That painted metal is looking really nice, but I agree about the mouth and chest losing definition.

I would maybe try a polished chrome or nickle. If the model allows for it, you could even try putting an emitter in the mouth. I know the original 'Smoking Spaceman' only had glowing eyes and a flashing light on the head, but it might work.

paint like this maybe:


If I remember right the mask was from Solo's metal freebie
the third layer is mat white and has a slight offset to look like a primer edge (i've had loads of crappy cars lol)

Here's the painted metal version but I don't really like it. Something not quite right.

I've made another scratched plastic version alongside/underneath. Made the buildings invisible for now & moved the light. I tried to get greasy fingerprints on it but they look as if they've been dusted down by forensics. It's maybe a bit too scratched for being chucked in a toy box? I'll work on it.

Thanks Nige, I'll try that material too.

It seems there are some artifacts on the robot's feet like with no smoothed normals. Is it wanted or is it an exporting issue?


Cheers, R.

Hi R, yes it does have artifacts, well spotted. I should have smoothed the model before importing. I have applied a Planar tweak to the geometry but they still factor. I ended up giving a rough bump map to diguise the problem.

This is the final render. Went for a cheap plastic material in the end, which I'm still not totally convinced about? I've decided to move on to another project now. It's been fun.

Thanks for all the help on the thread.

Really nice progression, I was waiting for the update ^^

This is coming together nicely.

A I would like to see
- Tone down the red on the robot. This will make it look more like it could be a photo.
- Change the building to a plastic solid looking material or take down the scatter density by about 1/4th.