use a mask.  The "sculptural painting" would be a bit tricky, but a great exercise in eye-hand coordination!
Bill G

[Will Gibbons]

but I wanted the scratches to be more prevalent where it made sense - near the edges

I'm sure Will may have some tricks.

Ah, Bill put me on the spot, so I had to figure something out for you! I've attached a scene with 3 procedural materials in it I made that you're free to use/tweak. You'll need to adjust scale of a few parameters in the Curvature and Scratches since your model isn't likely the same scale as the thing I made.

Let me know if you've any questions. Number 2, the simple one is the one you asked for, but I think numbers 1 and 3 are more interesting. Of course, the sky's the limit.

[Xayzer]

Josh, you are always too kind

Speedster, that's a great idea, thank you! A bit more work, but finer control.

Will, thank you very, very much! Those materials look awesome. It did not occur to me to control the bump height with the curvature texture, I only thought of applying it to the opacity.

[Will Gibbons]

Will, thank you very, very much! Those materials look awesome. It did not occur to me to control the bump height with the curvature texture, I only thought of applying it to the opacity.

You're welcome. I know your train of thought, but if you tried it, it doesn't really have the desired effect. The reason this works is because white=1 and black =0, so if your positive value is white, you're giving bump height a value of 1 and zero and negative =black, they have a bump height of 0, of course, you can adjust as needed. For more on this, the Material Graph webinar is a good resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6liInjrE48

[imikej]

Pretty bad ass.  Add some patina!  Show he earned his crest!  No, really cool project, really!!!