iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Each semester we do a timed exercise. Students receive incomplete concept art, and have 8 hours to take it as far as they can, with an eye for form. Keeping with Shaun's no AI Twitter scraping, I am posting the work over here. @machinefun.bsky.social @mooneysart.bsky.social

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Damn. I find the zoom + pan bug was fixed by reverting. As it was a zoom error, I had hopes for you my friend.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Is it recent, IE an update may have broken it? Many of my problems with Photoshop were solved going back to an earlier version from a couple years ago.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

I've been absent. We got images of the multi-part Outriders. I had an entire extra set waiting for this reveal. Each model got converted. Sgt gets a power axe. Both riders get a different arm from the Assault Intercessors sprue. With the bike chaplain and go cart I'm looking good.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Trim placed for both melee versions. From here it's a damage pass and metal surfaces. I might leave a clean version for both in the set, for those that want to damage things on their own.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Translate wasp into non English languages, see if you get a good hit. Could make a cool name for the fleet.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Melee good to go. The teeth may not hold up, I'll need to get a test print done. This needs a sculpting pass to finish it out.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Melee weapon time. In the OG kit this weapon had a unique shoulder design, depending on which side it was on. I look forward to the extra sculpting. Bout 50% there on the basics.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Missile launcher is ready for the bolt and trim pass. May go through and unify some details across all the weapons. The trim pass will be done entirely inside Zbrush.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Final bits in place before trim and sculpt pass.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Tube time. getting the final details in before sculpting. These all start life as splines, and using the modifier stack allows for interaction as changes populate up the stack. People bag on Max, which I get, but my experience has not been Terribad™ .

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Twin Heavy Bolter WIP Design no one will likely use, but for completeness sake it must get done. Least views of this thing online, again looking for 20 year old pictures is a chore. The barrel size to ammo discrepancy is crazy bad, but that's how it was designed, I didn't come up with it.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Working on a new project. Heavy WIP here. Got my Cults3D account squared away.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Dude! For the posters alone, get it.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

I love when they do this. Shows the entire lower section of their leg is actually a foot.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Those logos are Wipeout coded, I approve! Great work on making the units feel similar in tech but by different companies.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Understandable, you are making a game, outside of that time where you also make games.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

I may have missed it, did the book come out yet?

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

What's your skin recipe? Is it a red base? Color blind painter here.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Melee done. 3 Broods, 15 Warriors total. Now to get them primed. When I built my Primes I wanted them to be mini Tyrants. I added ankle claws to show the connection. Little conversions like these really make an army unique. #warhammer40000 #tyranids

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Getting some work done on individual miniatures now. Built the squad last summer, painting them now. Not going to win any awards, but it's fun. Lots of custom printed parts here. #warhammer40k

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

A neutral palette, anything but straight up gray. I recently had great success with a two tone process, fading red into a blue grey color. It looks quite nice.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Tournament Buildings done. They're not going to win me painting awards, but it beats the hell out of MDF wood color. I need to finish up the scatter terrain, then I'll truly be finished. It's been a rewarding project, and I've never completed a good set of terrain before. #warlayer #wh40k

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

So you modeled in the text. Would have thought to just use a height stamp to create the normal effect. Since it's in a deep well you won't see the silo of it. In the end it looks great.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

I've used thickness maps in Substance Painter for this kind of work, but never for real time. Just wondered if you'd had reason to do so in your projects. Keep knocking that little electric motor around. Thanks for sharing.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

What's the performance hit when using an SSS shader in game? I don't see it that often, so I assume it's hefty.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

#lazarus It's got pedigree but the limited number of episodes hurt its impact. It felt like they wrapped up with the intent we now have the teams backstory, let's tell the actual story. Like a really long setup for a show we don't have yet. Good music and fights. Needed more time.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Is it covered in murder or speakers? You decide.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

This is how I do it. Block out to mid poly, then that turns into the high and the low.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

6x4 under 2" scatter terrain. I made 6 of them, for some variety. One step closer to the 2025 Tournament Table. #warhammer40k #terrain

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Terrain is getting built. Test color scheme. I wanted something not grey, so it stands out. The interior will be grey, so color outside, grey inside. Easy to tell what you're looking at. No wash here, just a base coat. It will get washed and a light dry brush. #warlayer #wh40k

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

I was trying to check the voice actor, but no good. Are we sure, or is this theory?

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

Seeing Mason attached, it's instructions. STL incoming!

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

After waiting 30 years, we finally have plastic Noise Marines! This kit is great! I don't need an entire force, this squad finishes the squads aligned to the major #chaosgods Plague Marines Khorne Berserkers Rubric Marines #NoiseMarines

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

It feels like forever ago because it was. My first computer used a tape deck for storage.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Do you like design, are you in love with cassette futurism? Support this man! I need this book.

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

I'm trying a more motion graphics approach to presentation shots. If the goal is attention does this work better than a still? #3d #GameArt #GameReady #Stylized

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mel-danes.bsky.social @mel-danes.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

Manga accurate major is pretty badass. I quite liked the look of Appleseed XIII for this reason. The Orc armor looked right, the characters looked like Shirows earlier characters.

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