The Thanos Imperative

So far, I have been confined to modelling environments or objects in all my previous assignments. So now that is time to choose, it was either between vehicle or character. Considering a vehicle is essentially just a large object, I decided that I want to try a character instead.

Ever since watching the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, it has re-ignited my fondness of Thanos. I always quite enjoyed his appearances in comics when I was younger, and now we have a CGI re-imaged and modernised version, I think he's even cooler. To fully cement the idea in my head, his appearance once again in the more recent The Avengers 2 movie had me searching for some of the more recent images of him.

My goal is to create a standing, and probably slightly posed model of Thanos in a modern take on his classic armour. I will use the traditional purple and gold colour scheme and try to keep it as close to a certain modern design as possible. The design of him I like the most is this image:

The armour design here is my favourite I could find after hours of scouring the internet. There are bits I slightly want to change, that I will come to later. This design was created by comic cover/concept artist Aleksi Briclot, and unfortunately for me, this specific design was created only for a Marvel trading card game so there happens to be very few pictures of it. Below is another example:

For the bits which aren't visible in any of the images I will have to get other modern designs to fill in. In this instance it is specifically the back which I have no reference of. So the obvious other recent designs of Thanos are from the movies. Luckily because they were movies, there is a wealth of images and merchandise to help me identify different areas.

I will use the image of a Thanos toy below to fill in parts of the back. As the design is not the same as the one I am making, I will have to modify certain areas a bit so they look like they were indeed designed as the same piece.

I will look to modify some areas, and mix and match some of the pieces so they feel more like a singular piece of armour than two. Parts from this Guardians of the Galaxy design here that I will incorporate instead of the image at the top of the page will be; the 'skirt' area, the blue paneling on the legs, and the transition from the front to the back of the character. Everything else, I will try to keep as close to the Briclot design as possible.

The skirt will be changed to be like the movie image, because it seems to be made of a more realistic shape and material for my purpose. The top image you can see the skirt is bent around his legs, which would indicate that the material is soft. For armour, we would presume it was harder than it appears there, so even if it was some kind of sturdy rubber-like material, it probably wouldn't bend that much still.

The blue paneling will be changed simply because I have a lot more reference of the film design than the card game design and so it will be easier for me to construct using that instead, especially on the legs.

The card game design and the movie design are similar but not the same. So for me to adapt the back to be like the movie design fused with the card game design, I will need to ensure that the side areas flow properly from one to another. Slight variations will have to be made along the top of the shoulders, the sides and under the arms.

Here below is one of the many good images of the film version.

To keep the Thanos character model more in line with the card game rather than the film, I wanted to stay away from 'ultra-realism'. I wanted it to appear real enough, but not to the level as the image below for instance:

These images are from the up-coming Avengers film I believe and as you see has attempted the realistic look. This is too real for what I want to create. I wanted the model to be closer the original Briclot painting instead, allowing a slightly more comic book feel. To ensure this I will not be adding too many details to the skin or armour. I want to have some 'wear and tear' but I will bypass the finer, realistic smudges and scratches. To add to the comic-like feel, I am keeping the wide jaw and slightly dis-proportioned head and hands which was more common the in the comics.

For the materials, specifically the purple areas, I like the more matte look of the Briclot image, but also like the rubbery look of the newest image above. I will try to emulate the rubber look but have my version will be less shiny. The gold areas are always metallic in all iterations, so I will need to keep them that way. I will be going for a duller look however, trying to stay away from having any reflective areas.

So I created a one sheet with a quick Thanos biography and possible game which he could appear in:

To finish the model I will make a stand for him and try to pose it slightly so it isn't just in a T-pose. The stand could either be a rock or possible just a simple plinth. I wanted to stay away from the chair image as it seems there are already many images of him in this pose.